The crypto industry, like every industry that involves money, is often targeted by criminals. However, the evolving regulations in the crypto landscape ofen makes it a low hanging fruit for scamsters across the world.
Recently, crypto ATMs in Fairfax County have been targeted by scammers to rob people of their hard earned money. Scammers posing as government officials have been targeting innocent citizens of the county, draining them of their money.
In this article, we will shed light on the emerging crypto ATM scams and how users can safeguard themselves from losing money to scammers.
What are Crypto ATMs?
Crypto ATMs are, as the name suggests, Automated Teller Machines that allow users to deposit, withdraw, buy, and sell cryptocurrency as opposed to fiat currency. They are very popular among crypto lovers and there can be thousands of them in a single city.Â
With the advent of cryptocurrencies especially Bitcoin in the past decade, several new crypto related avenues have emerged. Take the gambling sector, for example. Because cryptos afford users more privacy and control, they’ve become used by gambling enthusiasts. It is not unusual to see crypto casinos available that offer every type of casino game you can imagine. Crypto betting sites, in general, are known to have a lot of variety in both games and tokens which has attracted a lot of attention.
What is a Crypto ATM Scam?
According to the police, the Crypto- the scam usually begins with the victim getting a call from an unknown number. Once on the phone, the unknown caller convinces them that they are from the bank or some other important government institution.Â
The caller then convinces the victims that they have been the victim of a scam and can face investigation from agencies. Paranoid, the victims start believing the scamsters who then ask them to send money via gift cards or make a deposit to an address via a crypto ATM. Both methods are chosen because they are incredibly hard to trace.Â
Why are Crypto ATM scams difficult to investigate?
Finding out where a gift card was used/traded or why it owns a crypto wallet address is not easy to do and this means the scammers are less likely to be caught. So far, victims have been scammed of around $10,000 but some have lost as much as $31,000. Usually, it is after they have sent the money that they reconsider and realize that they have been tricked.Â
How can you safeguard against Crypto ATM Scams?
According to exports, crypto ATM scams like any other scam relies on the psychology of victims. The criminals deliberately put a lot of pressure on their victims to take action within a certain time and this doesn’t allow them to think rationally about the situation.Â
To safeguard yourself against such scams, you can take following steps:
Always Double Check from Official Source: Few legitimate establishments will call customers to resolve issues over the phone. If you get such a call, you are advised to hang up and visit the institution’s website and contact the fraud department through their official channels.Â
Be Vigilant and Aware: Being updated about the recent scams and cons targeting the finance world is the most efficient way to safeguard yourselves. Read advisories from public banks, investigative agencies and news media to stay updated against scammers.Â
Never share confidential details over phone: The golden rule to safeguard against scammers is to never ever share any confidential details about your bank, your social security number or credit score with the telecaller, no matter what.
Conclusion
As the crypto world evolves, more sectors are going to see a merger with cryptocurrencies and this automatically means that scammers will also get more chances at conning people. However by staying vigilant and updated about new scams, one can prevent losing hard earned money. With more luck, we will see more prosecution of crypto-related crimes and token holders will not live in fear of being targeted by scammers.
