A 37-year-old Bellefontaine man reported to Bellefontaine Police that he was scammed out of $341,000 between November 17, 2023, and Monday.
The man said he initially deposited $200,000 to purchase gold online with a company and within a few days his investment grew to $800,000.
When he went to withdraw money, the company informed him that he would need to pay $91,000 in taxes to be able to make the withdraw.
An unknown person went to the man’s home, collected the “tax” money, and told the victim that the money was placed with Bitcoin and that he would have to withdraw it through them.
The person went on to tell the man that he would have to pay $50,000 to Bitcoin to have the money unblocked and deposited into his account.
The victim then paid the person and was told that he would have to contact the Department of Homeland Security because they had his money.
When the victim was unable to successfully contact the office, he contacted the police.
Further investigation is pending.