An alleged $225,000 Bitcoin scam involving two poker players may have taken a sinister twist after new footage of a strange visit to the accuser’s old address appeared online.
English poker pro Lynne Beaumont went on Facebook to accuse American Terik Brown of withholding four Bitcoins she claims to have purchased from her. The February post details how she bought $40,000 worth of Bitcoin in 2019 through Brown and a company called Bank of Crypto.
She’d met Brown, a fellow pro, at the tables in Las Vegas. He handled the crypto transaction for Beaumont but, after six months, she wanted out. That’s when Brown went MIA and the ominous events started.
Beaumont details alleged Bitcoin scam
In a follow-up post on March 3, Beaumont said that she’d been contacted by a “mystery woman” claiming to be from Bank of Crypto. The caller allegedly told her “not to say anything” and to “stop defaming” Brown.
When Beaumont tried to respond, the caller hung up. She described it as an “intimidating call” due to the fact two “shady looking characters” had visited her old house just days before (see video below).
No direct threats were made, but the unannounced visitor claimed to have a special delivery for Beaumont (see video below).
It’s been more than a month since Beaumont made the allegations, but three video clips of the home visit were posted on YouTube today (see videos below).
The videos show a masked woman approaching Beaumont’s former residence and tell the new occupant that she was trying to deliver a package.
When the man who answered the door said he could take the package to Beaumont, the woman said that wouldn’t be possible. Refusing to give a package to anyone except the recipient or a nominated recipient is standard practice in the UK. What isn’t standard practice, however, is asking for a forwarding address.
Delivery drivers are expected to take undelivered packages back to the courier company. If the package remains undelivered, it gets returned to the original sender. A delivery driver can’t ask for an address from the person who answers the door. Firstly, they may not know the previous householder. Secondly, if they did, it would be a breach of privacy laws to give out their address.
Beaumont, who has WSOP final table to her name, has also said that woman’s voice in the video matches the one she heard on the phone.
Unexpected visit raises alarm bells
At this stage, Beaumont says she doesn’t expect to get her Bitcoin back from Brown. He has reportedly blocked her on all social media platforms and on WhatsApp.
The price of Bitcoin at the time of writing was $56,368. Although Beaumont’s initial investment was $40,000, the current value of Bitcoin means she’s lost out on $225,472. That fact aside, the alleged message from someone claiming to represent Bank of Crypto could be a cause for concern. Bitcoin is a valuable commodity and people have died trying to protect it.
A 24-year-old man from Kerala, India, was tortured to death in 2019. Abdul Shukoor was kidnapped and tortured by 10 men who wanted $64,000 worth of Bitcoin. The alleged perpetrators eventually took Shukoor to the hospital after he stopped breathing, but he was pronounced dead on arrival.
There haven’t been any threats of violence in this case, but there is clearly a lot of money at stake.
Beaumont, however, has resolved herself to the fact she may not ever see her Bitcoin. And, she’s even managed to joke about it the ordeal.
“If I don’t get out to Vegas this summer … it may not be because of the pandemic,” she wrote on Facebook.
