Scammers get $40K in Bitcoin from 2 Indiana County residents through Westmoreland kiosk

State police issued a warning about scammers trying to steal money from people with a scheme involving PayPal and Bitcoin cryptocurrency after two Indiana County residents were swindled out of thousands of dollars last month.

Investigators at Troop A said a woman from Homer City lost about $32,000 on Oct. 20 when she fell prey to the scam. A woman from Blairsville reported to police that she was scammed out of $7,430 on Oct. 23.

Police say scammers contact victims by text message and advise them that there have been unauthorized charges to their PayPal account.

Victims are then asked to provide the name of their financial institution and then given a telephone number to call.

The scammers then instruct the victims to withdraw money from their bank account, purchase Bitcoin, and then deposit the Bitcoin into another account.

In the two cases investigated by state police, the victims were told to travel to a location in Westmoreland County to buy and transfer their Bitcoin.

Police said Bitcoin ATM kiosks are connected to the internet and allow people to use cash or a credit card to buy Bitcoin. The ATMs are typically located in retail stores, taverns, restaurants, malls and airports.

Police advise people to be wary of suspicious phone calls, emails and text messages and report them to local law enforcement if there are signs they are not legitimate.

More information on how to detect scams can be viewed on the Federal Trade Commission’s website.