Greg's Corner

Victim loses $21,000 to Bitcoin ATM scam

By Greg Collier

A woman from Michigan was really taken for a ride by scammers. Before it was all over, she had lost $21,000. The scam had started, like many do. One scammer had called the woman posing as a US Border Patrol agent. She was told that a bank account had been opened in her name and was linked to criminal activity. She was then instructed to remove $21,000 from her own bank account and deposit it into a Bitcoin ATM at a gas station not to far from where she lived.

It seems that this wasn’t enough to intimidate the victim into making the deposit. She was asked what was the nearest police department to her, and she gave that information to the caller. She then received a call from someone posing as the chief of police, from her local police department. Furthermore, she was told that if she didn’t comply with the phony border agent, she would be committing a crime. It was at this point the victim deposited the money at a Bitcoin ATM. It wasn’t until she told other family members that she realized she had been scammed.

Bitcoin ATMs have become increasingly popular with scammers due to the cryptocurrency’s perceived anonymity. However, no law enforcement agency will ever ask you to move money in such a way, even if an account in your name was being used for fraudulent activity. At the worst, you may have some agents or police officers asking you a few questions in person. The mention of any type of cryptocurrency should also be a dead giveaway to a scam.

If you receive one of these calls, hang up and call the agency they claim to be calling from at their non-emergency number.