Widow scammed out of 'life savings' caught up in crypto ATM sting

Police have tracked the movements of Australia's most prolific users of cryptocurrency ATMs amid concerns the machines are becoming a hotbed for scammers.

More than 90 people were swept up in the multi-police-agency crackdown, with 21 of those believed to be either victims or offenders of romance and investment scams.

Olivia (not her real name to protect her identity) had no idea she was being scammed until she received a knock on the door from NSW Police several weeks ago.

The widow, 77, had been in a fake online relationship for two years and her supposed boyfriend convinced her to send $433,000 through three different crypto ATMs in Sydney.

"The worst part was having to tell my daughter that I'd actually given my life savings, that had taken me 40 years to earn, and [it] took him 18 months to get," she said.

Olivia downloaded a dating app and quickly met a Belgian man claiming to work overseas.

After dating for eight months, she said he encouraged her to invest in bitcoin and showed her documents where it appeared he had made $13,000 in one week.

The first time she used a crypto ATM, in Sydney's inner west, he was on the phone to take her through it "every step of the way".

"I became quite expert at using the bitcoin ATM," Olivia said.

It would be "a half day's work" to send the money. First, Olivia would go to a normal ATM and withdraw money in $100 notes, then she would go to a crypto ATM and feed it the cash.

Once, she said she was lugging around $20,000 worth of cash in her bag.

Cryptocurrency ATMs look like regular ATMs, but instead users can put in cash and easily convert it into crypto, a digital, borderless currency.

According to the Australian Federal Police, there were only 23 crypto ATMs nationally in 2019, but now there's more than 1,800.

Man charged with laundering offences

Police from all states and territories except Victoria were involved in the investigation.

NSW Police led the operation with help from the national finance regulator AUSTRAC and the Australian Federal Police's (AFP) joint cybercrime unit.

AFP Commander Graeme Marshall said they concentrated on people who had sent the most money through the crypto machines.

"While these machines were designed for the fast exchange of digital money, they've quickly become tools to conceal the transfer of money," he said in a statement.

One person has been charged in Western Australia for property laundering offences while police cautioned another four over suspicions they used the machines for illegal activity including acting as money mules — a crucial local role in a scam operation allowing overseas criminals to access stolen funds.

Police have placed educational signage around the ATMs warning users about common scams.

AUSTRAC has also recently imposed a $5,000 limit on cash deposits and withdrawals for the machines.

Commander of NSW's cyber crime squad Matthew Craft warned that "in circumstances where a person you don't know, or have only met on the internet, requests you transfer funds using a cryptocurrency ATM you are likely being scammed".

Crypto ATMs 'ideal for crime'

About $275 million moves through Australian cryptocurrency ATMs every year, according to AUSTRAC.

Dan Halpin, CEO of cyber-fraud investigation firm Cybertrace, said crypto ATMs were "ideal for crime", especially against older Australians.

He said crypto ATMs tended to be "a lot easier to use".

"So instead of trying to instruct someone to go to an exchange online, they're able to just go to a physical machine, which a lot of the older generation are used to."

Mr Halpin said the money usually ended up in the hands of international mafia syndicates, often headed by Israeli or Chinese scam groups.

Australians lost $3 million to scams involving crypto ATMs in the 12 months to January, according to reports made to the Australian Cyber Security Centre.

Of the 150 reported incidents, the most common scams were investment scams (63), extortion emails (35) and romance scams (24). Most victims were women over 51.