Jasper County family scammed, Sheriff's Office quickly retrieves money

In recent years, phone and online scammers have become more and more sophisticated, making it difficult for the average person to pickup on what is happening until it's too late. That is exactly what happened to one Jasper County family yesterday.

Images courtesy of Jasper County Sheriff's Office

Jasper County Sheriff Chuck Havard said that at around 5:00 p.m. yesterday, June 16th, his office was notified of the scam. Havard said, "The caller told the family that they were with a government agency. Basically, they had them put $25,000 in bitcoin because they said someone was trying to steal their identity and the agency needed the money to help them to get it straight."

Havard said that Chief Deputy Larry Pulliam and Deputy Brian Gray immediately responded to the victim’s residence and began gathering information. That's when it was revealed that the family was scammed out of $25,000.00 at a location in Hardin County.

Chief Deputy Pulliam immediately traveled to Hardin County to the location of the crime. With the assistance of Jasper County Investigator David Lampman, a state search warrant was obtained, served and executed in an attempt to recover the victim’s money.

It was discovered that the victim's money was inside a Bitcoin kiosk styled ATM machine.

With the assistance of the Hardin County Sheriff's Office, and Investigator Lampman, Chief Pulliam was able to gain access into the Bitcoin kiosk where a total of $31,900 was seized. The money was taken to Jasper County, pending a seizure hearing.

Havard said that although the money was seized, his office is still trying to locate the online scammers.

"When thieves, lowlifes, and scammers attempt to take advantage of the citizens of Jasper County," Havard added, "We will work swiftly and utilize every resource at our disposal to protect them and their property at all costs."

Havard closed by saying that he wanted to thank Chief Pulliam and his staff along with the Hardin County Sheriff’s Office for their aggressive approach to this investigation. "Please ensure that you are being vigilant to protect you and your family from on-line scammers because these investigations can be very complex and difficult to solve."