WEBVTT
1
00:00:01.040 --> 00:00:04.639
This program is designed to provide general information with regards
2
00:00:04.639 --> 00:00:07.599
to the subject matters covered. This information is given with
3
00:00:07.679 --> 00:00:12.039
the understanding that neither the hosts, guests, sponsors, or station
4
00:00:12.240 --> 00:00:17.440
are engaged in rendering any specific and personal medical, financial,
5
00:00:17.800 --> 00:00:22.760
legal counseling, professional service, or any advice. You should seek
6
00:00:22.800 --> 00:00:26.879
the services of competent professionals before applying or trying any
7
00:00:27.000 --> 00:00:32.280
suggested ideas next. The information contained in this podcast is
8
00:00:32.320 --> 00:00:35.920
intended for informational purposes only and is not a substitute
9
00:00:35.960 --> 00:00:40.000
for individual professional legal advice. The podcast information was carefully
10
00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:44.439
compiled from vetted sources and references. However, Rose resources outreach
11
00:00:44.520 --> 00:00:47.320
to safeguard the elderly cannot guarantee that you will not
12
00:00:47.439 --> 00:00:52.280
fall victim to a scam. Let's talk about scams. It's
13
00:00:52.560 --> 00:00:56.039
the must listen show for anyone who wants to protect
14
00:00:56.079 --> 00:01:00.640
themselves and their loved ones from scams. Every Tuesday am
15
00:01:00.799 --> 00:01:05.159
Pacific time on K four HD Radio, Joyce Petrowski, founder
16
00:01:05.200 --> 00:01:09.599
of Rose, and her guests will provide valuable insights and
17
00:01:09.760 --> 00:01:14.599
practical tips on how to recognize and protect yourself from scams.
18
00:01:14.879 --> 00:01:18.640
And now here is your host, Joyce Petrowski.
19
00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:23.599
Good morning, everybody, My name is Brian Watson, community outreach
20
00:01:23.680 --> 00:01:28.560
specialist for Rose Resources Outreached to safeguard the elderly, and
21
00:01:28.840 --> 00:01:31.319
I am filling in for Joyce today. She will be
22
00:01:31.359 --> 00:01:35.120
back next week. I appreciate the trust Joyce gives me
23
00:01:35.400 --> 00:01:39.959
in spending some time with all of our viewers and listeners.
24
00:01:40.799 --> 00:01:44.879
We are here to prevent people from getting scammed in
25
00:01:44.959 --> 00:01:48.920
the first place, and it's a tough job for all
26
00:01:48.920 --> 00:01:52.239
of us out there in the world because these scammers
27
00:01:52.239 --> 00:01:56.560
are really really good. Every week, every month, I hear
28
00:01:56.799 --> 00:02:01.719
stories of very smart people getting targeted by these very
29
00:02:01.760 --> 00:02:07.640
talented scammers, and you know, they're horrible people and they're
30
00:02:07.680 --> 00:02:12.319
coming after us. And our goal is for you to
31
00:02:12.639 --> 00:02:17.400
recognize the psychological pressure that they put on us, put
32
00:02:17.439 --> 00:02:20.439
on you, identify that it's a scam, and just be
33
00:02:20.560 --> 00:02:23.919
willing to hang up that phone, delete that email, and
34
00:02:23.960 --> 00:02:27.639
go talk to someone else. So today's topic is an
35
00:02:27.719 --> 00:02:32.719
update on states and cities that have banned cryptocurrency ATMs.
36
00:02:33.280 --> 00:02:35.439
So before we jump into that, I want to just
37
00:02:35.520 --> 00:02:40.800
do a review of a cryptocurrency ATMs. What they are.
38
00:02:41.439 --> 00:02:43.960
You know, yesterday I actually spoke to a friend of
39
00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:47.680
mine from college and I asked him if he knew
40
00:02:47.680 --> 00:02:51.840
what a cryptocurrency ATM was and he didn't. And you know,
41
00:02:51.960 --> 00:02:55.080
this is a smart guy who you know, handles his
42
00:02:55.199 --> 00:02:58.360
finances and you know he knows what's going on. And
43
00:02:59.240 --> 00:03:02.759
if my friend and didn't know what a cryptocurrency ATM is,
44
00:03:03.520 --> 00:03:06.240
you know that means most people don't. So let's just
45
00:03:06.280 --> 00:03:09.599
do a review. So I told this story last year.
46
00:03:09.599 --> 00:03:13.120
I want to share it again. I was last fall.
47
00:03:13.199 --> 00:03:16.240
I was up in northern Arizona. I happened to be
48
00:03:16.280 --> 00:03:20.080
in a town where I was giving a fraud prevention
49
00:03:20.240 --> 00:03:24.039
presentation that was actually being held at the local mall
50
00:03:24.520 --> 00:03:27.360
at a business there. And as I walked into the
51
00:03:27.439 --> 00:03:32.800
main doors of the mall, right in that open area,
52
00:03:32.879 --> 00:03:38.759
there was this machine that hot my eye and it
53
00:03:38.840 --> 00:03:42.000
was black and yellow and the yellow just popped. It
54
00:03:42.039 --> 00:03:45.919
was really bright colored, and it was this machine. It
55
00:03:45.960 --> 00:03:51.319
looks like an ATM, but this wasn't an ordinary ATM.
56
00:03:51.439 --> 00:03:55.240
It's what we call a cryptocurrency ATM. And it's hard
57
00:03:55.240 --> 00:03:58.240
to mix because you walked right into the mall. And
58
00:03:58.680 --> 00:04:02.360
I was interested because I work part time for Rose
59
00:04:02.599 --> 00:04:05.439
and I'm in the fraud prevention business, so I need
60
00:04:05.479 --> 00:04:08.159
to know about these things. I walked up. I was
61
00:04:08.280 --> 00:04:12.599
very curious, started looking at this machine, you know, checking
62
00:04:12.680 --> 00:04:14.919
it out, and this gentleman came up to me and
63
00:04:15.800 --> 00:04:17.560
asked if I was going to put money into it
64
00:04:17.639 --> 00:04:20.680
and get scammed. And I said no, no, no, no, no,
65
00:04:20.680 --> 00:04:25.199
no no. I warned people about scams. I don't get scammed.
66
00:04:25.199 --> 00:04:28.920
And then he started to tell me that he looks
67
00:04:28.959 --> 00:04:32.720
out for his local citizens. He works at the mall
68
00:04:33.279 --> 00:04:37.199
and he just keeps his eye out for people walking
69
00:04:37.199 --> 00:04:40.319
in and he can tell when someone's under stress and
70
00:04:40.399 --> 00:04:43.079
panicking and on the phone with someone with a bag
71
00:04:43.120 --> 00:04:46.720
of cash, and he intervenes. And I was very proud
72
00:04:46.720 --> 00:04:51.000
of this guy. But that's what cryptoatms are. They are
73
00:04:51.879 --> 00:04:58.240
a way that scammers steal from us, and they're absolutely horrible.
74
00:04:59.120 --> 00:05:01.680
And you'll tell I don't hide my feelings about these
75
00:05:01.680 --> 00:05:05.639
cryptocurrency ATMs. I have no problem with people buying and
76
00:05:05.680 --> 00:05:09.319
selling cryptocurrency. It's the wave of the future. It's not
77
00:05:09.439 --> 00:05:12.800
going anywhere soon. But these ATMs are bad for several
78
00:05:12.800 --> 00:05:18.920
particular reasons, because the scammers love them. Scammers can be
79
00:05:18.959 --> 00:05:21.759
anywhere in the world, and with the Internet, they can
80
00:05:21.839 --> 00:05:26.040
find a cryptocurrency ATM that's very close to the person
81
00:05:26.120 --> 00:05:28.319
that they're scamming. So what are the Some of the
82
00:05:28.360 --> 00:05:32.240
scams that they might send you to a cryptocurrency ATM.
83
00:05:32.279 --> 00:05:35.480
The big one is a bank impersonation scam. They'll call
84
00:05:35.519 --> 00:05:39.240
you up. They'll say we're from your local bank. Your
85
00:05:39.319 --> 00:05:42.079
money's not safe. You need to put it somewhere where
86
00:05:42.079 --> 00:05:45.759
it'll be protected. They'll text you a QR code to
87
00:05:45.879 --> 00:05:49.240
your cell phone. They'll give you the exact location of
88
00:05:49.240 --> 00:05:53.360
a cryptocurrency ATM. You scam that QR code at this
89
00:05:53.839 --> 00:05:57.079
crypto ATM and you insert cash, you lose your money.
90
00:05:57.160 --> 00:06:01.000
It's a horrible scam. Another one is the text report scam.
91
00:06:01.519 --> 00:06:05.959
They'll call up. There's all kinds of variations, but they
92
00:06:06.040 --> 00:06:09.720
might say, you know you're due for a refund for
93
00:06:09.839 --> 00:06:13.920
this particular service, but you have to request the refund.
94
00:06:15.399 --> 00:06:18.240
You punch in the number on your screen, thinking you're
95
00:06:18.279 --> 00:06:21.160
getting a refund, but they actually manipulate it so it
96
00:06:21.199 --> 00:06:25.439
looks like you've got an overpayment. They demand the overpayment again,
97
00:06:25.519 --> 00:06:29.680
they send you to a cryptocurrency ATM. The other one
98
00:06:29.759 --> 00:06:32.279
is pig butchering. Joyce and I have talked a lot
99
00:06:32.360 --> 00:06:35.959
about pig butchering. Horrible term. I don't like it, but
100
00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:40.160
it gets people's attention. Several of our podcasts have covered
101
00:06:41.759 --> 00:06:46.959
pig butchering. It's a long play scam. The person on
102
00:06:47.000 --> 00:06:50.879
the other end develops a relationship with you and at
103
00:06:50.879 --> 00:06:55.079
a certain point floats the idea of buying or selling
104
00:06:55.079 --> 00:07:01.920
a cryptocurrency, and they get you to to quote invest
105
00:07:02.079 --> 00:07:05.839
but you're really not investing. You're just losing. And what
106
00:07:05.879 --> 00:07:10.040
they do is they facilitate facilitate this pig butchering scheme
107
00:07:10.079 --> 00:07:14.800
by sending you to a cryptocurrency atm nearby. It could
108
00:07:14.839 --> 00:07:17.839
be at a grocery store, it could be at a
109
00:07:17.879 --> 00:07:22.120
liquor store, convenience store, smoke shop, at a mall, like
110
00:07:22.199 --> 00:07:25.839
I said, at the mall, anywhere, and they will provide
111
00:07:25.879 --> 00:07:28.680
you a QR code and you start putting that cash
112
00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:33.040
in thinking you're investing, but you're not. You're just losing.
113
00:07:33.399 --> 00:07:35.480
And then the last one I want to highlight today
114
00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:38.560
is the jury duty scam. You know, this thing has
115
00:07:38.639 --> 00:07:41.920
been around for twenty or thirty years. It's just a
116
00:07:41.920 --> 00:07:46.519
phone call from a scammer pretending to be a deputy
117
00:07:46.639 --> 00:07:51.079
from the local sheriff's office sheriff's department saying you didn't
118
00:07:51.079 --> 00:07:54.480
show up for jury duty, and this one's back. I
119
00:07:54.519 --> 00:07:57.879
have talked to three people in the last two months
120
00:07:57.959 --> 00:08:01.639
or so that have received the call for the jury
121
00:08:01.720 --> 00:08:06.399
duty scam. And when I talked to these new friends
122
00:08:06.399 --> 00:08:10.519
of mine, they told me they were contacted, convinced they
123
00:08:10.560 --> 00:08:12.959
didn't show up for jury duty, and they had two
124
00:08:13.000 --> 00:08:16.160
bad choices, pay a big fine or go to jail. Well,
125
00:08:16.199 --> 00:08:19.439
of course they say, I'll just pay the fine, and
126
00:08:19.480 --> 00:08:23.720
then they're directed to a cryptocurrency ATM nearby. So everybody
127
00:08:23.720 --> 00:08:26.759
out there and radio land, do you catch what's going on.
128
00:08:27.439 --> 00:08:31.000
If you're being sent to a cryptocurrency ATM, it is
129
00:08:31.319 --> 00:08:37.559
almost always a scam. There's no legitimate company, no financial institution,
130
00:08:38.279 --> 00:08:41.639
no government agency that's going to demand this form of payment.
131
00:08:42.679 --> 00:08:45.759
And we understand it is tough. When you get that
132
00:08:45.879 --> 00:08:50.440
phone call and they sound professional and your option is
133
00:08:50.480 --> 00:08:54.279
paying a fine or going to jail. It is stressful.
134
00:08:54.720 --> 00:08:57.120
So that's why we have to talk about it right now.
135
00:08:57.159 --> 00:09:01.799
What would you do? You know what I tell people,
136
00:09:02.480 --> 00:09:05.120
You've got to have an escape plan. And I'm telling
137
00:09:05.159 --> 00:09:08.320
you right now it's okay to lie, just if you're
138
00:09:08.360 --> 00:09:10.240
on the phone and you don't like where it's going.
139
00:09:10.519 --> 00:09:12.879
Hanging up, and if you're not, if you're someone who
140
00:09:12.879 --> 00:09:15.320
can't hang up, just make up a lie. We call
141
00:09:15.360 --> 00:09:18.320
it a white lie. Just say I got someone in
142
00:09:18.440 --> 00:09:21.200
might at the door, I got food in the oven,
143
00:09:21.960 --> 00:09:25.840
I have I have company, I'm expecting a phone call.
144
00:09:26.759 --> 00:09:29.519
Just be mentally prepared to give yourself that break and
145
00:09:29.559 --> 00:09:32.960
talk to someone else, because these scammers will not let
146
00:09:32.960 --> 00:09:34.720
you do that. They will keep you on the phone
147
00:09:34.759 --> 00:09:40.039
while they're scamming. So we talked about cryptocurrency ATMs. They
148
00:09:40.080 --> 00:09:44.240
look like regular ATMs. You put cash into them, you
149
00:09:44.360 --> 00:09:47.159
think you're paying off a fine or you're investing, but
150
00:09:47.200 --> 00:09:51.480
you're really just losing your money. So what what has
151
00:09:51.519 --> 00:09:55.480
been going on? You know, our government sitting back and
152
00:09:55.600 --> 00:09:59.240
just doing nothing. No, there I'm going to today. I'm
153
00:09:59.240 --> 00:10:01.879
going to talk about so several cities and states that
154
00:10:01.960 --> 00:10:06.039
have taken a proactive approach because they want to protect
155
00:10:06.080 --> 00:10:09.200
their citizens. So first I want to talk about is
156
00:10:09.240 --> 00:10:15.639
the state of Iowa. The Iowa Attorney General's office kept
157
00:10:15.639 --> 00:10:21.360
receiving complaints about these cryptocurrency machines, so they initiated a
158
00:10:22.159 --> 00:10:26.759
one of a kind investigation into cryptocurrency ATMs, and they
159
00:10:26.799 --> 00:10:29.000
wanted to see, you know, are they as bad as
160
00:10:29.039 --> 00:10:32.440
they actually are. So this investigation started in October of
161
00:10:32.440 --> 00:10:37.759
twenty twenty three and the Attorney General's Office issued subpoenas
162
00:10:38.360 --> 00:10:41.639
to fourteen crypto ATM companies. There's a lot of them
163
00:10:41.679 --> 00:10:46.879
out there, and the subpoenas are basically a legal demand.
164
00:10:47.240 --> 00:10:52.240
They wanted information for all the transactions conducted and it
165
00:10:52.320 --> 00:10:56.399
was over a several year period for Iowa residents. And
166
00:10:57.039 --> 00:11:01.039
they also the investigators for the Attorney General's Office also
167
00:11:01.200 --> 00:11:05.399
emailed and called hundreds of Iowa residents who had made
168
00:11:05.480 --> 00:11:10.000
transactions through these cryptocurrency ATMs, and you know, they gathered
169
00:11:10.039 --> 00:11:13.279
police reports, consumer complaints, all the self report. They did
170
00:11:13.320 --> 00:11:16.559
a full on, full blown investigation, which I'm very impressed.
171
00:11:16.799 --> 00:11:21.360
As a former special agent with the government, I love investigations.
172
00:11:21.399 --> 00:11:23.320
They take a lot of time and a lot of work,
173
00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:28.759
but they show what really happens. So what was the
174
00:11:28.799 --> 00:11:33.799
result of this investigation. Iowa residents lost at least twenty
175
00:11:33.799 --> 00:11:38.919
million dollars in transactions from just two companies alone, and
176
00:11:38.960 --> 00:11:43.080
the investigation found that ninety four to ninety eight percent
177
00:11:43.519 --> 00:11:48.639
of the money that Iowa residents reported sending through ATMs
178
00:11:48.639 --> 00:11:52.200
were scams. Let me repeat that, ninety four to ninety
179
00:11:52.200 --> 00:11:55.879
eight percent of the money sent through these crypto ATMs
180
00:11:56.039 --> 00:11:59.559
was a scam, and no surprise to us here at Rose,
181
00:12:00.320 --> 00:12:04.600
most of the victims and ATM users were above the
182
00:12:04.600 --> 00:12:07.320
age of sixty, what we call older adults, and that
183
00:12:07.440 --> 00:12:11.200
is our passionate Rose. Everyone gets scammed, but as we
184
00:12:11.240 --> 00:12:16.039
get older, we lose more money, and the numbers don't
185
00:12:16.080 --> 00:12:19.000
lie about that. So kudos to the state of Iowa.
186
00:12:19.600 --> 00:12:22.879
They saw a problem and they took action, and they
187
00:12:23.000 --> 00:12:28.120
showed through financial records that this is a scam. This
188
00:12:28.240 --> 00:12:31.039
is not anecdotal, this is not my you know, one
189
00:12:31.799 --> 00:12:34.759
case of someone getting ripped off. We're talking ninety four
190
00:12:34.799 --> 00:12:38.600
to ninety eight percent scam scam rate. So other cities
191
00:12:38.639 --> 00:12:45.720
and states have tackled it as well. The Stillwater, Minnesota,
192
00:12:46.480 --> 00:12:51.440
Saint Paul, Minnesota, and Spokane, Washington are three of the
193
00:12:51.559 --> 00:12:58.399
municipalities that banned cryptocurrency ATMs. There were also towns in Massachusetts. Now,
194
00:12:58.919 --> 00:13:02.840
they're kind of brave because these companies out there, you know,
195
00:13:03.879 --> 00:13:06.639
they make a lot of money on these machines. They're profitable,
196
00:13:06.720 --> 00:13:10.159
and of course you know, they got sued and I've
197
00:13:10.200 --> 00:13:15.320
spoken to some people from these these municipalities and they
198
00:13:15.320 --> 00:13:17.000
told me what they did, and like I said, they
199
00:13:17.000 --> 00:13:21.519
were very brave because they saw their citizens losing money.
200
00:13:21.960 --> 00:13:25.840
And then when we want to talk about states, in March,
201
00:13:26.159 --> 00:13:29.120
the state of Indiana became the first state to ban
202
00:13:29.279 --> 00:13:35.440
cryptocurrency ATMs and kiosks in their entire state. They passed
203
00:13:35.480 --> 00:13:40.840
legislation making operating a cryptocurrency ATM in the state a
204
00:13:40.960 --> 00:13:46.480
deceptive act, which enabled the Attorney General from the State
205
00:13:46.519 --> 00:13:50.000
of Indiana to pursue legal action against the operators and
206
00:13:50.039 --> 00:13:57.360
property owners. And get this, Indiana has nine hundred cryptocurrency ATMs.
207
00:13:57.600 --> 00:13:58.879
You know, I thought we had a lot of them
208
00:13:58.879 --> 00:14:02.919
in Arizona with six hundred. Indiana's got nine hundred. And
209
00:14:03.000 --> 00:14:07.679
you know these these cryptocurrency ATMs are located at supermarkets,
210
00:14:07.679 --> 00:14:13.799
convenience stores, gas stations. So congratulations Indiana, you took the lead,
211
00:14:14.799 --> 00:14:17.559
and I'm hoping other states will follow. And in fact,
212
00:14:17.639 --> 00:14:23.639
the second state to ban cryptocurrency ATMs or cryptocurrency kiosks,
213
00:14:23.679 --> 00:14:28.679
they're kind of a synonymous name. In May, legislation was
214
00:14:28.720 --> 00:14:33.279
signed by their governor making the installation or operation of
215
00:14:33.279 --> 00:14:37.919
a crypto ATM a misdemeanor and that is effective July first,
216
00:14:37.919 --> 00:14:42.759
So we're about a month away from that, so will
217
00:14:42.799 --> 00:14:47.919
other states follow probably, I'm guessing so. But congratulations to
218
00:14:47.960 --> 00:14:51.919
those two two states for protecting their people. And then
219
00:14:51.960 --> 00:14:55.000
here's some very recent news on May eighteenth, So just
220
00:14:55.120 --> 00:14:59.159
last week, Bitcoin Depot, which is a US based bitcoin
221
00:14:59.240 --> 00:15:05.519
ATM operation, announced that it initiated a voluntary Chapter eleven
222
00:15:05.639 --> 00:15:09.360
process in the US Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District
223
00:15:09.440 --> 00:15:13.360
of Texas. So they basically are filing for bankruptcy and
224
00:15:13.519 --> 00:15:17.000
basically it's it's their plan is to do an orderly
225
00:15:17.039 --> 00:15:20.919
wind down of the company's operation and facilitate a sale
226
00:15:20.919 --> 00:15:26.000
of his assets. So, you know, when states and cities
227
00:15:26.480 --> 00:15:32.039
and towns start banning these crypto ATMs, the crypto ATM operators,
228
00:15:31.879 --> 00:15:35.639
it makes their business a lot harder to use. So
229
00:15:36.799 --> 00:15:40.840
to play Devil's advocate today, you know, what are the
230
00:15:41.000 --> 00:15:47.480
arguments in favor of these cryptocurrency ATMs, because until recently
231
00:15:47.519 --> 00:15:51.600
they were legal in all fifty states. And the biggest
232
00:15:52.440 --> 00:15:56.399
answer that the proponents of these machines give is, you know,
233
00:15:56.480 --> 00:16:00.679
some people are unbanked, meaning they don't have a bank account.
234
00:16:01.960 --> 00:16:04.320
They don't you know, they don't have one of the
235
00:16:04.360 --> 00:16:06.840
big banks or credit union or something like that to
236
00:16:06.879 --> 00:16:10.039
do that, you know, and there's reasons for that. Some
237
00:16:10.080 --> 00:16:16.600
people don't operate their bank account properly. They bounce checks,
238
00:16:16.759 --> 00:16:20.240
they have non sufficient funds, they do things where the
239
00:16:20.279 --> 00:16:22.519
bank does not want to deal with them. So it's