The Australian Federal Police said that they contacted over 90 Australians as part of repression of the crime of using cryptographic ATMs, including native victims of pigs and suspicious criminals.
One of the victims was a 77-year-old widow, which was deceived from $ 433,000 (USD 281,947) in online dating fraud, Australia Financial Intelligence Agency, Austrac, he said on Wednesday.
Australian public broadcaster ABC Reported The widow was not aware that the Belgian man who had an appointment online for two years was a fraud until the police appeared at her door.
“Half a day of work” to send a cash cheater
The victim said that he was encouraged by a fraudster she met in a dating application to invest in Bitcoin (BTC), showing her false documents, claiming that he earned $ 13,000 Australian (USD 8,464) in one week.
In the case of her first transaction, the fraudster reportedly spoke through the process, which consisted of paying money from an ordinary ATM and then feeding them with a Bitcoin ATM. In just 18 months she sent all her savings of life.
The victim said ABC that at some point he was experiencing about USD 20,000 (USD 13,023), adding that the transfers often took “half a day of work” and became an “expert in using the Bitcoin ATM”.
“The worst thing was that I have to tell my daughter that I actually gave my savings, which took me 40 years, and it took him 18 months to get him.”
“Task group identified another woman in the 70s, who was associated after seeing, which in her opinion was a legitimate advertisement about a shopping company offering a significant return on investment. She lost over USD 200,000,” said Brendan Thomas, general director of Austrac.
The police accused of one, formal caution for others
During repression, the Australian police attacked the best users of cryptocurrency ATMs who were identified as a high risk of using illegal activities or victimization of fraud.
The police contacted in particular 21 people who were suspected of victims of fraud related to cryptocurrencies, or were to be involved in illegal activities related to machines.
“We suspected that a large number of cryptographic transactions were probably illegal, but our law enforcement authorities disturbingly stated that almost all transactions that we called victims, not criminals,” said Thomas.
One was accused of real estate washing crimes, and four others issued formal warnings regarding the suspicion that they used cryptocurrencies to buy drugs or acted as mules money for criminals.
However, some suspicious mules were fraudulent victims who either unknowingly helped criminals or consciously donated funds to recover stolen money. AFP said that few do not want to admit that cybercriminals have deceived them.
The latest repression occurs after Austrac, introducing recent operational principles and transaction limits for cryptographic operators of ATMs on June 3 to combat fraud. In December last year, the agency also marked Krypto as a priority for 2025.
False promises of cryptocurrencies
AFP commander Graeme Marshall he said In a statement that fraud victims are manipulated to feed thousands of dollars with cryptographic ATMs through false promises of love, employment, investment or quick profits.
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“If you have a guarantee of quick profits, if there is a high pressure period or a sense of diligence, and if you have never met this person before, contact them immediately and report them,” he said.
“We must get a message: if someone, a company or government agency will ask you to pay with a cryptocurrency, do not send money.”
The Australian cybercrime reporting system, Reportcyber, received 150 unique reports of fraud regarding cryptographic ATMs between January 2024 and January 2025, According to to AFP, with losses exceeding $ 3.1 million Australian dollars ($ 2 million).
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