East Lyme ― Town police said Monday investigators have recovered a portion of the $60,000 stolen from a senior citizen as part of a phone scam.

Police, in a statement, said the money was taken in August 2022 by unknown individuals who tricked a senior citizen into making several cash withdrawals from different banks and converting the cash into Bitcoin, a crytocurrency, on a Bitcoin Depot machine. Police said the victim was told by an “attorney” over the phone that the money would go to repay fraudulent charges on the victim’s bank account.

East Lyme police worked with the Connecticut State Police Statewide Organized Crime Investigative Task Force and New London County State’s Attorney’s Office and Justice Department to track down $40,000 of the stolen funds spread across multiple companies that converted the money into cryptocurrencies.

Police said such scams come in the form of telephone calls, emails and texts. In some cases, victims are told to purchase gift cards or give cash to couriers. Police urge the public to exercise extreme caution when asked to provide funding to individuals.