According to court documents, the suspect got away with more than $100,000.
SPOKANE, Wash. — Spokane police have interviewed not one, but two people who say they were tricked into giving a man tens of thousands of dollars, believing he was a cryptocurrency investor.
The first victim, an Uber driver, told police a passenger he picked up claimed to work for a company out of Scottsdale, Arizona that traded cryptocurrency. Over the course of seven months, the victim ended up sending close to $20,000 through Apple and Google Pay. He asked to withdraw $2,000 from his “account” to pay for taxes and when he went to cash the check, it bounced and the suspect went radio silent.
KREM 2 is not naming the suspect because he hasn’t been formally charged with a crime. But, police believe he scammed another person out of even more money. A woman came forward with a similar story and said she met the suspect playing poker at Northern Quest.
She told police she sent nine payments, totaling nearly $85,000. When she asked for $10,000 back, the suspect sent $3,000 and disappeared.
According to the search warrant, police in Phoenix believe the same man conned an Arizona resident out of $18,000 using the same scam. Authorities believe the man has since left Spokane and could be living in Tennessee.
Those court documents also show that this man has a warrant out of Los Angeles for theft over $400. Police are continuing to investigate.
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