AARP issues warning over crypto ATM scams

(InvestigateTV) — A 2024 survey conducted by Pew Research found that 63% of Americans are not confident ‘in the safety and reliability of cryptocurrency,’ but they may be unaware of other dangers around it.

The value of Bitcoin recently reached an all-time high, prompting many investors to take their first plunge into the cryptocurrency market.

With the rally, Bitcoin ATMs have become increasingly common, popping up in gas stations and grocery stores across the country.

While the machines offer a legitimate and easy way to buy cryptocurrency, the AARP warned that scammers are exploiting these ATMs to steal money from unsuspecting users.

Amy Nofziger with the AARP Fraud Watch Network keeps a close eye on cryptocurrency.

“So, a crypto ATM looks exactly like a regular ATM,” Nofziger explained. “It might also look like one of those change machines that you see at the grocery store. Know, you dump your change in a lot of those are also selling cryptocurrency.”

Nofziger says scammers will often pose as law enforcement or a government office and pressure the victim to withdraw money from their bank and deposit it into their nearest Bitcoin ATM. Scammers will then instantly convert the cash to Bitcoin and send it to a cryptocurrency wallet, making it unrecoverable.

“When the criminal has the target on the phone or over the e-mail, they can easily point them to where one of these machines is located in their community,” she said. “And again, because a lot of people don’t understand what these machines are when the person on the phone who’s pretending to be a law enforcement official or a government, you know, from a government agency says, oh, no, these machines are licensed by government go to this machine. The victim’s not going to know because they’re not familiar with them. Additionally, criminals love these machines because there’s not much oversight over them. I had a victim one time that send $80,000 in cash through one of these machines that there was converted into crypto and sent to the criminal.”

Nofziger said the bottom line is, if anybody claims someone has to pay a bill through one of these crypto ATMs, or if they direct someone to any ATM to deposit cash, don’t do it. It is 100% a scam.

The AARP said if anyone has encountered this scam, they should report it to their local law enforcement or file a complaint at ic3.gov. They can also contact the AARP Fraud Watch Network helpline.

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