Hotel in Apple Valley Scammed in Bitcoin Scheme

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Employees of an Apple Valley hotel were recently victimized by a bitcoin scam, although the thieves were only able to get away with $316.

Apple Valley Police say one of the crooks believed to be in charge of the hotel-owning chain – who has not been identified – called an employee and said he was sending a shipment of fire extinguishers at the Apple Valley location.

Staff were told to wait for the shipment, but the hotel had to pay FedEx $5,000 for shipping, with a woman then joining the call claiming to be from FedEx to confirm the amount.

The hotel was informed that if the charges were not paid, an additional penalty of $5,000 would be imposed.

A member of staff was told to check the hotel safe for money to pay for delivery, but there was only $316 inside. The worker was then instructed to go to a nearby Bitcoin machine and send the $316 through the terminal.

The employee realized it was a scam when the fire extinguishers never arrived, with police receiving a report of the scheme on December 19.

Apple Valley PD says an investigation has determined that the money was sent via Bitcoin to Mexico and is therefore not recoverable.

CNBC previously reported that cryptocurrency scammers stole over $14 billion in 2021.

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