The Sheriff's Office needs to once again warn members of the public of a telephone scam taking place in the area that has already resulted in a local citizen suffering a substantial monetary loss.  In this particular case, someone claiming to be a "bank officer" from a local bank called the victim on the phone, convinced the victim to withdraw several thousand dollars in cash from the victim's bank account, and then deposit the cash in smaller increments at different crypto ATMs around Mountain Home.  Crypto ATMs are stand-alone electronic kiosks that allow users to buy and sell cryptocurrency in exchange for cash or with a debit card.  The victim in this case followed the instructions and sustained the loss.

     These types of calls are fraudulent scam calls.  They are not legitimate and can result in substantial financial loss to people.

     If someone claiming to be a "bank officer" contacts you by phone and requests you take action of this sort involving your bank accounts, you are advised to go directly to your local bank and speak to a bank representative in person rather than agreeing to do anything by phone. 

     These scammers attempt to intimidate or coerce the people they are calling into following their demands.  In many cases there will be no method available to recover funds already lost.

     Do not provide or verify any of your personal information at all to these phone scammers.  Do not become a victim. 

     People who receive these kinds of phone calls may contact their local law enforcement agencies directly at the published phone number for the agency to report any actual monetary losses that have been sustained from a scam.

Baxter County Sheriff's Office