Scammers in West Texas using bitcoin ATMs to take advantage of victims

BIG SPRING, Texas — Scammers are back at it again and the Big Spring Police Department sent out a public service announcement on their Facebook page to warn the community about a new scam.

Scammers have been convincing people that their bank accounts or credit cards have been hacked or tampered with. The “solution”, according to the scammers, is to withdraw money from their bank accounts and transfer it to them through a bitcoin ATM.

While they may claim that this “resolves” the issue, the only thing it does is take money out of a victim’s wallet.

By funneling money through bitcoin, it can make tracing a transaction more difficult for law enforcement, thus making it easier for scammers to get away with their crimes.

Odessa Police Department Corporal Steve LeSueur has seen his fair share of scams and is familiar with all the tricks scammers pull.

“It’s the phishing technique,” LeSueur said. “They try to appear like they’re your credit card company or your bank or something that you actually really do have.”

Now that scammers have added cryptocurrency, it adds a new wrinkle to their deceit.

“It’s to sort of funnel the money through bitcoin,” LeSueur said. “Don’t go to the ATM [and] you should never be talking to them in the first place.”

While bitcoin ATMs are the latest trend for scammers, they still need to convince their victims to go through with the transactions by calling.

That right there is their greatest weakness, because the easiest way to avoid giving information and money to a scammer is by not picking up the money.

“Never give out your personal information, your credit card information [and] never pay money,” LeSueur said. “If you’re unsure about something if somebody calls you about something, the main thing to do is call that company back to verify yourself.”

A scammer’s main target is vulnerable people, like the elderly and teenagers, who may not know they are being scammed.

Properly teaching them how a scam sounds and what it looks like can prevent loved ones from being a target.

“You just have to educate your kids and your loved ones, whether it’s your elderly, parents, your grandparents,” LeSueur said. “It’s just so important to have those conversations with them.”

Victims of a scam can either report it to their local police department or to the FBI. Scammers can get hit with felony charges and several years in jail if they are caught.