Another Gillette resident has reportedly lost tens of thousands of dollars to a Bitcoin scam, Gillette Police told Cowboy State Daily on Monday.
Gillette Deputy Police Chief Brent Wasson said that an unidentified 62-year-old man reported to Gillette police on Friday that he had been scammed out of around $20,000. The man said a woman convinced him to participate in Bitcoin investments.
“Starting in May, he’d been in contact with a woman claiming to be from Greenhouse Investment Group,” Wasson said. “She offered to help him invest and he’d been investing with her. The exact amount hasn’t been determined, but it’s estimated by around $20,000.”
He could not say how the woman initially contacted the victim.
Greenhouse Investment Group is an Ireland-based investment firm focused on European enterprises.
Laura Baker, executive director of cybersecurity group CyberWyoming, told Cowboy State Daily that unfortunately, Bitcoin scams were becoming all too common in the state.
“Hackers are actually targeting Wyomingites about cryptocurrency scams because we pride ourselves in being a leader in blockchain,” she said. “There was a huge spike in cryptocurrency investment scams last year.”
Wasson said the police have requested bank statements and are investigating the man’s claims. He said officers will look into the man’s communications with the woman and attempt to track IP addresses and identify the suspect.
Scams in the Gillette area are not uncommon lately.
Just two weeks ago, the Campbell County Sheriff’s Office told Cowboy State Daily that a local woman had been scammed out of $30,000 through a Bitcoin scam.
The woman was contacted by a man identified as “Stephen Weiner,” who claimed he worked with the Bush Foundation and was offering her a grant, but required a small investment first.
Over a two-month period, the 56-year-old victim made several transactions, converting cash into Bitcoin through an ATM at a local convenience store.
In March, a woman lost $800 in a puppy scam through Facebook when a person posing as someone selling a puppy requested funds for an animal that did not exist. The buyer sent the money, believing the animal to be real.
That same month, a Gillette man reported being scammed out of $15,000 by a woman he had never met face-to-face.
