EPPD investigators have had two recent cases of Eden Prairie businesses being targeted by scammers.

In one case, scammers posed as a representative of FedEx and told a hotel employee to go to a Bitcoin ATM to withdraw money and send it to them. The hotel employee did not transfer any money and called the police instead. The scammer also threatened the employee by saying they were re-watching the hotel.

In another case, a store employee received a phone call from a scammer posing as the store’s manager. The scammer urgently stated that UPS needed to deliver a package to the store but to do so the employee would need to take money from the store’s cash register and safe, and bring the money to a Bit Coin ATM. Before the employee realized they were being scammed, they had deposited $8,000.

This type of scam is called a “CEO Scam,” as the scammer impersonates an owner or manager of a business, and through social engineering, creates urgency and convinces the employee to facilitate a financial transaction. Similar crimes have been reported in other metro area cities.

If you or your business receives a call like those described above, always hang up and call the vendor or manager/owner directly to verify the request is legitimate. In addition, FedEx and UPS do not ask for money or Bitcoin to deliver packages.

If you believe you’ve been scammed, call the EPPD at 952-949-6200.