New forms of currency can open the door to new forms of fraud, and Bitcoin ATM (BTM) scams are on the rise, according to data from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

November will mark two years since the crash of the third-largest cryptocurrency brokerage platform, FTX, due to a large-scale fraud that cost its investors millions, but the FTC is now warning of an altogether different type of swindle: smaller in scale and directed at ordinary people, especially the elderly. It’s a scheme that has scammed the unsuspecting out of a total of $66 million in the first half of this year, and that’s only the reported cases.

  • schizo@forum.uncomfortable.business
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    2 months ago

    Yeah I’ve seen one Bitcoin ATM in person, and it was unplugged and had a sign saying it’s broken.

    I’m not sure where I’d even go to find one if I had to, but I suppose the scammers have a list or something.

    • thedirtyknapkin@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      huh, i live in a town North of Denver, so not the city, and i have like 8 of them nearby. half the gas stations that have atms have them.

      there is a lot of tech work around here, maybe that’s why.