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Law enforcement warns about the dangers of crypto scammers

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Law enforcement warns about the dangers of crypto scammers

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – An increasing number of people in the metro have been cheated out of their money through cryptocurrency scams. Scammers can get you even if you don’t use it.

Cryptocurrency scams have stolen billions worldwide and can snatch up your savings, too. Now, law enforcement has stepped up their game to help you stop it.

With a Bitcoin ATM at his gas station, Alfredo Antolin has seen many times firsthand, how people come to make transactions after they have received a phone call but don’t realize they have been scammed.

“I try to tell all the employees in there if they’re older and they’re on the phone, please check in with them,” Antolin said. “And make sure that they’re doing it on their own. That they know what they’re doing and they have their own account and they’re not pushing it to someone else’s.”

In 2023, the Federal Reserve Estimated 18 million adults in America used cryptocurrency, a 3% drop compared to the year before. Now in Clay County, Prosecutor Zach Thompson has seen a rise in scam cases.

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“Scammers will direct investors to an online investing platform with the promise of a giant return when in fact they’re actually just stealing that person’s money,” Thompson explained. “The second type of scam, someone will call up their victim and pressure them to pay their bill with cryptocurrency.”

Lately, law enforcement has also seen thieves and drug dealers use digital assets to hide their dark money from the law. Now, investigators have gotten new training to track it down.

“It’s going to go over the basics of cryptocurrency so investigators can recognize potential evidence when they’re out in the field,” Thompson said.

The Clay County Sheriff’s Office undergoes cryptocurrency scam training on Aug. 16, 2024.(KCTV5/Alex Love)

Brian Karman led the course. And wants the public to know they can help you. So, never be afraid to report it.

“We have to take that report, we have to get that into the hands of the detective,” Karman said. “So, we can track those stolen funds and recoup those losses.”

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Investigators notice more young people fall for scams like this than the elderly. If you do get involved, they advise you to use U.S.-based crypto companies which have more oversight.

Crypto

Fed ‘Sweet Spot’ Sends Signal for Bitcoin as Jobs Data Quietly Sets Stage for $100K BTC

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Fed ‘Sweet Spot’ Sends Signal for Bitcoin as Jobs Data Quietly Sets Stage for 0K BTC
Bitcoin’s march toward $100,000 is gaining momentum as cooling U.S. labor data, shifting Fed policy expectations, and geopolitical tensions converge, setting the stage for renewed price discovery and a possible breakout beyond prior all-time highs.
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Rumors are swirling about Venezuela holding $60 billion in Bitcoin—but crypto experts are skeptical | Fortune

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Rumors are swirling about Venezuela holding  billion in Bitcoin—but crypto experts are skeptical | Fortune

Following the United States’ capture of Nicolás Maduro over the weekend, a report came out claiming that Venezuela had $60 billion stored in Bitcoin—leading to speculation that the U.S. could lay claim to cryptocurrency as well as oil. Despite numerous reports of the huge Venezuelan Bitcoin stash, however, a crypto forensic firm is skeptical of the claims. 

The news of Venezuela’s Bitcoin holding began to bubble up last Saturday, the same day that Maduro was ousted. The digital publication Project Brazen reported that his regime could control $60 billion in the original cryptocurrency—but offered little in the way of proof.

“The article does not mention any addresses as a starting point, making it difficult to verify any of these speculated claims,” said Aurelie Barthere, principal research analyst at Nansen, about Project Brazen’s report. 

Barthere is not the first person to express skepticism about the country’s purported crypto treasure trove. Mauricio di Bartolomeo, the Venezuelan co-founder of the financial services company Ledn, told Fortune on Wednesday that the level of the country’s corruption makes the figure hard to believe. He expanded his argument in an opinion piece he wrote for Coindesk. 

Estimates of Venezuela’s crypto holdings vary wildly. Bitcointreasuries.net estimates that the country has $22 million worth of Bitcoin. That figure would make Venezuela the government entity with the ninth-most money tied up in the original cryptocurrency, just behind North Korea. 

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While the exact size of Venezuela’s Bitcoin wealth is unclear, the country has long been a player in crypto. Maduro introduced a token called the Petro in 2018, which was shuttered six years later. Its citizens have also turned to stablecoins as a way to fight their currency’s hyperinflation.

Trump has said that he will “run” Venezuela, and some have speculated that includes seizing the country’s Bitcoin holdings. Andrew Fierman, head of national security intelligence at Chainalysis, said he could not speak to the likelihood of such a seizure. He did, however, explain what gaining control of assets might look like. 

A freezing of assets could occur through centralized services, he says. These services would get a court order for an exchange or an issuer like Tether or Circle who could blacklist an address. The second method is through physical seizure. The U.S. could get control of wallets, devices, and keys through compelled cooperation. 

For now, there is unlikely to be a full and accurate account of Venezuela’s Bitcoin holdings until the political situation in the country becomes more stable.

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Pantera Signals 2026 Crypto Breakout After 2025 Quietly De-Risked Markets

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Pantera Signals 2026 Crypto Breakout After 2025 Quietly De-Risked Markets
Crypto’s biggest gains in 2025 weren’t on price charts but in policy, institutions, and infrastructure, as regulatory reversals, Wall Street access, and onchain growth quietly reset the industry’s long-term trajectory, Pantera Capital argues.
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