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Cryptocurrency scams on the rise, luring victims with romance and promises of easy money

About 11 years ago, when reporting on payments networks and data security for American Banker, I attended a bitcoin conference in Chicago that was essentially touting cryptocurrency and answering the questions of curious onlookers.

One question and its answer come to mind again today because wealthy folks who have been pushing bitcoin and other digital products for a long time view the current president and his administration as avid supporters.

The question at that conference was “Who runs bitcoin?” The answer was “No one! This is one of the beauties!”

Well, OK. Not an answer that would excite me, but to get more specific, it meant bitcoin is an open-source software that anyone can use and build on. That is, essentially, what it was then and is now. Years ago, of course, that brought frowns from traditional bankers and payments execs, but high-fives from folks building applications and services as part of this new ecosystem.

My point here is to provide insights gained from more than a decade of writing about digital coins and talking to coin company CEOs and fraud experts.

Rather than taking a deep dive into the process of the bitcoin “mining” hardware that monitors creation of a bitcoin, confirms transactions and helps keep them secure, it makes more sense for this column to just warn folks about scams that use crypto as a lure.

Overall, the digital coin process has some good security points, but not enough to thwart the most troubling aspects of any cryptocurrency — that its value essentially rises on knee-jerk impulses of buyers with not a whole lot at its foundation to help it bounce back after a deep downturn, and that criminals love digital currency as not only something to steal but also to hide behind to cover up crimes.

It’s not as easy to trace their activities (remember the part about no one is in charge of bitcoin?), and they can dump the value when their deeds are done or, worse, take your money through a fake crypto app.

I checked in with Julie Conroy, a fraud and security expert whom I leaned on often when writing about these things. In her role as Chief Insights Officer for Boston- and London-based Datos Insights, she has seen it all.

“Scams are on the rise across all payment methods,” Conroy said. “Scammers prefer to receive funds via payment mechanisms that are non-refutable. That’s why gift cards, real-time payment rails, and cryptocurrency are among their preferred ways of receiving funds.”

Conroy has always contended a significant danger is that “most people think that scams are somebody else’s problem and it would never happen to them.”

Her company’s research tells a different story, noting that one in three Americans were victimized by some sort of scam in the past couple of years.

“One of the more prevalent and devastating forms of scams combines a romance scam with cryptocurrency, often resulting in five- or six-figure losses for the victims,” she said.

A YouTube video from software engineer and “scambaiter” Jim Browning, who is dedicated to bringing down organized crime behind crypto and other scams, explains how a dating app scam essentially uses gorgeous ladies to lure gullible folks into a relationship.

Part of that relationship includes the lady convincing her new partner that they can make a lot money together through a crypto exchange.

The fake site looks legitimate, showing users how to buy and sell digital coins “without risk.”

That’s a red flag, Browning notes, asking the question, “What investment ever made has not carried some risk?”

Still, many make the plunge and lose a fortune. They buy coins for their new “love” and that is the last they see of the money or the lady.

There are hundreds of other scams, of course, many that start right in our email inbox or via a text message.

If we have to be careful about this sort of thing, there are many asking that President Donald Trump and his followers do the same on a larger scale, even as bitcoin value soars and the president has had his own “meme coin” created and placed in the market. It’s a development that has some of his crypto supporters wary of what is next, especially because the Trump coin’s value will rise and fall with this popularity.

Bitcoin and products like it are essentially an investment, not something many of us would use, nor enough merchants would accept, to buy groceries or gas.

The value rises and falls on the whims of the crowd and raw human emotion, not on a company’s earnings call, inflation or unemployment stats.

Sure, the stock markets fluctuate, but safeguards are in place and companies generally have plans to get back on track. Long-term, the stock market does just fine for itself. Digital coins lack that foundation.

Some in the industry suggest our enemies could be licking their chops at the prospect of buying up a lot of digital coins to drive up their value and thus suck many Americans to follow that trend, then pull out their investment and crash the value. Or simply rob us like the dating app.

I overheard a couple of younger fellows talking at the gym last week, one saying he “couldn’t pull the trigger on a bitcoin investment” even though it seems hot now.

In my mind, that’s the best approach to take, even if it looks like everyone else is jumping into the fray. Maybe dip your toe in, but let others venture out to see if the ice is thick enough to hold up. I, for one, see some cracks.

Drop-offs for Anderson Humane

The Anderson Humane site in North Aurora at 180 N. Randall Road has closed in a cost-saving measure. That was our closest spot for dropping off newspapers or blankets for the shelter for the all-important task of lining cages or larger areas for the animals.

The good news is we, and others, can continue to drop off those donations. They would instead go in a box in the vestibule of Pet Supplies Plus, located next to the former Anderson site in North Aurora. The donations in the box are taken to South Elgin on a weekly basis.

For others closer to South Elgin, those types of drop-offs continue at the Anderson Humane site in South Elgin at 1000 S. LaFox Road. Anderson Humane also has a location in Bloomingdale.

Most importantly, those who interacted with the North Aurora site the past eight years should be aware it is no longer in operation.

Also, Anderson Humane has shifted its wildlife care activities to the center in the Elburn Forest Preserve. The care of wildlife used to be split between the South Elgin and Elburn locations, but it has all moved to Elburn now.

On March 1, enjoy “Your Hit Parade: Global Edition” with vocalist Maureen Christine and the Michael Bazan Quartet at the Baker Community Center in downtown St. Charles. Courtesy of Maureen Christine

Singing to start spring

The Norris Cultural Arts Center is trying to get us to start thinking about spring. The best way is to remind us that its Saturday Night Lights concert series at the Baker Community Center starts in five weeks.

And the first concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 1, titled “Your Hit Parade: Global Edition” sounds like a great way to start.

This concert features vocalist Maureen Christine and the Michael Bazan Quartet in what amounts to a trip around the world, and memory lane, in featuring the songs of Julie Andrews and Andrew Lloyd Webber of England, Helen Reddy of Australia, as well as British-Australian singer Olivia Newton-John and Missouri-born songwriter Burt Bacharach.

It's all a play on the original radio and television program “Your Hit Parade” that Americans enjoyed for more than 25 years — from 1935 to 1953 on the radio, and 1950 to 1959 on TV.

Information and ticket sales for this Saturday Night Lights concert are available at norrisculturalarts.com.

Bubble tea in Batavia

People are saying they have tried the gelato, fruit tea and milk tea.

Because I have not had any of the above (maybe some gelato years ago), I am not an educated voice on what is offered at the new Gravitea Boba at 2004 W. Wilson St. in Batavia.

But it sure sounds good and comments from those who have visited this bubble tea franchise opened by owners Nathan and Sylvia Figueroa have been quite positive regarding what they call “creamy and chewy creations.”

The Gravitea Boba franchise came on the scene when opening its first location in Schaumburg in April 2022. The company notes that three other spots have opened in the Chicago suburbs and three others are under construction.

It has been open in Batavia, next to the Dunkin location off Randall Road, for roughly a month.

A look at the menu gives you a better idea of what Gravitea Boba café serves — bubble teas, milk teas, smoothies, fruit teas, coffees, soups and fresh, Italian gelato.

‘Bluey’ was pretty good

If I were keeping a daily diary, one of my entries last week would have read as follows:

“Made Play-Doh cupcakes; played ‘Find Lovey,’ a tiny blanket with a flamingo head; put away some holiday decorations and toys; ate some mac and cheese; watched a few episodes of ‘Bluey.’”

That’s your day when spending time with one of the grandkids in her home after her doctor’s appointment, and her parents were back at work.

And it would likely be the best day in that week’s diary.

dheun@sbcglobal.net

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