Grand Prairie, Texas — Joseph Buentello, 80, was enjoying his retirement when he received a distressing call falsely claiming his son was in jail.
“I was terrified, I pressed the panic button and let my fear cloud my judgment,” Buentello, who resides in Grand Prairie, Texas, told CBS News.
The caller instructed Buentello to hurry to his local grocery store and send $5,000 via a bitcoin ATM to free his son.
Buentello admitted he didn’t even think to call his son first.
“They told me there was nothing they could do about it,” Buentello recounted, referring to the ATM operator after he was scammed. “That money has already been distributed. They said it was distributed the moment you completed the transaction.”
This was why Buentello discovered that cryptocurrency scammers targeted that specific machine. Typically located in convenience stores, Bitcoin ATMs look like standard ATMs and offer a legitimate and easy way to convert cash into cryptocurrency.
Data from the Federal Trade Commission reveals that between 2020 and 2023, consumer losses from bitcoin ATM scams surged nearly tenfold, rising from $12 million annually in 2020 to $114 million annually in 2023. During this period, consumers aged over 60 were more than three times as likely as younger individuals to fall victim to bitcoin scams, according to the FTC.
Furthermore, recovering the lost money has proven challenging.
When McLennan County Sheriff Parnell McNamara entered law enforcement in 1970, he noted that the most significant thieves in the Texas county were bank robbers.
“You’d take a gun, rob a bank, get the money, and we’d chase after them,” McNamara recounted. “But this is a completely different ballgame now.”
A couple of years ago, after scammers tricked an 83-year-old woman in Waco, Texas, into depositing $15,000 into a bitcoin ATM, McNamara’s deputies managed to retrieve the cash directly from the machine and return it to her.
The bitcoin ATM operator subsequently sued the county, asserting that the seizure was unlawful; however, the lawsuit was ultimately dismissed, allowing the woman to keep her funds.
The dismissal came only after the county acknowledged that the funds were taken “in error.”
McNamara stands by how the case was handled.
“I don’t regret it at all,” McNamara stated. “We got the lady’s money back. It rightfully belonged to her.”
Bitcoin ATM operators informed CBS News that they implement extensive measures to safeguard users against fraud, including displaying up to six screens to warn customers of potential scams.
In recent years, several states, including California, Vermont, and Minnesota, have enacted laws to regulate Bitcoin ATMs. However, much of the country, including Texas, remains unregulated.
“I feel so foolish,” Buentello remarked.
Had any sort of refund policy been in place at the time of his transaction, Buentello believes he could have saved his money and avoided being scammed.
According to the FTC, scammers often create a sense of urgency, prompting the victim to withdraw cash from their bank account and deposit it into a bitcoin ATM. Scammers provide a QR code for victims to scan, which directs the money directly into the scammers’ crypto account.
Some FTC tips to avoid falling victim to scams include never clicking on unknown links or responding to unsolicited calls or texts. Scammers may try to rush you; it’s important to slow down and consult with someone you trust. Also, never withdraw cash in response to unexpected calls or messages.
