A sharp-eyed store clerk and a well-timed police visit saved a local woman from losing $4,000 to a Bitcoin scam in South Hadley, Massachusetts.

The woman was stopped when the Cumberland Farms employee flagged the situation to a nearby detective, who intervened just as she was about to finalize the transaction.

A sharp-eyed store clerk and a well-timed police visit saved a local woman from losing $4,000 to a Bitcoin scam in South Hadley.

The woman was stopped when the Cumberland Farms employee flagged the situation to a nearby detective, who intervened just as she was about to finalize the transaction.

Crypto scams like this are on the rise, and because Bitcoin is nearly impossible to trace, it makes it a go-to for fraudsters.

So, how did she get tricked, and what can you look out for with similar scams?

Eagle-eyed clerk saves woman from fraud

According to the report by WWLP, the incident occurred when a detective entered the Cumberland Farms store and was alerted by a clerk who suspected a woman was being scammed.

The woman explained that she’d been on the phone with a man who instructed her to withdraw $4,000 from her bank and deposit it into a Bitcoin machine inside the store. The scammer had told her to tell anyone who questioned her that the money was for a trip.

The detective intervened just as the woman attempted to create a PIN on the machine. He advised her not to proceed, effectively preventing the scam. The South Hadley Police Department commended the store clerk for their vigilance and quick action in alerting authorities.

If the transaction had gone through, once funds had landed in the scammer’s wallet, it would have been nearly impossible to retrieve them thanks to the irreversible nature of cryptocurrency transactions.

According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), once a deposit is made, these ill-gotten gains are often moved quickly to accounts overseas, making recovery extremely difficult.

This incident highlights the growing trend of cryptocurrency scams, where fraudsters exploit the anonymity of digital currencies to scam victims. Which is why it’s even more important these days to stay vigilant and exercise caution when dealing with unsolicited requests for cryptocurrency payments.