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FTC: Consumers lost $65 million to Bitcoin ATM scams in the first half of 2024 People lost $65 million to Bitcoin ATM scams in a report released on Tuesday, the Federal Trade Commission said. The commission found that the amount of money lost to Bitcoin ATM scams increased nearly 10 times from 2020 to 2023, from $12 million to a whopping $114 million. In the first half of 2024 alone, consumers have lost $65 million to this scam
Over the years, the scam has evolved into different versions of almost the same thing: tricking victims into paying the scammers. We've seen bad guys trick people into wire transfers, buying gift cards, and even putting a bunch of cash in a shoebox. This is the Bitcoin ATM variant
Bitcoin ATMs are physical machines where you can buy or sell cryptocurrency in places like gas stations and grocery stores. To carry out their scams, scammers contact victims through phone calls, text messages, or online pop-ups. They will then pose as a bank or government official to try to convince the victim that their bank account has been compromised and that action is needed
The scammer will then instruct the victim to take out a large sum of cash and deposit it into a Bitcoin ATM (which the scammers may call a "safe lock," according to the FTC) to keep the funds safe. Once at the Bitcoin ATM, the scammer will send the victim a QR code to scan at the machine, which will put all of the victim's cash into the scammer's crypto wallet
The FBI warned against this scam in 2021, and Vermont and Minnesota have since enacted laws that impose daily transaction limits on cryptocurrency ATMs. As with other scams, it's important to verify that the email or phone call you receive from a purported company or financial institution is legitimate, and never withdraw money based on instructions from a random interaction
Other cryptocurrency scams are also on the rise, with deepfake cryptocurrency scams appearing on YouTube, bad actors posing as journalists to empty victims' digital wallets, and "pig killing" scams that led to the arrest of a former bank CEO who stole millions to invest in a fake cryptocurrency scheme
