90-year-old reunites with officer who kept her from losing nearly $10,000 to crypto scam

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT/Gray News) - A 90-year-old woman says she almost lost $10,000 to a scammer before a North Carolina police officer stopped her at a bitcoin kiosk outside a gas station.

Mary Ann Nunley, 90, says the cryptocurrency scam began July 27 with a text message.

“I got a message on my phone. It said that my account with the Geek Squad had ended,” Nunley said.

The message said $390 would be taken out of her account.

“So, I called the number. I said, ‘Cancel this. I don’t want it, and I want my money back,” Nunley said.

The call led to hours of back-and-forth with a man who promised to return Nunley’s money but was trying to steal more. The scammer told her she needed to take nearly $10,000 to a nearby bitcoin kiosk to fix the situation.

Nunley drove to a gas station in Wilmington with a bitcoin machine, which was broken.

“Sure enough, there was a money machine there, except it was broken,” Nunley said.

Wilmington Police Officer Nicholas Morrison was on a routine check at the gas station when he saw Nunley holding the nearly $10,000 in cash and talking on her cell phone. Recognizing warning signs of a crypto scam, he walked over to her.

“This nice police man came up to me and said, ’Don’t put your money in that machine. You’re being scammed,’” Nunley said.