Coweta County deputy thwarts $27K Bitcoin scam targeting elderly resident

COWETA COUNTY, Ga. - The Coweta County Sheriff's office says an elderly man got a phone call from somebody posing as federal law enforcement, saying he had an arrest warrant for him, but he could pay a fine in Bitcoin. You can probably guess where this is heading.

What we know:

An alert went out countywide to find the man after his relatives called 911 saying he’d left the house to withdraw money. They believed it was a scam, and they were right. It was several hours before law enforcement could find him, and in that time, he’d already given the scammers thousands and was about to give them even more, but a deputy stopped him while he was still on the phone with the conmen.

"At the time, I realized he was still on the phone with the scammers. I advised him to put the phone in his truck and step onto the side with me so we could go over what’s going on," said Deputy Bobby Crowdis.

By the numbers:

"Two deposits prior to our intervention, totaling close to $17,000. And then when Deputy Crowdis intervened in the situation, it saved him from depositing $27,000."

Crowdis said it was gratifying to stop the from making an even bigger mistake.

‘It is. I wish he wouldn't have gone through this ordeal. And I wish more people would pay attention and—apparently, they're so convincing that they get a lot of people to fall for the scam," he said.

Why you should care:

"Yeah, we just ask the public: keep an eye on your elderly neighbors, elderly family members. And if you’re concerned about their behavior, if it may indicate that they’re falling for a scam, contact us. We have no issue going out and checking out and making sure that they’re not being scammed," Ricketson said.

What you can do:

The sheriff's office adds that if you're worried that something is a scam, you're probably already onto it. Call the police and let them deal with it.