Sept. 29, 2025, 9:38 a.m. ET
- The Bay County Sheriff’s Office is warning residents about a new foreign currency investment scam.
- Scammers falsely claim that certain foreign currencies, like the Vietnamese Dong, will be “re-valued” to be worth more than the U.S. dollar.
- Victims are targeted through phone calls and social media with promises of high returns on a small investment.
- Authorities advise that while the currency is real, it holds no investment value and is difficult to resell.
PANAMA CITY — The Bay County Sheriff’s Office is warning of a new scam afflicting county residents.
The new scam offers victims a way to make some money in the form of foreign currency investments.
“A local financial institution that offers foreign currency exchange as part of their services has reported to the BCSO a rapid rise in customers requesting to purchase Vietnamese currency,” the BCSO wrote in a news release. “This scam has, in the past, involved the Iraqi Dinar, the Egyptian Pound, and now the Vietnamese Dong.”
“Preppers” will call victims or post to social media claiming that a foreign currency is going to be “re-valued” by their government. This would hypothetically make their money worth more than the U.S. dollar, and so the scammers pitch this as a low-risk trade with a high award.
BCSO says that the revaluation claim by scammers is highly unlikely, and that even if their economy grows, the value of their dollar would still rise slowly. To say the least, the victim will not be seeing a return on their investment.
The sheriff’s office says that while the currency is real, it would be difficult to resell and holds no investment value.
“Remember: If incredible returns are promised for a nominal initial investment, it’s probably too good to be true,” BCSO wrote in the release.
Those who are victims of a scam should contact the BCSO at 850-747-4700, and they will attempt to help.
