The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Miami has warned that cryptocurrency ATMs are emerging as a popular method used by scammers to receive funds from scammed victims.
The information was released as part of an October 3 public warning about “pig butchering scams,” in which scammers pose as long-lost friends or potential romantic partners to steal money from victims.
Scammers “fatten up” their victims by showing a so-called genuine interest in them to gain their trust, then gradually introduce investment discussions into the relationship.
In the public service announcement in cooperation with the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), the FBI warned that victims of these “pig butchering” cryptocurrency scams usually have no chance of getting their funds back.
However, the FBI noted that have noticed that scammers have been increasingly directing their victims to transfer funds through cryptocurrency ATMsalong with better-known methods such as bank transfers and prepaid cards, pointing out that:
“Many victims report being directed to make bank transfers to offshore accounts or to purchase large amounts of prepaid cards. The use of cryptocurrencies and cryptocurrency ATMs is also an emerging payment method. Individual losses related to these schemes They range from tens of thousands to millions of dollars.
The FBI noted that in “pig butchering” scams, victims are “trained through an investment process” and I know “encourages continued deposits by scammers”.
“When victims try to cash in on their investments, they are told they have to pay additional income taxes or fees.causing them to lose additional funds.
Cryptocurrency ATMs have long been used by scammers posing as public officials, law enforcement officers, or employees of local utility companies.and coerce victims into sending them payments under the guise of paying unpaid bills or taxes to avoid further penalties.
There are almost 33,500 cryptocurrency ATMs in the United Statesaccording to data from Coin ATM Radar, and The United States accounts for 87.4% of the global distribution of cryptocurrency ATMs.
The US Federal Trade Commission issued a warning about cryptocurrency ATM scams in Januarywhile noting that scammers sometimes pose as potential romantic partners.
The FBI urged people to “verify the validity of any investment opportunity” presented by these types of peopleto be on the lookout for domain names that impersonate legitimate exchanges and misspelled URLs already do not download any application if its legitimacy cannot be verified.
Law enforcement agencies across the United States have repeatedly flagged romance and butchering scams. Although it could be assumed that victims are not well informed about technology or investments, this is not always the case.
In June, it was reported that Silicon Valley tech-savvy professionals were being duped by a wave of pig butchering scams in San Francisco.and several people lost more than a million dollars each for this type of financial fraud.
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