GLASGOW, Ky. (WBKO) – The Glasgow Police Department is warning residents about an increase in scams that have cost community members thousands of dollars over the past few months.
Major Terry Flatt said scammers are impersonating various entities and instructing victims to withdraw money from their bank accounts and convert it to cryptocurrency.
“They’re calling, impersonating, different entities and asking you to go to your bank, draw out, money from your personal bank account and take it to somewhere that’s you can deposit into cryptocurrency,” Flatt said. “And that’s on our end is very hard to trace back.”
Scammers target cryptocurrency and gift cards
According to Flatt, cryptocurrency, bitcoin and gift cards are common payment methods requested by scammers.
He said requests for these forms of payment should serve as red flags for potential victims.
“We’re currently working a case that does involve several thousands of dollars, and it does make it difficult on our end because some of these, is overseas and it’s hard to trace back or get an exact location of where the money may have went, especially when they’re doing the gift card deal,” Flatt explained.
Elderly residents increasingly targeted
The department has also seen an increase in grandparent scams, where scammers impersonate close relatives. Officers have noticed a specific age group falling victim to these schemes.
“They’ve not been targeting one specific age group. However, over the last month or so, the elderly victims have picked up in our area,” Flatt said. “We’ve had six within the last month, month and a half, and those fall in the age group of age 65 and older.”
Police advise residents to decline suspicious calls and report them to their local police department instead of answering.
For more tips to beat scammers visit: www.bbb.org/article/tips/8767-bbb-tips-10-steps-to-avoid-scams
Copyright 2026 WBKO. All rights reserved.