10/29/2026
So here we are…it’s a cloudy day in Llano, Texas and we’re getting a little rain…things are just fine and dandy. You’re enjoying a little afternoon snack, and you receive a phone call from the Denton Police Department. The fella on the phone says you have a warrant out for your arrest and the only way to pay your bond is by going to the Bitcoin ATM. You tell the guy that you don’t live in Denton and, as if by magic, you’re transferred to a Detective here in Llano. That guy tells you that you have a limited amount of time to pay or you’re going to be arrested, so you better get down to the convenience store there on Ford Street and get that crypto transferred.
Hang on a second, we need to talk…seriously.
First and foremost, the chances that our Detective is going to call you regarding a warrant for your arrest are pretty slim to begin with. If you do have a warrant for your arrest, we typically just come and arrest you. If you haven’t had any law enforcement contact in the last few months, or maybe never, then the chances that you have a warrant are next to none.
The Llano Police Department is NEVER going to call you on the phone and demand that you pay your fine or warrant using cryptocurrency like bitcoin, gift cards, wire transfers, or any form of electronic currency. We’re also NEVER going to contact you by phone to request that you go to your bank to withdraw funds from your account.
If this is EVER asked of you, it's a scam!
When dealing with phone calls like this, always remember that you can request the contact information of the person you’re talking to and simply hang up. Look the phone number up and see if the one they gave you matches the contact information for whatever agency or company the person claims to represent. If, by chance, the number does match ours [because folks have received calls from our number that were falsely generated] call us and verify that the call was legitimate. If it was, we’ll be happy to help you and if it wasn’t us calling you, we’ll let you know.
So, why is it that scammers are requesting crypto, gift cards, wire transfers, and other forms of electronic money transfers? It’s because those types of payments are extremely hard to get money back on, they can be accessed from anywhere, and they don’t require any in-person interactions as it’s not physical money.
Crypto is minimally regulated by the government and is not controlled or stored by any banks. It’s not like credit cards where a fraudulent transaction can be canceled or reversed by way of fraud protections in place. Cryptocurrency is mostly sent from one person’s crypto wallet to another person’s crypto wallet. Transactions like that allow for extreme anonymity and there’s an extremely high chance that the transaction cannot be reversed. We might be able to track the transaction and even identify the owner of the account that the crypto was sent to, but we can’t stop or reverse the transaction.
Fact: A lot of folks recognize Bitcoin as a cryptocurrency, but did you know that there are around 10,000 other names? Some of them may include Ether, Tether, Litecoin, Ethereum, BNB, USD Coin, Dogecoin, among others. Crypto is not a commonly recognized currency and is only accepted as legitimate payment in very rare cases.
Look at it this way: if you can’t pay for your groceries with it, you shouldn’t be paying a fine with it or sending it to anyone to get your butt out of a sling.
And what is it with the gift cards? We’ve talked about this before…the scammers will ask you to purchase a gift card for the amount they say you owe on your “bond,” and then ask you to either take a picture of the gift card number and PIN or just give it to them over the phone. As soon as you give them that information, your money is GONE and will probably never be able to be recovered.
Remember, JUST SAY NO to gift cards as payment for anything.
As always, if you believe you have been the victim of a financial scam, give us a call here at the Llano Police Department.
Our super legit phone number is 325-247-3028.
