Arizona wants to crack down on Bitcoin ATM fraud in new bill

Arizona has taken the initiative to curb scams and frauds in Bitcoin ATMs, a menace that has been growing over the last few years. According to reports, the state is looking at passing a bill that will crackdown on the illegal activities being carried out using the machines.

Reports claim that state representative David Marshall has submitted House Bill 2387 to set the wheels in motion. The bill proposes a series of changes to address the rising rate of Bitcoin ATM fraud in Arizona, including pegging the daily transaction amount to $1,000 and mandating state operators undergo license-approval tests.

The bill will also include refund policies amid other things that will help check illegal activities.

According to an FBI Cryptocurrency Fraud Report in 2023, Arizona lost about $127 million to frauds related to cryptocurrency. The report mentioned at the time that the criminals specifically targeted older citizens over the age of 60 because of their vulnerability. The state also has about 600 Bitcoin ATMs.

Arizona submits bill amid surge in Bitcoin ATM fraud

According to a statement by United States Attorney General Kris Mayes, there has been a drastic increase in the cases of scammers trying to use the machines. She added that Bitcoin is usually their go-to cryptocurrency, seeing as it is harder to trace. For instance, a resident of Peoria, Tamara fell victim to these criminals last summer, losing $17,000 to them.

According to Tamara, she had an issue with her PayPal account and googled the number of their customer services. She mentioned that the person sounded like a legitimate representative from PayPal, not knowing that she was speaking to a fraudster impersonating the company. “While I was on the phone with him, he said,’ I just want you to know that someone has tried to hack into your, not only your PayPal account, but all of your accounts, your IRA’,” Tamara said.

She added that $7,000 was gone from her checking account, and she also lost $10,000 from her IRA. She added that the scammer instructed her to take out this money to trick the hacker that he had successfully gained access to her account. She took the $7,000 out in gift cards while transferring the other $10,000 to the criminal using a Bitcoin ATM. According to the police report, she lost about $28,000 to the scammer.

“My Spidey senses were going off, but it was like, he said he wasn’t going to put the money back in unless you complete this task and then it was like a threat,” she added. Her situation is not an isolated incident as there has been an uptick in reports of similar cases in Arizona. According to the police, some families lost millions of dollars to these criminals, with others still unreported.

Authorities warn natives about uptick in scams

According to Mayes, there has been a lack of regulations when it comes to Bitcoin ATMs, something that needs to be addressed immediately. “There’s not enough regulation on these Bitcoin machines and cryptocurrency I believe in general, but especially the ATMs. So, we’re supporting and helping pass legislation that will at least limit the amount of money that people could put into a Bitcoin machine daily,” he said.

Meanwhile, Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Ron Norfleet mentioned that he started an initiative, after the increase in scam cases related to Bitcoin ATMs. He mentioned that he had help from the Attorney General of Arizona’s Office, asking them to help him put up signs at the ATM stands to warn users of the dangers of using the machines.

According to former fraud analyst Anthony Zervos, he used to work for Bitcoin ATM company Digital Mint. He mentioned that they sometimes flag new users who were making large transactions using the machines, asking them a series of questions to determine if they were being scammed. He added that typically, only two out of ten people are making legitimate transactions, with the rest going to scammers.

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