A new form of financial scams has made its way to Christian County and has already cost victims thousands of dollars.  It involves the use of “Bitcoin kiosks” stationed in locations like supermarkets and gas station mini-marts.  Law enforcement agencies in the county have helped recover some money for victims, but they hope to educate community members to avoid further incidents. 

Taylorville Police Sergeant Wes Withrow has been involved in investigating these cases and similar ones.  He says scammers use these money transfers to steal the funds.

Withrow describes one case of someone falling for the Bitcoin kiosk scam.  Hackers uncovered just enough of the individual’s financial information to gain some credibility and took advantage of their bank’s computer system being down. 

A new law in Illinois, enacted in August, limits transactions into these kiosks to $2,500 at a time.  However, a customer could then visit a different kiosk and deposit up to $2,500 there, as well.  Aware of the law, the scammer instructed the victim to visit several different kiosks within Christian County. 

The receipts from these kiosks mention another change to Illinois law in August.  Scam victims can contact police and the kiosk operators to report the case and potentially be reimbursed.

Sgt. Withrow encourages community members to voice their concerns regarding these kiosks and scams to local officials to help ensure these incidents are not repeated.

More information on the Taylorville Police Department is available at www.taylorville.net/police-dept. 

Sergeant Wes Withrow appeared as a guest on the WTIM Morning Show.