the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Glen Rock NJ, on Monday January 23rd at 2:55 PM a Glen Rock resident reported they learned of an investment opportunity from a purported professional colleague out of California, who they became acquainted with via social media. The resident made a series of investments totaling $25,100 via bitcoin and initially saw a high return on the investment. However, when the resident became suspicious and sought to withdraw funds from the account, the company, Crocker Wealth Management, stopped responding, and they have been unable to withdraw funds.
Subsequently, the resident contacted their California colleague and learned that someone had assumed their identity to create fraudulent social media accounts and that they had never recommended the investment opportunity. The Detective Bureau is currently investigating this matter.
This type of scam involves using a cloned account to send phishing links, or trick your friends into giving information, or, worse, sending money. They may also use this cloned account for other scams on the social network by exploiting your identity and your contacts. They replicate social media accounts by using all your public photos and information, making a copy of your existing account, and then adding your contacts. Scammers will pretend to be you and then start messaging your connections.
