The NY Attorney General’s office says that scammers using text messages stole $2M in cryptocurrency from people who fell for them

NEW YORK — According to New York’s attorney general, scammers stole millions of dollars in cryptocurrency from people looking for work-from-home jobs as part of a complex plan.

Attorney General Letitia James said Thursday that she has filed a case to get back more than $2 million that she says was stolen from people in New York and across the country.

James said that the unknown group of hackers sent unwanted text messages to people who were looking for work from home.

James’ office said that the people who were scammed were told that the job involved reviewing goods online to help gather “market data.” But they were told that in order to start making money, they had to open cryptocurrency accounts and keep the balance at least as high as the prices of the goods they were reviewing.

James’ office said the scammers took the victims’ money and put it in their own cryptocurrency wallets after telling them they would return their investments plus a fee. A website that was set up as part of the plan was also used for the product reviews.

The lawsuit names seven victims from New York, Virginia, and Florida, but they are only known by their fake names. The suit says that one victim in New York lost more than $100,000. An American woman lost more than $300,000.

In a statement, she said, “It is cruel and unacceptable to trick people in New York who want to work from home and support their families.” “Scammers sent text messages to people in New York saying they had flexible, well-paying jobs. The scammers then got the people to buy cryptocurrency, which they then stole.”

James’ lawsuit is an attempt to get back the money that was stolen.

Melinda Katz, the district attorney for Queens, said that her office’s cryptocurrency unit found the digital wallets where more than $2 million worth of stolen cryptocurrency was kept. Then, with help from James’s office, the money was frozen until it could be given back to the victims.

“Work scams that take advantage of people looking for real jobs not only take their hard-earned money, but they also make them lose faith in the job market,” she said.