Albemarle County, Virginia, is experiencing a sharp rise in cryptocurrency scams, with nearly 30 reports filed since January 2025, according to the Albemarle County Police Department. The average loss per victim in the county is $26,000. Virginia ranks tenth nationally for the number of reports and fifteenth for total dollars stolen, according to the FBI. Detective Marcus Baggett with the Albemarle County Police Department described the impact on the community as heartbreaking.
“Completely devastating. We have elderly folks who have worked their entire career to be retired. And after these types of losses, they may find themselves living with elderly parents,” Baggett said. State Police First Sergeant Adam Culpa of the high-tech crimes division said criminals use a variety of threats to manipulate victims. They then send a QR code, which victims scan at cryptocurrency ATMs before depositing cash. If you do put money into a Bitcoin ATM, it prints out a receipt with the address on there.
Without that starting point, without that initial on-ramped address, it’s nearly impossible to follow the trace. “We can trace it, but in order to actually get the funds and return them, often by the time a victim comes and reports it, it is already moved on to other wallets and converted to other types of currency,” Harris said. Harris said residents should be aware of one key indicator of a scam. “There is no legitimate business, government agency, or bank, or financial institution that is going to demand our U.S. citizens to pay or send money through cryptocurrency,” Harris said.
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