Latest news with #cryptoATM
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Australian authorities say top crypto ATM users are scam victims and money mules — most transactions from victims or mules forced to deposit money into the machines
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Australian financial watchdog AUSTRAC, or Australian Transactions Reports and Analysis Centre, said that 'scam victims, money mules, and suspected offenders' are the top users of crypto ATMs in the country. According to the agency's press release, its Cryptocurrency Taskforce monitored the biggest crypto ATM transactions in each state and believed that many of these are linked to scams. Unfortunately, most of these transactions were related to victims or mules who were forced to deposit the money into the machines. 'We suspected that a large volume of crypto ATM transactions were probably illicit, but disturbingly, our law enforcement partners found that almost all the transactions we referred involved victims rather than criminals,' said AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas. 'We came across a woman in her 70s who had deposited more than AU$430,000 (approximately US$280,000) into crypto ATMs after falling victim to romance and investment scams. Tragically, she has no way of recovering that life-changing amount of money.' Unfortunately, the authorities also identified another victim around the same age who lost more than AU$200,000 (almost US$130,000). She thought she was depositing the amount to a legitimate trading firm as part of an investment, but instead lost it all through the crypto ATM. Fraud and scams like these have been going on for several decades now, so traditional financial institutions now have several safeguards in place to help protect customers against them. However, since cryptocurrency is relatively new, it still hasn't developed safeguards against its illicit use. Aside from that, the inherent decentralized nature of this technology means that it's hard for nations to enforce rules on its use. Crypto ATMs are making it easier for users to convert their cash into cryptocurrency. But because it's easy to use and looks similar to the usual ATMs that many people are used to, it's also making it easier to scam those who aren't tech savvy, thinking that they're simply depositing money into a bank account. Although it's not impossible, it's insanely difficult to recover the scammed money. Even though transactions can be easily tracked, the anonymity of wallets makes it difficult to determine who owns them. Aside from that, the victims have to go through legal means to have the stolen cash returned. And even though a court might order the funds returned, the money must be parked on an exchange that recognizes the law of the state that issues the order. The increasing number of incidents like this, combined with the easy availability of crypto ATMs, suggests that the government must respond sooner or later. The Australian government said that it's 'coordinating a national prevention and education campaign', especially as many people are still likely not knowledgeable about online scams and cryptocurrencies. In the meantime, we'll have to be vigilant against scams like this and warn the people around us to be wary when someone asks them to deposit any amount of money in a crypto ATM — especially if they don't use cryptocurrencies in the first place. 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.
CNA
5 days ago
- Business
- CNA
Fraud victims among top crypto ATM users, Australian regulator says
Australia's financial crimes monitoring agency said on Wednesday that it has identified 90 scam victims, money mules and suspected offenders as the top crypto ATM users in the country, amid efforts to address crimes enabled by digital currency. A nationwide operation led by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) examined the most prolific crypto ATM users in each state, and based on the transaction values, identified cases likely linked to scams or fraud. "We suspected that a large volume of crypto ATM transactions were probably illicit, but disturbingly, our law enforcement partners found that almost all of the transactions we referred involved victims rather than criminals," AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas said. In one instance, AUSTRAC identified a woman in her 70s who had deposited more than A$430,000 into crypto ATMs after falling victim to romance and investment scams. Earlier this month, AUSTRAC had placed conditions and limits on crypto ATM providers after flagging compliance concerns, with the number of active machines exceeding 1,800.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Fraud victims among top crypto ATM users, Australian regulator says
(Reuters) -Australia's financial crimes monitoring agency said on Wednesday that it has identified 90 scam victims, money mules and suspected offenders as the top crypto ATM users in the country, amid efforts to address crimes enabled by digital currency. A nationwide operation led by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) examined the most prolific crypto ATM users in each state, and based on the transaction values, identified cases likely linked to scams or fraud. "We suspected that a large volume of crypto ATM transactions were probably illicit, but disturbingly, our law enforcement partners found that almost all of the transactions we referred involved victims rather than criminals," AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas said. In one instance, AUSTRAC identified a woman in her 70s who had deposited more than A$430,000 into crypto ATMs after falling victim to romance and investment scams. Earlier this month, AUSTRAC had placed conditions and limits on crypto ATM providers after flagging compliance concerns, with the number of active machines exceeding 1,800. Lately, the Australian corporate regulator has been cracking down on cryptocurrency exchanges as well, with Binance and Blockchain Global coming under scrutiny. 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
Reuters
5 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Fraud victims among top crypto ATM users, Australian regulator says
June 25 (Reuters) - Australia's financial crimes monitoring agency said on Wednesday that it has identified 90 scam victims, money mules and suspected offenders as the top crypto ATM users in the country, amid efforts to address crimes enabled by digital currency. A nationwide operation led by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) examined the most prolific crypto ATM users in each state, and based on the transaction values, identified cases likely linked to scams or fraud. "We suspected that a large volume of crypto ATM transactions were probably illicit, but disturbingly, our law enforcement partners found that almost all of the transactions we referred involved victims rather than criminals," AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas said. In one instance, AUSTRAC identified a woman in her 70s who had deposited more than A$430,000 into crypto ATMs after falling victim to romance and investment scams. Earlier this month, AUSTRAC had placed conditions and limits on crypto ATM providers after flagging compliance concerns, with the number of active machines exceeding 1,800. Lately, the Australian corporate regulator has been cracking down on cryptocurrency exchanges as well, with Binance and Blockchain Global coming under scrutiny.
ABC News
5 days ago
- ABC News
Police track down top cryptocurrency ATM users amid scam concerns
Police have tracked the movements of Australia's most prolific users of cryptocurrency ATMs amid concerns the machines are becoming a hotbed for scammers. More than 90 people were swept up in the multi-police-agency crackdown, with 21 of those believed to be either victims or offenders of romance and investment scams. Olivia (not her real name to protect her identity) had no idea she was being scammed until she received a knock on the door from NSW Police several weeks ago. The widow, 77, had been in a fake online relationship for two years and her supposed boyfriend convinced her to send $433,000 through three different crypto ATMs in Sydney. "The worst part was having to tell my daughter that I'd actually given my life savings, that had taken me 40 years to earn, and [it] took him 18 months to get," she said. Olivia downloaded a dating app and quickly met a Belgian man claiming to work overseas. After dating for eight months, she said he encouraged her to invest in bitcoin and showed her documents where it appeared he had made $13,000 in one week. The first time she used a crypto ATM, in Sydney's inner west, he was on the phone to take her through it "every step of the way". "I became quite expert at using the bitcoin ATM," Olivia said. It would be "a half day's work" to send the money. First, Olivia would go to a normal ATM and withdraw money in $100 notes, then she would go to a crypto ATM and feed it the cash. Once, she said she was lugging around $20,000 worth of cash in her bag. Cryptocurrency ATMs look like regular ATMs, but instead users can put in cash and easily convert it into crypto, a digital, borderless currency. According to the Australian Federal Police, there were only 23 crypto ATMs nationally in 2019, but now there's more than 1,800. Police from all states and territories except Victoria were involved in the investigation. NSW Police led the operation with help from the national finance regulator AUSTRAC and the Australian Federal Police's (AFP) joint cybercrime unit. AFP Commander Graeme Marshall said they concentrated on people who had sent the most money through the crypto machines. "While these machines were designed for the fast exchange of digital money, they've quickly become tools to conceal the transfer of money," he said in a statement. One person has been charged in Western Australia for property laundering offences while police cautioned another four over suspicions they used the machines for illegal activity including acting as money mules — a crucial local role in a scam operation allowing overseas criminals to access stolen funds. Police have placed educational signage around the ATMs warning users about common scams. AUSTRAC has also recently imposed a $5,000 limit on cash deposits and withdrawals for the machines. Commander of NSW's cyber crime squad Matthew Craft warned that "in circumstances where a person you don't know, or have only met on the internet, requests you transfer funds using a cryptocurrency ATM you are likely being scammed". About $275 million moves through Australian cryptocurrency ATMs every year, according to AUSTRAC. Dan Halpin, CEO of cyber-fraud investigation firm Cybertrace, said crypto ATMs were "ideal for crime", especially against older Australians. He said crypto ATMs tended to be "a lot easier to use". "So instead of trying to instruct someone to go to an exchange online, they're able to just go to a physical machine, which a lot of the older generation are used to." Mr Halpin said the money usually ended up in the hands of international mafia syndicates, often headed by Israeli or Chinese scam groups. Australians lost $3 million to scams involving crypto ATMs in the 12 months to January, according to reports made to the Australian Cyber Security Centre. Of the 150 reported incidents, the most common scams were investment scams (63), extortion emails (35) and romance scams (24). Most victims were women over 51.
