LOGAN, W.Va. — A Logan County man has been arrested after confessing to stealing his neighbor’s identity to open an account with Appalachian Power so he could mine cryptocurrency.
The case came to light when Michael Pridemore went to the Logan County Sheriff’s Office to report that he had received an electric bill for more than $3,000, even though he is on a budget billing plan. He said the power company told him that the additional amount was for a transfer balance from another address two-and-a-half miles away.
When a deputy went to investigate, he found the address on the second account does not exist, but he learned from Appalachian Power that the bill for that account had originally been sent to another nearby address where Charles Adkins lived.
When the deputy questioned Adkins, he reportedly confessed to stealing Pridemore’s identity in order to open the account. He further said he used account to power his computers to mine Bitcoin.
Pridemore told police Adkins had once fixed his computer, so he might have gotten his personal information that way.
Adkins was arrested and charged with identity theft and obtaining goods and services under false pretenses.
