Stratford Police are warning the public to be wary of Bitcoin Scams.
SPS says the scams happen when a victim has been defrauded of money after being threatened by a scammer who is posing as a government official.
They say the victim receives a special barcode by text message and converts money to Bitcoin.
Victims are reporting having received phone calls from scammers who claim to be enforcement officers with the Canada Revenue Agency or the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and in each case, it was stated that the victims were being investigated for fraudulent activity or drug activity and that their SIN card numbers had possibly been compromised.
In one incident, the victim was directed to hang up, Google the number for the Stratford Police Service, and to immediately call that number.
Police say the scammer was able to lock the phone open, so that when the victim called the number for the SPS, they were in fact, still speaking with the scammer.
SPS says government agencies, such as the CRA and RCMP will never reach out to you by phone and demand payment to prevent any type of punishment.
