Beware, business owners and employees, scammers have upped their game. The Eden Prairie Police Department has sounded the alarm after local businesses fell victim to some high-stakes schemes. These con artists are using the names of well-known courier services, FedEx and UPS, to swindle funds from unsuspecting workers.
In a brazen attempt reported by local authorities, scammers convinced a hotel employee they were from FedEx. Their ruse was to compel the worker to quickly withdraw money and send it via a Bitcoin ATM. Luckily, this employee was vigilant enough to call the police instead of following through. But the audacity stretched further, the scammer threatened by implying they had the hotel under surveillance, as described in a bulletin from the Eden Prairie Police Department.
Another Eden Prairie store wasn't as fortunate. Here, the scammers posed as the store manager, convincing an employee that UPS needed payment to deliver a package—urgently requiring the employee to take $8,000 from the store's cash register and safe to a Bitcoin ATM. Before the scam was realized, the money was gone. This "CEO Scam", preys on employees by impersonating higher-ups and employing social engineering tactics to create a sense of urgency, thereby tricking employees into executing these so-called financial transactions as "emergencies".
The hard truth is, that scams like these are not isolated incidents but are part of a growing menace plaguing metro area cities. The Eden Prairie Police Department urges businesses to critically assess such calls and, before taking any rash steps, to always verify with actual managers or owners. The actual courier companies FedEx and UPS would never request payments in Bitcoin for package delivery, as they clearly state. And if you fall prey to such deceit, it's crucial to immediately report it to the Eden Prairie Police at 952-949-6200.
