Report of Criminals extorting money from alleged visitors to massage and hobby sites.

[Buckwiser]

Sad that so much extortion money has been paid to these criminals. Others can speculate if this scam is related to the hacked
massage and hacked hobby sites.


https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/ma...ounty/2900313/

The Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office is warning residents about the latest cryptocurrency scam targeting men in North Texas.

According to the Tarrant County CDA’s Office, the scam begins when a man claiming to be an investigator with the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorneys Office calls his target.

The scammer tells the victim that he committed a crime when he contacted massage or sex-related websites, the CDA's Office said. The alleged crimes cited involved illegal sexual conduct.

The CDA’s Office said so far, the victims of this scam have mainly been elderly men.

If the target doesn't pay the fine, the scammer says he will be prosecuted. According to the Tarrant County CDA's Office, the fines are to be paid in increments to a bitcoin machine or kiosk at a location designated by the scammer.

The call appears to come from 817-884-1400, which is the general telephone number to the CDA, the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office said.

According to the CDA, senior citizens in Tarrant County have been tricked into paying fines that have totaled around $300,000.

[ntxguy]

Thanks Buckwiser.

[justanotherday]

Originally Posted by Buckwiser

According to the CDA, senior citizens in Tarrant County have been tricked into paying fines that have totaled around $300,000.

as long as payment continues, they will continue.
if LE says 300,000, it may very well be as much as 3,000,000 because who would report it and potentially be ridiculed and family finding out.


When i started going to relax in their early days, like a dumbass, i parked in the front. after awhile i started parking on the other side of the complex, just out of caution. once i was hanging around outside waiting for the appointment, and noticed many cameras set up to view outside areas.


a sb i saw a few times, about a year later someone texted me from her number. i replied back, "hey its been a long time!"

they replied, i just wanted to verify the number was current, as i'm reporting you to the police. Never heard anything else since then and its been maybe a year.


I speculated that the young lady (who told me about numerous drug issues she had) overdosed and her family gained access to her phone and was trying to hurt those who "hurt" her.

[BLM69]

Originally Posted by justanotherday

a sb i saw a few times, about a year later someone texted me from her number. i replied back, "hey its been a long time!"

they replied, i just wanted to verify the number was current, as i'm reporting you to the police. Never heard anything else since then and its been maybe a year.


I speculated that the young lady (who told me about numerous drug issues she had) overdosed and her family gained access to her phone and was trying to hurt those who "hurt" her.

Bad habits and the hobby go hand and hand

[ftango4]

So how do the criminals get the victims phone number? How do they know the victim is a customer/client etc? Or that the victim viewed xyz website?

[Tsmokies]

The same way robo callers get phone numbers I guess. Then they just call a bunch and hope they connect with a senior citizen gullible ever to fail for the scam. Scamming the elders is about as low as a person can go in life

[ftango4]

Fortunately most senior citizens don't have bitcoin wallets. Maybe bitcoin machines take dollars. I think some of them maybe accept credit or debit cards. Not sure.

[winn dixie]

Originally Posted by Tsmokies

The same way robo callers get phone numbers I guess. Then they just call a bunch and hope they connect with a senior citizen gullible ever to fail for the scam. Scamming the elders is about as low as a person can go in life

Yes it is! Completely agree

[pmdelites]

like willie sutton said when asked why he robbed banks - "that's where the cash is!"

scammers are going after businesses, governments, school districts, etc.
and regular folks and seniors.

i tell everyone i know - if you didnt buy something from the "emailer", are not expecting a package to be delivered, dont know "who" is calling you, or are asked to send money via gift cards, payment system or bitcoin, just delete the email (optionally marking it spam) or hang up.

now i gotta tell them "dont fall for the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney scam!" (esp my elderly guy friends, provider consumer or not :^}


sad to say, but if someone falls for this scam
"... If the target doesn't pay the fine, the scammer says he will be prosecuted. According to the Tarrant County CDA's Office, the fines are to be paid in increments to a bitcoin machine or kiosk at a location designated by the scammer. ..."
i'm sorry they lost the money. hopefully, they learned not to do it again.

[LadyAnastasia]

Preying on people's "shame" is probably one of the oldest forms of scamming. The world we live in has all the variations of stupid people.

[Chung Tran]

I have been getting the ''your bank account at (CHASE, Wells Fargo, etc.) Has been compromised.. Click here...'' a lot, recently.

[BLM69]

Originally Posted by LadyAnastasia

Preying on people's "shame" is probably one of the oldest forms of scamming. The world we live in has all the variations of stupid people.

Actually desperate people, probably with bad habits

[ftango4]

Happy to report that most of the seniors I know don't really know what bitcoin is much less how to find a bitcoin atm in Dallas. Looks like most of them are down in the hood and the ATM fee aint cheap so none of them would do that.


Of bigger concern for the seniors down here in the hood is the potential pending bankruptcy of the Edgemere...

[Buckwiser]

Thoughts on this...

Possibly hackers accessed private messages stored in provider accounts, and these messages contained phone numbers and names,age etc. Then the criminal has specific info with which to target victims.

Or a pimp and a lady/ladies could be doing this scam. Perhaps a provider who accepts Bitcoin for services. If she advertises on any board and was/is active, the extortionist will have phone numbers of potential victims.

The criminal likely gave the victims detailed instructions how to use a bitcoin kiosk.

$300,000 reported extorted just from North Texas hobbyists... maybe thats a small piece of what the criminals really got.

If the victims really are non-hobbyist over-70 year old men with diminished judgement who never hobby its suprising to me a criminal would assume he could get them to successfully follow instructions at a bitcoin kiosk

[Doug4343]

Also, many scammers will post ads, fake ones. Once you call it, they got your number. One group did that, got your number, looked you up on social media, then posted your pic on their web site saying you were soliciting hookers….. another form of extortion to take it down. Hobby phone or google voice please