PORTLAND, Oregon — Police are investigating a string of bitcoin machine thefts involving what appears to be a fake work crew.
The most recent incident happened Wednesday afternoon at the St. Johns Deli and Grocery on North Lombard Street. Ashwin Chattri was working at the time when he noticed a man and woman dressed in matching uniforms unbolting a Bitcoin machine from floor.
"I thought it was unusual," said Chattri. "But I thought like maybe (the machine) had been acting up."
Chattri said his dad owns the store, so he figured the service call had been prearranged. He said the "work crew" even called ahead to say they were running late. After removing the machine, the alleged crooks vacuumed the floor and handed Chattri a fake invoice.
"Seemed legit," said Chattri. "But then the next morning, I come to find out that they actually came to steal the machine from us."
Chattri said there was about $400 inside the machine at the time it was stolen. He said customers use the machine to buy bitcoin or send money. He said the store doesn't own the machine, but rents space to the company that does, Dynamic Exchange Network.
"We called the company and we're like, 'Hey, what's going on? Why is the device not here?'" recalled Chattri. "And they're like, 'What are you talking about? We never sent anybody out.'"
Security video showed the crooks loading the bitcoin machine into a silver Dodge Ram with a license plate number that started with 050.
A representative from Dynamic Exchange Network said that last month, crooks stole a machine from the Jubitz truck stop on North Vancouver Way, as well as a third machine from a service station in Albany. Security images showed the suspects appeared to the be the same people involved in the deli theft and left a similar fake service invoice.
"I don't want to see this repeating," said Chattri, hoping to warn others about the thefts. "How low can you go to steal from a business that's trying to survive in the world, you know?"