What you must understand
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Campbell County is opening a Kraken account to recover and return crypto scam funds to victims.
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The account will support police investigations and is not for investing, officials said
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Campbell County is launching a Kraken cryptocurrency exchange account to assist in returning stolen money to victims in an effort to combat cryptocurrency scams.
A business account on the Kraken exchange is intended for people or organizations that plan to trade cryptocurrencies for a company’s benefit rather than for their own.
Campbell County Administrator Matt Elberfeld said at the Aug. 6
fiscal court meeting
that there has been an uptick in scams involving cryptocurrency as payment. He said Campbell County Police Department Detective/Forensic Examiner Steve Kush is well-versed in computer crimes, and he has been able to track down some of the crypto and catch it before it gets too far.
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The financial director or treasurer will open this, just to assist with court order claims or police investigations. Laura Lewis, the finance director and treasurer for Campbell County, stated, “We will not use it for investing.”We are collaborating closely with the Campbell County Attorney’s office and the Campbell County Police Department.
According to Elberfeld, the money needs to be transformed before it can be given back to the victims.
He explained that in order for us to issue restitution checks, the cryptocurrency would first move to our account and then to our regular bank accounts. This is required of us by a court order.
Elberfeld made it clear that the county was not going to start investing its reserves in cryptocurrency. According to him, the police department and the county attorney’s office have a transactional obligation to compensate the victims of scams.
Just this week, on August 5, three people called the department to report scam calls from someone acting as a Campbell County Police Officer, informing them they had warnings out and needed to pay money, according to Campbell County Police Chief Craig Sorrell. According to him, the department deals with various scams on a daily basis.
According to Sorrell, 99% of the time, if someone asks you to pay with cryptocurrency, obtain gift cards, or go to a bank, withdraw your money, and then do anything else with it, it’s most likely a fraud.
He claimed that many of the calls originate from abroad and that he has witnessed scams involving victims who have been defrauded of up to $250,000.
In 2024, the FBI received reports of a record $16.6 billion in losses from online frauds and other online crimes, according to the Pew Research Center. Additionally, according to the study center, 31% of respondents claim to receive scam phone calls at least once a day, with 21% reporting that this occurs multiple times a day.
I think it s pretty unique, at least in this area, that we ve been able to do this and get some of these funds back, Elberfeld said. This account is the final step to getting the money back to the victims.
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