FBI notes an increase in the number of uses of crypto ATMs by scammers

Individual losses of investors range from tens of thousands to millions of dollars

05.10.2022 - 09:00

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What’s new? On October 3, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued a public warning about fraudulent schemes involving cryptocurrencies. As noted in the document, along with regular methods such as wire transfers and prepaid cards, attackers are increasingly using crypto ATMs in their schemes.

Announcement on the FBI website

What is known about this type of scam? The FBI warning says that scammers pose as victims’ long-time friends or potential romantic partners to bilk them out of money. After the attackers gain trust, they begin discussing the topic of investments with victims. More and more often, scammers ask people to use crypto ATMs to transfer funds to supposedly promising projects. Individual losses associated with these schemes range from tens of thousands to millions of dollars, the FBI noted.

According to Coin ATM Radar, there are currently nearly 33 500 cryptocurrency ATMs in the United States, which is 87,4% of the total number of such devices in the world.

In July, the FBI issued a public warning about the emergence of a large number of fraudulent cryptocurrency applications masquerading as real companies and financial institutions. Also, representatives of the bureau told about the main vulnerabilities in DeFi platforms, which can be used by hackers.

At the end of August, the SEC also spoke about the main types of crypto fraud schemes on social networks. The commission urged to be skeptical of information on the Internet and not to make investment decisions solely based on it because the data can create a false impression about the projects’ popularity, profitability, and reliability.

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