Mercury News: Are You a Victim of Crypto Crime? Erin West Wants to Help

Thieves think that stolen cryptocurrency from duped consumers is the perfect crime – anonymous, secret and safe from seizure.

Erin West is proving them wrong.

In the past year, the Santa Clara County prosecutor and her team have recovered $2.5 million worth of digital currency from scammed Bay Area residents, with about 75 investigations still underway.

One victim was an entrepreneur whose cell phone account was hacked, then emptied. Another was a father who was tricked into a fake investment scheme, losing his child’s college fund. Yet another was a grandfather, fooled by the sobs of someone pretending to be his grandson in a car accident. There are hundreds of others.