A couple in Saline County, Kansas, fell victim to a phone scam that drained more than $45,000 in cryptocurrency from their account. The incident, reported on January 30, involved a fraudulent message purportedly from the trading platform Robinhood. The Saline County Sheriff’s Office is now investigating the case.
On January 30, a couple in Saline County, Kansas, received a suspicious message claiming to be from Robinhood, the popular investment platform. The alert warned of an unauthorized request to change the PIN on their cryptocurrency account and urged them to call a provided phone number if they had not initiated the change themselves.
Believing the message to be legitimate, the couple contacted the number and spoke with a man who had a British accent. During the call, they shared their account details, under the impression that they were simply verifying and securing their holdings. The sheriff’s office later explained that this information allowed the scammers to access and transfer the funds.
Upon checking their account afterward, the couple discovered that eight cryptocurrency coins, worth more than $45,000, had been stolen. The Saline County Sheriff’s Office has launched an investigation into the scam, highlighting the risks associated with unsolicited communications about financial accounts.
This case underscores the growing prevalence of cryptocurrency-related frauds, where scammers impersonate trusted companies to extract sensitive information. Authorities advise verifying any such alerts directly through official channels rather than responding to provided contacts.