There has been a “massive” surge in the amount of money consumers have lost to scams involving Bitcoin ATM machines, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
The amount of money lost has increased tenfold since 2020, notching over $110 million in 2023. Within the first six months of the year, fraud losses to Bitcoin ATMs topped $65 million.
The median loss in the first half of the year was $10,000, according to data from the FTC. However, those who are over 60 years old were three times as likely as younger adults to lose money to these scams.
Scammers are continuously leveraging Bitcoin ATMS, designed to look like a traditional ATM and found in high-traffic areas like convenience stores and gas stations, to take advantage of consumers.
The machines will accept cash in exchange for cryptocurrency. But scammers are trying to urge consumers to deposit cash into them to “protect” their savings, the FTC reported.
Grant Cardone, CEO and fund manager of Cardone Capital and Cardone Training Technologies, told FOX Business that those who are most at risk of failing victim to this scam are “easily moved by fear of loss or hope of gain.”
