FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. – A Palm Coast man has been arrested in connection with a law enforcement impersonation scam involving a fake arrest warrant and demands for payment via Bitcoin, according to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.
Tory Harvey, 24, was charged with an organized scheme to defraud and unlawful use of a two-way communication device.
Authorities were alerted on Monday by a potential victim who reported that someone posing as a Flagler County deputy threatened arrest unless he paid $5,000. Investigators monitored the communication and discovered the scammer instructed the victim to deposit the money into a Bitcoin ATM. When the victim refused, he was told to leave cash in a mailbox on Wellhaven Lane in Palm Coast.
Detectives set a trap using an empty envelope. Shortly after, Harvey was seen retrieving it and fleeing the scene. When the victim pretended he would now comply and leave the money, Harvey returned—only to be apprehended by deputies.
While Harvey was not the voice on the phone or the primary organizer, investigators say he was working with a co-conspirator. He was booked into the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility and later released on $5,000 bond.
The investigation is ongoing, and authorities are working to identify other individuals involved. The Sheriff’s Office encourages anyone with similar scam experiences to report them by calling 386-313-4911.
In a related case, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrest of a woman accused of impersonating a lieutenant in a nearly identical scam that defrauded a victim of $9,300.
