Crypto ATMs increasingly used for scams and money laundering

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Australians are losing millions of dollars each year to scams linked to cryptocurrency ATMs. Now Australia’s financial crimes regulator AUSTRAC has announced a crackdown on the industry.

Transcript

00:00The cryptocurrency ATMs don't really make it possible to do anything stupid that you

00:08couldn't do stupidly on your own computer, but they make it a lot easier, which is why

00:12they're so attractive for criminals and scammers.

00:15The idea is that you set up a cryptocurrency account and then you go to the crypto ATM

00:23with cash.

00:23You put the cash into the machine and the machine then pays the equivalent amount of

00:30money into your account.

00:31So far, not necessarily disastrous, but of course, the problem is that vulnerable people

00:39might be persuaded to open up a cryptocurrency account that they would not otherwise have

00:44opened and then to pay the cash to somebody else.

00:48And is this all kind of the description of this and the sound of this kind of ringing

00:54alarm bells for you very, very loudly?

00:58Yeah, yes, very much so.

01:00So I really struggle to see any legitimate use for these kinds of machines.

01:07This is not something that a sophisticated cryptocurrency investor who's carefully considered the risks

01:12is going to use if such people exist.

01:15This, although it doesn't necessarily mean that you're automatically going to lose the

01:21money, it's clearly designed to make unwise transactions a great deal easier than they

01:28would be if the same transaction was attempted through a larger financial institution like

01:35a bank, which is a lot more likely to block a scam.

01:37And so what are some of the worst examples you've heard of of people getting ripped off

01:41by using these and how?

01:45Honestly, I'm not really at the front line of people being ripped off, but I would like

01:49to say that, first of all, the legitimate use is basically zero.

01:54So if you find yourself with a wad of cash standing in front of the machine, the overwhelming

01:59likelihood is that it's a scam and you should notify ScamWatch instead of putting the cash into

02:06the machine.

02:07If you have already been scammed, it's not a thing to be ashamed of.

02:11It's a crime against you and I'd encourage anybody who has had that crime committed against

02:18them to report it to the authorities to ScamWatch or to the police and not feel that you've done

02:24something wrong.

02:25And do you understand how it works?

02:27Because I know it's been mentioned today that there's kind of like love scams and investment

02:35scams and things like that.

02:37Do you understand how people get sucked into it?

02:40Well, I mean, the people are voluntarily transferring their money to somewhere that they shouldn't.

02:50Which is why I say the machine doesn't create a scam opportunity that isn't already there.

02:59You can still be persuaded using a completely legitimate banking service to transfer money

03:04to transfer money.

03:05So the machine isn't doing anything fundamentally different.

03:09It's just taking that stupid transfer outside of the realm of a large regulated banking system

03:17that's a lot more likely to block the transfer.

03:19Right.

03:20And so in some parts of the world, these crypto ATMs are effectively banned.

03:26Do you think they should be effectively banned here?

03:29Yes, basically I do.

03:31I don't really see any legitimate reason for people to be fronting up to the machines with

03:38a wad of cash.

03:39Everything that a sophisticated investor who's considered and carefully really wants to do

03:43is available to that sophisticated investor using their computer at home.

03:48The role of the machines is to make it really easy for really unsophisticated people to shove

03:54a lot of cash into the machine.

03:56And Vanessa Teague, just a supplementary question.

04:00What do you think of crypto overall?

04:03Like you're deeply concerned about these crypto ATMs.

04:07What about cryptocurrency dealing overall?

04:10I'm not doing any of it.

04:13Do you have any advice for people who kind of may not be too schooled up in investing,

04:24who might be considering going down the cryptocurrency path?

04:30Obviously, I'm not a financial advisor.

04:32I think all I want to say is I haven't bought any of it ever.

04:36I know.

04:37It's available.

04:38It's available.

04:39Oh, my God I'm not gonna have more goods though

04:41and I know that with these partners

04:47whilst I am having more поч treasury,

04:49any of it ever happened to me anyway.

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