KEYSTONE, Colo. (KKTV) – Colorado law enforcement is warning the public after a person in Keystone fell victim to a scam that is circulating.

According to the Summit County Sheriff’s Office, the scammers called the unsuspecting victim and told them they would have to pay thousands of dollars in Bitcoin to avoid arrest.

The sheriff’s office said the victim complied, sending the scammers more than $6,000 in Bitcoin and was preparing to send another $4,000. MPs were able to intervene before the second payment was made.

“Personal information was also provided to the scammer during the phone call. The resident received preventative measures to protect his identity,” the sheriff’s office said.

In September, the sheriff’s office responded to a similar incident at a bank, also located in Keystone. In this case, the caller pretended to be a sergeant from another county in Colorado and told the potential victim to pay $8,000 to avoid arrest. Bank employees managed to arrest the woman just in time.

“Jury duty fraud,” as it is called, appears frequently in Colorado. The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office issued a similar warning a few years ago.

“The caller threatens the person who picked up the phone by stating that they missed jury duty. The scammer goes on to say that failure to perform jury duty is a crime and the targeted victim must pay fines,” EPSO said in a 2021 press release. “…The Sheriff’s Office would like to remind citizens that our office NEVER calls or texts to inform individuals that they have an active arrest warrant or have missed their court or jury duty.”

Other law enforcement offices across the state say the same thing over and over: They will never call to threaten arrest, and they will never call to demand payment. If you receive a phone call asking otherwise, hang up and call the real estate agency to verify the phone call.

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