Latest news with #BitcoinATM
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Authorities saw open Bitcoin ATM to recover scammed money — almost $32,000 seized from machine
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The Sheriff in Jasper County, Texas, located a little over 100 miles northeast of Houston, used a circular saw to break into a Bitcoin ATM after determining it was used for fraud. According to a Facebook post from the Sheriff's office, a county constituent was defrauded of $25,000 on a crypto scam, which they deposited into the machine. After securing the necessary warrants, the investigators broke open the Bitcoin ATM and seized $31,900 found inside it. Many elderly Americans are being targeted by online scammers. Fraudsters primarily use cash gift cards to circumvent the protections many financial institutions have in place to prevent activities like these. However, the advent of crypto ATMs, like the Bitcoin Depot ATM used in this incident, has made it cheaper and easier for perpetrators to access their stolen funds. The decentralized and anonymized nature of cryptocurrency has made it more difficult for the authorities to trace these transactions, and its global availability means that cross-border transactions do not require identification. According to the FBI, elderly Americans lost $107 million in scams in 2024 through crypto ATMs. Unfortunately, Bitcoin Depot seems to be a victim of this scam. After all, it converts cash to Bitcoin and only acts as a money transmitter or money services business. It also claims to proactively employ robust compliance, AML, and KYC protocols. That means the company and its franchisee, if the affected machine is owned by one, are on the hook (at least for now) for the damaged ATM and the seized contents. Bitcoin Depot told Decrypt that it 'regularly collaborates with investigators to clarify when recovery may be possible' and 'such efforts typically involve the receiving wallet provider or exchange, not the kiosk itself.' They also said, 'We actively support and educate law enforcement agencies, particularly those less familiar with cryptocurrencies. Even though the authorities have already recovered the cash from the ATM, it doesn't mean the victim will get their money back. They must first go through legal means so that the authorities can issue an order to seize the stolen funds. From there, their only hope is that the attacker made a mistake and used an exchange that cooperates with the authorities. Nevertheless, it's not impossible—for example, the U.S. Department of Justice recovered $2.3 million in Bitcoin paid as ransom in the Colonial Pipeline attack. Still, it will be a harrowing journey for the victims to reclaim their money—if they're able to recover it at all. Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Bitcoin firm says police shouldn't saw open Bitcoin ATMs to seize cash for scammed customers, will seek damages for destroyed machines — firm claims seizures are criminal and victimize the company
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Bitcoin Depot Chief Legal Officer, Chris Ryan, said that police departments using brute force to open Bitcoin ATMs and seize the cash inside is bordering on law enforcement overreach. Sawing them open might even be breaking banking and criminal laws, added Ryan. The executive told Decrypt that the money inside Bitcoin Depot ATMs rightfully belongs to the company, and that any damage to its machines will be held against the offending organization. 'You've got these rogue law enforcement officers thinking that they're doing the right things by these consumers,' Ryan said. 'What they're actually doing is creating another victim, which is us, with the damage of our property and seizing of our funds.' Just last week, the Jasper County Sheriff broke into a Bitcoin Depot ATM after one of its constituents reported getting scammed out of $25,000. Although the victim went through proper channels, and they were able to secure a search warrant, the money inside the ATM is legally no longer the property of the victim. Instead, the authorities should be going after the wallet address where the cryptocurrency was deposited. Because the Sheriff used a power tool to break open the ATM to get its contents, Bitcoin Depot said that its machine — which cost $14,000 each — was completely totaled. This is particularly unfortunate because the company said that it always cooperates with law enforcement and will open the machine for them when going through the proper channels. Requests like this happen up to 20 times a year, Ryan said to Decrypt, and that doesn't even include cases where the police just straight up break their machines open. As for the latter, the company would charge the jurisdiction for the damage — something many can't afford. Crypto ATMs are similar to regular deposit machines, wherein they accept cash and credit the same amount to your bank account. But instead of going into your account, it would instead go into your nominated wallet address. Depositors that use the machine are required to confirm that they're depositing the money into their own wallets, and it even warns users using third-party addresses that they might be getting scammed. So, if someone was scammed out of their cash with a regular deposit machine, the police would not break the ATM — instead, they would coordinate with the courts and the bank to freeze the account and potentially get the money back. This should be the same pathway that victims should take when scammed through crypto. Unfortunately, many people, including law enforcement and the courts themselves, do not understand how crypto works. Because of that, we get incidents like these where police forcibly open crypto ATMs, causing damage to a third party's property. While Bitcoin Depot and other similar operations are legitimate, they're often used by scammers because of how fast and easy it is for them to get the stolen funds. Even though you can easily track crypto transactions due to the public nature of the ledger, getting them back is often difficult because of anonymity. Moreover, if the scammer does not use an exchange that works with the authorities, it's difficult, often nearly impossible, to get the money back. Because of these attributes, scammers are increasingly switching from gift cards to Bitcoin ATMs. Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Bloomberg
05-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Bitcoin ATM Operator CoinFlip to Explore Sale
CoinFlip, an operator of a global network Bitcoin ATMs, is in the early stages of weighing a sale as dealmaking in the cryptocurrency space heats up, people familiar with the matter said. The Chicago-based company is working with a financial adviser to seek a buyer, according to the people. CoinFlip is considering seeking at least $1 billion in the sale, though it's unclear if it will be able to achieve that valuation, the people said.
Forbes
01-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Bitcoin ATM Scams Costing Americans More Than $114 Million
Bitcoin ATM machine, dispensing the cryptocurrency Bitcoin (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty ... More Images) A report from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) indicates a 1,000 % increase in money lost to scammers through Bitcoin ATMs in the last three years with consumers reporting losses of more than 114 million dollars in 2023. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency ATMs look just like traditional ATMs, but instead of distributing cash, they take cash in exchange for cryptocurrency and enable the transfer of the deposited cash turned into Bitcoin into crypto wallets. Due to the anonymity and immediacy of the Bitcoin transfers done through a Bitcoin ATM, it is a favorite method of payment for scammers. Presently there are more than 30,000 Cryptocurrency ATMs around the country and they are largely unregulated. Most of the scams using Bitcoin ATMs involve imposter scams where the scammer poses either as a law enforcement officer, government official or someone providing tech support for a non-existent problem. What all these imposter scams have in common is that they scare the targeted victim with a story about an emergency that requires them to take cash from their bank account and use a QR code provided by the scammer to deposit the money into the account of the scammer at a Bitcoin ATM under the guise of protecting the funds. A typical example of this type of scam earlier this year involved a 66-year-old retired health care worker in South Carolina who received a phone call from a scammer posing as an officer with the Beaufort County Sheriff's who told her that she was in contempt of court for missing jury duty and that there was an arrest warrant out for her. She was told, however, that she could stay out of jail if she paid a $7,500 bond through a Bitcoin ATM. According to the FTC, people over 60 years old were more than three times more likely to report losing money to a Bitcoin ATM scam with an average loss of $10,000. Arizona state representative David Marshall has filed House Bill 2387 which would provide needed regulations for these cryptocurrency ATMs to help prevent people from being scammed. If passed into law, the bill would require warnings on the ATMs before the user could do a transaction. The warnings would also provide information about cryptocurrency scams. Additionally, the bill would require the ATMs to provide printed receipts that would include information useful to law enforcement in the event of a scam. The law would also limit the amount of funds someone could deposit into a new account or send in a 72 hour period. Scammers often require their victims to send repeated deposits. Finally, the law would require greater transparency in the operation of the ATMs. The bill passed unanimously out of committee and is presently awaiting further action in the state Senate. On the federal level, Illinois Senator Dick Durbin along with Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed, Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal and Vermont Senator Peter Welch is proposing a bill to respond to the problem of Bitcoin ATM scams. The bill, entitled the Crypto ATM Fraud Prevention Act would prevent new users of the cryptocurrency ATMs from spending more than $2,000 in a single day or $10,000 over a two-week period to purchase cryptocurrency at Bitcoin ATMS. The proposed law would also require Bitcoin ATM companies to speak directly with new customers attempting to perform transactions of more than $500 and require full refunds when those customers file police reports and alert companies operating Bitcoin ATMs within 30 days of their transactions. The bill also would require operators of Bitcoin ATMs to provide receipts for each transaction, including information sufficient to trace the transaction. Such receipts would also be required to include contact information for relevant law enforcement. Protecting yourself from these imposter scams starts with recognizing that you can never be sure who is actually contacting you when you are contacted by phone, email or text message so you should never click on a link, download an attachment, make a payment or provide personal information in response to any of those communications unless you have absolutely confirmed that the communication was legitimate. Further, there is absolutely no circumstance where you will be asked by anyone legitimate to withdraw funds from your bank, deposit them into a Bitcoin ATM and transfer the funds to them. Only scammers make those requests.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Yahoo
Scam victims can't get back cash they put in Bitcoin ATM, Iowa Supreme Court rules
Two cybercrime victims won't be able to recover their money, seized from a third-party cryptocurrency company, the Iowa Supreme Court has ruled. The decisions, issued Friday, May 1, involve two Iowans who were targeted in nearly identical scams. In July 2023 and February 2024, the two were contacted by an unknown person online and told to purchase cryptocurrency at a Bitcoin ATM in Linn County, and to send the bitcoin to a digital wallet controlled by the scammers. One scammer claimed to be from the "Geek Squad" and said the victim's accounts had been "compromised," while the other claimed the victim had child pornography on their computer and demanded money not to turn the victim in, according to court filings. Both individuals did as they were told, purchasing and sending more than $14,000 apiece in bitcoins. Both then contacted law enforcement officials, who, in the ensuing investigations, seized the cash deposited from the Bitcoin ATM. The purchased bitcoin, however, has not been recovered. From 2023: Clive resident falls victim to cryptocurrency scam; police warn to be on the lookout The question before the Iowa Supreme Court was, once investigators no longer need the money as part of their case, who gets it? In separate opinions on the cases, one by Justice Dana Oxley and the other unsigned, the justices reversed a lower court and ruled that ATM operator Bitcoin Depot should get to keep the cash. Key to the decision is that the crypto ATM requires users to confirm they owned the wallets they were sending bitcoin to, and prominently warned users against scams. "There is no evidence in the record before us that Bitcoin Depot had reason to know that a scammer had contacted (the victim) and told her that she needed to purchase bitcoins from the Bitcoin ATM and transfer them into a specified wallet to avoid her accounts being impacted," Oxley wrote, holding that Bitcoin ATM had done nothing wrong and was entitled to keep the money. USA Today: How crooks convinced her to put $17,500 into a bitcoin ATM to 'secure' her money An attorney for the victims and attorneys for Bitcoin Depot declined to comment. Friday's decisions are a win for Bitcoin Depot, but the company is embroiled in a larger struggle with the Iowa Attorney General's Office, which sued it and another crypto ATM company in March. The state claims Iowans have lost more than $20 million in scams facilitated through the company's ATMs and accused Bitcoin Depot and competitor CoinFlip of failing to protect users against scammers. William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@ or 715-573-8166. This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa Supreme Court says Bitcoin Depot can keep cash deposited in scams
