New York authorities uncovered a network of illegal crypto ATMs

A 35-year-old resident of the city earned $590 000 on this scheme, he charged a fee of 10% to 20%

17.04.2022 - 07:00

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What’s new? The Manhattan Prosecutor’s Office has uncovered 46 illegal crypto ATMs set up in New York, New Jersey, and Miami. The law enforcers have charged 35-year-old Robert Taylor, who managed to make $590 000 from this scheme. The investigation found that about $5,6 million in cash passed through these devices between 2017 and 2018, with the attacker charging customers a fee of between 10% and 20%.

Manhattan District Attorney’s Office statement

Details of the case. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg stated that crypto ATMs were used to launder money. Taylor was charged with operating an unlicensed money transmission business, tax fraud, and forgery.

The attacker justified the high fees with complete confidentiality. Customers did not need to identify their identities when making transactions at these ATMs, they only needed to link a Snapchat social media account.

Earlier, a former Canadian government employee was accused of organizing cyber attacks using ransomware. The police extradited him to the United States and seized 719 BTC and $790 000 in Canadian currency.

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