In the ecosystem of digital assets, scammers have one interesting trump card - crypto ATMs. These devices resemble traditional ATMs, but at the same time allow you to quickly exchange cash for crypto and back. Although only a small fraction of Bitcoin transfers go through crypto ATMs, they are a powerful tool for hiding traces of transactions. That’s why such devices are in demand among criminals.
Let us remind you that cryptomats allow you to carry out basic operations such as buying and selling cryptocurrencies. They are usually used by beginners who have not yet managed to understand the principle of operation of exchanges or P2P exchangers. However, crypto ATMs usually have a very unfavorable exchange rate, which differs markedly from the current price of digital assets on full-fledged trading platforms. That is, coins are sold too expensive and bought too cheap. This is how crypto ATM operators make money.
However, such devices also have a certain advantage. In particular, some crypto ATMs allow you to buy or sell coins without verifying your identity. Accordingly, if you use a new wallet, such operations can be considered almost anonymous.
In general, there are more than enough fraud schemes in the digital asset industry - even during the current bearish trend. The day before, scammers hacked the Twitter page of a popular NFT collection to advertise the fraudulent platform. As a result, users who clicked on a malicious link automatically lost their own digital assets. Well, the amount of losses reached the equivalent of 765 thousand dollars.
How cryptocurrencies are stolen in real life.
The victim of the scheme was a resident of the city of Clive in the US state of Iowa. The day before, she received a call from a man who introduced himself as a local county sheriff's deputy. As a result, the stranger managed to convince the woman that she must transfer money through a crypto ATM - otherwise she would allegedly be arrested. Unfortunately, the woman believed the story and transferred $6,600 in BTC to the scammers.
The Clive Police Department is currently working with the county sheriff's office to bring the scammers to justice. Representatives of law enforcement agencies emphasize that employees of their departments will never contact people with a demand to transfer funds in any form to their accounts.
Clive Police also said that money transferred through crypto machines was "virtually untraceable, making recovering funds incredibly difficult." Accordingly, it is hardly worth counting on the return of the lost amount.
According to Chainalysis analysts, only 1 percent of fraudulent schemes involve crypto ATMs. Although the figure seems small, crypto ATMs “are not typically used to send funds to many other attacker addresses.” Experts say that last year, only 2.2 percent of funds sent from crypto ATMs ended up in wallets associated with illegal activity. We are talking about the mark of 67.5 million out of 20.6 billion dollars.
But the bulk of the above-mentioned volume of transfers consists of fraudulent transactions. That is, 35.3 million dollars in transfers out of the total amount of suspicious transactions are evidence of fraudulent schemes.
Chainalysis experts consider the convenience of crypto ATMs to be the main factor in the popularity of such devices among cybercriminals. Here is the corresponding quote from analysts on this matter.
A crypto machine, similar to those used for traditional currencies, provides the easiest way to initiate a transaction. Its users can simply insert cash, enter an address and complete the transfer.
The problem of crypto ATMs is actively discussed even in the highest echelons of US law enforcement agencies. In particular, in October 2022, the FBI issued a warning about a wide variety of fraudulent schemes associated with such devices. Most often, attackers ingratiate themselves with the victim, become their friend or even lover, and then ask for a transfer of funds in cryptocurrency.
They may also recommend investing in digital assets using a fake website - in this case, participants in the scheme will receive the entire amount invested.
After the crisis year of 2022, the number of crypto ATMs in the world began to decline for the first time in certain periods of time. Many major cities have similar devices, but the concept of a crypto machine remains relatively unpopular even within the industry. Be that as it may, now the total number of such devices has begun to gradually increase again.#Bitcoin #BTC #GOATMoments $BTC