Man, 67, falls victim to scam, loses $9,000, Centralia police say

A 67-year-old man has fallen victim to a scam and lost thousands of dollars as a result, according to the Centralia Police Department in Lewis County. 

The crime was reported to police about 3 p.m. Monday, said Officer Ruben Ramirez. 

Ramirez said the scam began last month and finally ended with the man losing more than $9,000. 

Police say the man clicked on a cryptocurrency trading link via Facebook. He then followed the instructions given by the scammers to convert the money to cryptocurrency, and then transferred the money to a fraudulent website for crypto coin day-trading purposes, according to police. 

When the victim attempted to withdraw the money, it was no longer there, police say. 

For those who have fallen victim to such a scam, Ramirez recommends reporting it to local police and the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. 

The FBI also recommends these steps to avoid being scammed: 

• Examine the email address in all correspondence and scrutinize website URLs before responding to a message or visiting a site 
• Don’t click on anything in unsolicited emails or text messages. 
• Be cautious about the information you share in online profiles and social media accounts.

▪ Don’t send payments to unknown people or organizations that are seeking monetary support and urge immediate action. 

Officer Ramirez offered one more bit of advice. “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” he said.