Utah man loses $384,000 in cryptocurrency scam
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Michael Locklear, KUTV
SOUTH JORDAN, Utah (KUTV) — A South Jordan man wants to warn others after a scammer swindled him out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The money was invested in cryptocurrency, and crooks are eager to target newbies as more join the craze.
“I’ve shed a lot of tears, I’m not going to lie,” said Brandon Larsen.
The total he lost: $384,006 and some change.
The problem turned out to be a fake mobile app that stole his credentials. He uses an exchange to trade bitcoin and other virtual currencies and wanted to be able to use it on his phone. However, the exchange did not even have a mobile app.
“Unfortunately it was a look-alike app,” he said, “and I gave access to my digital wallet to a hacker.”
Larsen said you have to be careful about trusting people, with scammers looking to profit. Despite his loss, he’s not getting out of the game.
“There’s still a tremendous opportunity to make money in crypto,” he said, “and I’m still going to take advantage of that.”