According to New York State Police, scammers are operating in the Twin Tiers area, offering residents staged investments. They lure victims into cryptocurrency, gold bullion, and coins, and then drain their accounts when they provide financial information.
Investigators issued a warning this week. Those who fall for this scheme could lose all their savings.
How the Twin Tiers Scam System Works
New York State Police reported that the callers spend some time establishing rapport with the person they are trying to deceive before directing them to a website that looks like a legitimate investment platform. Once the victim enters their bank details or account information on this site, the money is at risk.
Police officers warn people who receive an unsolicited call offering to buy cryptocurrency or gold not to give out any information or visit websites suggested by the caller.
State Police advise hanging up and calling 9-1-1. This advice is particularly relevant if the caller offers to sell cryptocurrency and requests financial information.
New York State Police stated that anyone who believes they have already been caught should immediately call local law enforcement or State Police, and then contact their bank and close all accounts.
Federal Warning Came Days Earlier
On July 30th, the Criminal Investigation Division of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service reported that scammers were sending fake letters from the IRS to cryptocurrency holders. The letters informed recipients of the need to register on a "Digital Asset Compliance Portal" by a set deadline, but no such portal exists.
The letters contain a QR code that redirects victims to a website styled after IRS[.]gov, where a page requests personal information, wallet data, or exchange login credentials, the agency reported.
"The U.S. Internal Revenue Service does not operate a Digital Asset Compliance Verification Portal," a press release stated. "This is a scam."
Jarod Koopman, head of the IRS Criminal Investigation Division, said: "Before responding to unexpected requests for personal information, stop, verify the source, and report potential fraud schemes to law enforcement."
The agency does include QR codes in some legitimate notices, including CP53E letters, so an IRS-CI spokesperson said taxpayers should ignore codes printed on any letter and go directly to the IRS[.]gov website or call the contact information listed there.
The IRS statement did not explain how names and addresses of cryptocurrency owners were obtained for the mailings. A spokesperson for the IRS Criminal Investigation Division declined to discuss the scale of the campaign.
Coinbase and the cybersecurity firm DarkTower traced the operation to a domain registered through a Hong Kong registrar and hosted in Romania.
In May, Cryptopolitan reported that scammers were sending Ledger customers fake letters about a "Quantum Resistance security update" containing QR codes leading to sites that stole 24-word recovery phrases.
According to the FBI, Americans lost approximately $21 billion to cybercrime and online fraud in 2025, Cryptopolitan previously reported.
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