In 2025 Eden Prairie residents and businesses were scammed out of $7.8 million, a significant increase over the $2.3 million lost in 2024.

Two of the most prevalent and increasing scams Eden Prairie Police have investigated over the last year are fraudulent cryptocurrency investment scams (aka “Pig Butchering”) and gold investment scams.

In cryptocurrency investment scams, victims meet someone online who swindles them into investing in cryptocurrency with the promise of high returns on their investments. Victims discover the fraud when they are unable to withdraw their funds.

In gold investment scams, victims are typically contacted by someone over the phone who states they are employed by a federal agency. The victims are swindled into purchasing gold bars online, which are then delivered to the victim’s residence. The suspects then send a courier to the victim’s residence to collect the gold bars.

Other frequently reported scams include:

• Business Email Compromise scams
• Tech Support scams
• Phishing scams
• Romance scams
• Grandparent scams
• Identity theft
• Any scam in which the suspects impersonate federal agencies or law enforcement

Scammers can be very persuasive and use tactics that prey on people’s fears and vulnerabilities. They spoof caller ID numbers, email addresses and names to appear legitimate and make threats that sound credible. The perpetrator may impersonate the IRS, a police department, the Social Security Administration, a bank, a utility company or a grandchild in trouble. If you receive a call or email that seems like a scam, the best thing to do is hang up immediately or delete the email – do not engage and do not send money or gift cards.

While the EPPD investigates all reports of scams, these cases are often challenging to solve as it is difficult to identify suspects who are not using their real names and often live outside of the U.S. The phone numbers and email addresses used to perpetrate the scams are quickly disconnected or are associated with throwaway phones that cannot be traced. Once thieves receive the money, it is spent immediately before victims have a chance to realize what happened.