Consumer complaint received 2019-03-22
Company: Athena Bitcoin Inc
State: CA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Virtual currency
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
At XXXX XX/XX/19 I got a call from XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX the first call lasted : 3hr 25min The man said he was an FBI agent named XXXX XXXX His badge number : XXXX My case file : XXXX He was very hard to understand with a thick XXXX accent XXXX. So I couldnt make out everything he was saying but the gist was scary : He told me my identity had been stolen, that someone had taken my social security card and used it for money laundering and drug trafficking. They found a stolen XXXX XXXX outside of XXXX Texas in my name that lead directly to huge amounts of XXXX. And that over XXXX dollars had been wired transferred in my name out of the country. 

When I decided that maybe this could be a scam and was about to tell someone. They told me not to tell anyone. If I did they would become part of my case and could also be endited. They said not to hang up the phone or it would be used against me in court as not complying to government wishes. 

They told me they were going to terminate my social security thus losing my identity making it impossible for me to do anything. I would not be able to go to work , drive my car, use any of my money. All my assets would be frozen and taken by the government. I got scared and stressed out and asked how I was going to live? 

They said if I comply with them they could help me. 

So I called my job and said I couldnt come in. 

I was then put on the phone with, XXXX associate : Restitution Officer XXXX XXXX XXXX His badge number : XXXX He told me in order to save my assets they would need to see proof that I was connected to my bank accounts, since the person using my name was attached to many many bank accounts. 

I told him all my assets car, apartment, exact amount in my checking, my savings and my business checking. 

He then told me to pull out XXXX from my XXXX checking account. He said tell me when you get to XXXX and then Ill walk you through what you need to do, keep me on the phone, do not hang up. If they ask what the money is for, make up something. As soon as you create suspicion your social will be taken and youll go to jail. 

XXXX told me the account and barcode info was to set up a US treasury account through bitcoin so when my identity was changed I would still have my money. By following his orders I was showing him that I had full access and these were my true accounts and not the person who had " stolen my identity '' to commit crimes. He e-mailed me the account info I would scan at the bitcoin ATM through this email : XXXX. 

I went to multiple bitcoin locations around the city, depositing cash from my 2 different checking accounts. The first bitcoin location where I deposited money was : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, CA XXXX I deposited the largest increment they would let me at : {$1900.00}. 

I used 3 different codes in this order, depositing a total of XXXX to each : XXXX XXXX XXXX The final amount was {$4200.00} at the location : XXXX XXXX XXXX at XXXX, using the third code above. The transaction ID : XXXX I have attached receipts of all the different ATM locations, totaling {$30000.00} For Athena the total would be : {$5800.00} I did two installments in a row at the same machine of {$2900.00}. ( one receipt is attached below ). 
The location of the bitcoin was : XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, CA XXXX, United States The bitcoin ATMs used in this scam were : XXXX XXXX   ATM XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXt ( XXXX ) XXXX XXXX XXXX   ( XXXX ) XXXX

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation