BCSO warns of bitcoin scam targeting families of jail inmates after elderly Comal County couple lost $25,000 to callers posing as sheriff’s office employees.
BEXAR COUNTY, Texas — An elderly Comal County couple lost about $25,000 in a bitcoin scam after callers posed as Bexar County Sheriff’s Office employees and promised to help get their son out of jail, Sheriff Javier Salazar said during a press conference on Saturday.
According to the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office, the couple’s son is a recent inmate of the Bexar County Jail. Salazar said inmate information is public record and easily accessible online, making it simple for scammers to identify potential targets.
Investigators said the scammers used open-source booking information to contact the couple, falsely claiming to be employees of the sheriff’s office or a bond company. The callers told the victims they could help secure the son’s release, according to BCSO.
Salazar said the scheme followed a similar pattern to the so-called “jury duty scam,” in which residents receive calls from someone claiming to be with the sheriff’s office and are threatened with arrest for failing to appear for a federal summons unless they pay a fine.
In this case, the victims were kept on the phone for about eight hours and instructed to drive from Comal County to San Antonio, stopping at several retail locations with bitcoin machines. Acting in good faith and believing they were helping their son, the couple was taken for about $25,000, according to the sheriff.
Once the couple realized they had been scammed, they contacted authorities, prompting an investigation. Salazar said the sheriff’s office hopes to recover the couple’s money, but acknowledged the chances of identifying the suspects are “slim to none.”
The Bexar County Sheriff’s Office is working with San Antonio City Council members Teri Castillo and Misty Spears, who have expressed interest in pursuing a city ordinance that would require retail establishments with bitcoin machines to post warning signs about the risk of scams.
Salazar emphasized that the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office will never call residents to notify them of a warrant, discuss fines or direct them to multiple locations to pay a fee using bitcoin.
“If you get a call like this, hang up,” Salazar said.