Eaton County warns of fake deputy images directing Bitcoin payments
Eaton County Sheriff Tom Reich has warned that callers posing as police pair spoofed local numbers with AI-generated deputy pictures. The images show supposed officers beside Bitcoin machines and direct recipients toward deposits. Callers threaten arrest over invented payment demands. The Michigan warning identifies an incorrect uniform color in one picture and asks residents to withhold personal and banking information.
Artificial Intelligence··Midday
A generated deputy stands beside a Bitcoin machine
Fabricated images of sheriff’s deputies beside Bitcoin machines are being used to direct people toward cryptocurrency deposits, according to Eaton County Sheriff Tom Reich. The sheriff’s October 24 warning concerns residents of the county in the US state of Michigan. WILX reported that callers combine these images with demands for immediate payment. Reich identified a wrong-colored uniform in one picture as a sign of fabrication. The image-generation tool used in the scheme was not identified.[1]
Local numbers and invented names add pressure
The callers make their numbers appear local to Eaton County and introduce themselves under invented deputy names. Recipients face an immediate-payment demand backed by a threat of arrest. A missed jury summons is one pretext; purported traffic penalties and municipal fines are others. Callers also ask for bond money, claiming a relative needs release from jail. The supposed official pictured beside a machine reinforces instructions delivered by someone impersonating the sheriff’s office on the phone.[1]
The sheriff asks residents to end payment calls
Reich says a legitimate law-enforcement agency would never phone to collect cryptocurrency or demand cash for fines and bond. He asks recipients to end these conversations and keep their personal details and banking information private. His appeal also asks people to pass the warning on within their families and neighborhoods, including to older residents. Verified financial losses and the number of victims were not given. The warning addresses payment pressure backed by an artificial deputy picture and a number made to look local.[1]
