Latest news with #moneyMules
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Australian authorities say top crypto ATM users are scam victims and money mules — most transactions from victims or mules forced to deposit money into the machines
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Australian financial watchdog AUSTRAC, or Australian Transactions Reports and Analysis Centre, said that 'scam victims, money mules, and suspected offenders' are the top users of crypto ATMs in the country. According to the agency's press release, its Cryptocurrency Taskforce monitored the biggest crypto ATM transactions in each state and believed that many of these are linked to scams. Unfortunately, most of these transactions were related to victims or mules who were forced to deposit the money into the machines. 'We suspected that a large volume of crypto ATM transactions were probably illicit, but disturbingly, our law enforcement partners found that almost all the transactions we referred involved victims rather than criminals,' said AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas. 'We came across a woman in her 70s who had deposited more than AU$430,000 (approximately US$280,000) into crypto ATMs after falling victim to romance and investment scams. Tragically, she has no way of recovering that life-changing amount of money.' Unfortunately, the authorities also identified another victim around the same age who lost more than AU$200,000 (almost US$130,000). She thought she was depositing the amount to a legitimate trading firm as part of an investment, but instead lost it all through the crypto ATM. Fraud and scams like these have been going on for several decades now, so traditional financial institutions now have several safeguards in place to help protect customers against them. However, since cryptocurrency is relatively new, it still hasn't developed safeguards against its illicit use. Aside from that, the inherent decentralized nature of this technology means that it's hard for nations to enforce rules on its use. Crypto ATMs are making it easier for users to convert their cash into cryptocurrency. But because it's easy to use and looks similar to the usual ATMs that many people are used to, it's also making it easier to scam those who aren't tech savvy, thinking that they're simply depositing money into a bank account. Although it's not impossible, it's insanely difficult to recover the scammed money. Even though transactions can be easily tracked, the anonymity of wallets makes it difficult to determine who owns them. Aside from that, the victims have to go through legal means to have the stolen cash returned. And even though a court might order the funds returned, the money must be parked on an exchange that recognizes the law of the state that issues the order. The increasing number of incidents like this, combined with the easy availability of crypto ATMs, suggests that the government must respond sooner or later. The Australian government said that it's 'coordinating a national prevention and education campaign', especially as many people are still likely not knowledgeable about online scams and cryptocurrencies. In the meantime, we'll have to be vigilant against scams like this and warn the people around us to be wary when someone asks them to deposit any amount of money in a crypto ATM — especially if they don't use cryptocurrencies in the first place. Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button.
CNA
7 days ago
- Business
- CNA
Fraud victims among top crypto ATM users, Australian regulator says
Australia's financial crimes monitoring agency said on Wednesday that it has identified 90 scam victims, money mules and suspected offenders as the top crypto ATM users in the country, amid efforts to address crimes enabled by digital currency. A nationwide operation led by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) examined the most prolific crypto ATM users in each state, and based on the transaction values, identified cases likely linked to scams or fraud. "We suspected that a large volume of crypto ATM transactions were probably illicit, but disturbingly, our law enforcement partners found that almost all of the transactions we referred involved victims rather than criminals," AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas said. In one instance, AUSTRAC identified a woman in her 70s who had deposited more than A$430,000 into crypto ATMs after falling victim to romance and investment scams. Earlier this month, AUSTRAC had placed conditions and limits on crypto ATM providers after flagging compliance concerns, with the number of active machines exceeding 1,800.
South China Morning Post
15-06-2025
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong, Singaporean police team up to smash cross-border scam syndicate
Hong Kong and Singaporean police have teamed up to smash a cross-border syndicate suspected of spending about HK$18 million (US$2.3 million) to buy prepaid SIM cards for running phone scams. Over in Hong Kong, a police raid on seven offices led to the arrest of four local men, aged 23 to 48, with officers also seizing various telecommunications equipment, including routers, mobile phones, computers and modem pool devices. Their Singaporean counterparts, meanwhile, arrested four Malaysian nationals suspected of being core members of the syndicate and seized 75 modem-pool devices. Senior Superintendent Hung Hiu-wai of Hong Kong police's financial intelligence and investigation bureau said: 'A common trend is that the scam syndicates will set up bases in different jurisdictions to make it more difficult for local police to trace them. 'One base could be responsible for buying SIM cards, while another will be responsible for making calls, and a third base could be responsible for recruiting 'money mules'.' A money mule refers to someone who lends or sells their bank accounts to scammers to help transfer or process criminal proceeds from their activities.
