EYEWITNESS NEWS (WBRE/WYOU) — The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania is warning the public about a national scam tricking people into paying cryptocurrency to lift fake arrest warrants.
According to U.S. Attorney Gerard M. Karam, those targeted by the scam receive court documents saying they are being investigated for Payroll Protection Program (PPP) fraud and an arrest warrant has been issued.
Karam says the documents usually claim to have been sent from the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Civil Division's Commercial Litigation Branch.
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Officials say the documents sent by scammers advise the recipients that to lift the arrest warrant, they must make a payment through a cryptocurrency kiosk, such as Coinflip (a Bitcoin kiosk), and contain detailed information on how to use the kiosk to send payment.
The U.S. Attorney's Office says they are warning the public that these documents are unapproved and illegitimate and if you receive any documentation to life an arrest warrant in exchange for cryptocurrency payments, DO NOT respond.
Officials say to report the scam to law enforcement by calling the DOJ's National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 1-866-720-5721, or by submitting an NCDF Web complaint form. You can also report the scam to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).
