British Columbian retail outlets defrauded of thousands in bitcoin from regional manager imposter
A group of fraudsters targeted two retail outlets in British Columbia last week, with one fraudster posing as the stores' regional manager.
According to the Victoria Police Department, a retailer with locations in Saanich and Victoria, British Columbia, was the target of a bitcoin scam when scammers posed as regional managers for the retailer.
The frauds occurred nearly simultaneously, with one of the fraudsters named “Robert Wells” phoning the retail locations, claiming to be the regional manager. He told the store employees that business licenses were needed to complete health inspections and without them, the store would close.
Then, while the fraudster remained on the phone, a second fraudster called the store, claiming to be from a delivery company and asking for bitcoin payment in advance of arrival. The person posing as the manager instructed employees to take money to a local bitcoin ATM to complete the payment. Because of the inside knowledge the fraudster had of the stores, employees and locations, both locations fell for the scam.
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