Bitcoin ATM Scams EXPOSED!

In this eye-opening clip from Black Out with Ian & Rashad, the hosts Rashad Bilal and Ian Dunlap break down the shocking rise of bitcoin ATM scams sweeping the nation. Joined by political investigative reporters, the team dives into a recent report highlighting how unsuspecting victims are being lured into pouring thousands of dollars into crypto ATMs, only to lose their hard-earned cash to sophisticated global scammers. The discussion begins with a real-life victim’s story: Gus Cason, who lost $15,000 after being convinced by a scammer pretending to be the president of his bank. Learn how scammers use crypto ATMs as "getaway cars," making stolen money nearly impossible to recover. The team uncovers how even the crypto ATM companies profit from these fraudulent transactions—sometimes charging outrageous fees up to 30%—and how they aggressively fight in court to keep recovered scam funds. Rashad and Ian offer sharp analysis about the timing of these scams, connecting the spike in fraud to the tail end of the current bitcoin bull run. They debate whether big institutions like banks entering the bitcoin space may help protect consumers, and highlight the dangers of sending crypto: miss one letter, and your money is gone with little hope of recovery! The hosts stress that Bitcoin itself isn’t a scam, but warn listeners about how easily cryptocurrency can be weaponized in these attacks, especially against vulnerable groups like the elderly. You’ll also hear their predictions on the future of crypto markets, how banks becoming custodians of bitcoin could shape the financial landscape, and what you should watch out for as scammers get smarter thanks to artificial intelligence. If you’ve ever wondered how crypto scams really work, how to protect yourself, or where bitcoin is headed next, this clip is for you. Be smart, stay aware, and don’t fall victim to the latest wave of bitcoin ATM fraud! **Hashtags:** #BitcoinATM #CryptoScam #BlackOutPodcast #FinancialLiteracy #BitcoinFraud #IanDunlap #RashadBilal #CryptoNews #Blockchain #BitcoinBullRun #CryptoSafety #DigitalCurrency #ScamAlert #PodcastClip #FinancialEducation

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Yeah, for sure, one hundred percent. Let's do this. Let's
talk about some financial topics before we get into topics.
So I want to show this clip about bitcoin fraud
that's been happening with ATM machines. Can we show this clip? Police, No, no, no, no, no.

Speaker 2 (00:17):
You are watching a victim get scammed so much money.

Speaker 3 (00:20):
You have your son of them, ten.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Thousands of one of thousands of Americans caught in a
growing global crime spree. That's no secret, police.

Speaker 1 (00:29):
What they tell you to do.

Speaker 4 (00:30):
Take any part up.

Speaker 3 (00:32):
So let's file.

Speaker 4 (00:35):
Please the phone.

Speaker 2 (00:37):
I'm in danger of.

Speaker 1 (00:38):
This, Okay, No, you're not.

Speaker 2 (00:39):
In all of these cases, these machines called crypto ATMs
become the getaway car for the scammers who pray on
victims like Gus.

Speaker 4 (00:48):
Case that's right, stepped ten hundred dollars bills. They would
prompt you for everything and come up. And I had
him on the phone, dude, had you ever seen this before?
Never been here before, never been here.

Speaker 2 (01:01):
This happened as he was recovering from a stroke.

Speaker 4 (01:03):
I got a phone call. Well, he told me he
was president of the bank. And so now you tell me,
I want you to swear and you're not a scam.
I swear I'm not a scam, and all that he
con convinced me he was good. He was good.

Speaker 2 (01:16):
A scammer told Gus that he would be arrested unless
he withdrew fifteen thousand dollars in cash and deposited it
in that crypto ATM. It looks like a normal ATM,
but a crypto ATM is different. Put in cash and
it converts it into cryptocurrency in an instant. The FBI
says victims like Gus have lost about two hundred and
forty million dollars so far this year, double the case

(01:38):
of last year.

Speaker 4 (01:39):
I should have known better. I should have known better.
I was stupid enough I fail for it.

Speaker 2 (01:44):
The scammer took off with Gus's cash in the form
of cryptocurrency, but the crypto ATM company also made money
from the transaction in the form of fees and markups,
often at twenty to thirty percent that they charge on
transactions scam or legit. Lawsuits from attorneys general accused the
top three crypto ATM firms of profiting from scams and

(02:07):
not protecting customers when police sees the scam cash out
of ATMs. The crypto ATM companies hit back hard in
court to get that cash back, which is what happened
to GUS.

Speaker 4 (02:18):
Cops went and got it that night. They took to it.
They going on a machine and took out fifteen thousand dollars.
They held on to it.

Speaker 2 (02:25):
Bitcoin Depot, the company with the most crypto ATMs in
the US, fought in court to get the fifteen thousand
dollars back and one.

Speaker 4 (02:33):
Bitcoin had no business getting that money at all. I mean, really, when,
especially when it's a scam, you think that's fair. Well,
hell no.

Speaker 2 (02:42):
The company points out its machines, like many crypto ATMs,
have multiple on screen warnings alerts of scams, and requires
that customers agree that they're only sending money to their
own accounts. Bitcoin Depot also told CNN, we do not
profit from scams and the vast majority of our customers
use our kios for lawful purposes. The company adds, if
it can't stop the transaction, it reviews every potential scam

(03:05):
case individually for possible fee relief or refunds.

Speaker 1 (03:16):
All right, so you know this is interesting. A bigcoin
on a it's interested on a few different levels. If
you follow the big cooin bull bear cycle. We're at
the tail end of this bull run. If history would
repeat itself.

Speaker 3 (03:36):
Why do you say that shot?

Speaker 1 (03:38):
Well, chat gbt says it. But if you if you
go by the amount of time that a bull run lasts,
for this bull run will be over fourth quarter of
this year or first quarter of next year. So we're
at the tail end and you start to see. One
of the signs of seeing the tail end is when
you start to see scams pick up dramatic. And they said, like,

(04:02):
this is the highest level of scams that we've seen
in bitcoin ever. I think it's almost twice is what
it was last year. But this is a cautionary tale
for people just in general as far as what artificial
intelligence has done now is it's made it easier to
scam people.

Speaker 3 (04:18):
And to be clear, you're not saying bitcoin is a scam,
because I don't want them clip that up in.

Speaker 1 (04:22):
No, no, I'm not saying bitcoin is a scam. I'm
saying that it can be used as a shield to
facilitate to facilitate a scam. And so these people, you
know a lot of elderly people, but it could happen
to anybody, you know. They saying okay, like go to
the ATM machine, give the ATM machine the money. So
if you see I'm pretty sure you people everybody has

(04:42):
seen bitcoin ATM machines for sure, and that's the way
to actually put physical cash into a into a machine,
send bitcoin to somebody. But now the bitcoin ATM machine
is like, now we're not it's your fault, Like we're
not going to give you the money back, like just
because you got scams, like you know, like we make
you read everything on this make sure you know who
you're sitting into. Another thing about crypto once you happened

(05:03):
to me before I've sent crypto, I missed one letter.
You can't there's no customer service number. There is no
recourse to get your money back. That's why City Bank.
I think that they said that they're going to start
holding bitcoin for people starting next year, and like we
already have either we already have bitcoin ets. Now the

(05:26):
next thing is that banks are going to start to
be custodians of people's bitcoin.

Speaker 3 (05:30):
It's a good way to prevent that crash from happening
on your end because the books not looking solid right,
all of a sudden, every every fucking bank on Earth
loves bitcoin, I bet but Sweed, do you ever gotten
paid a bitcoin enough?

Speaker 1 (05:46):
Maybe she did, I don't know. Shot Solute.

Speaker 3 (05:52):
Be careful of all scams going around. But at the
end of the bull run or started the bull, do
you think different?

Speaker 1 (06:03):
Do you think you think you still got some more time?

Speaker 3 (06:06):
I think we have a little bit more time because
the banks and financial institution have vested interests for it
to stay afloat a so that the mid tier banks
don't get crushed. And I think with the onboarding of
that asset class, it makes banks a I think the

(06:30):
institution will take over a bitcoin or adoption of bitcoin.
I think that they're going to push it up a
little bit further, a little bit longer, maybe end of
Q one. But I can definitely see a pullback, not
like the one we have from sixty to twenty, but
I definitely can see a pullback, and I think that
would be a goal rush no pun intended from the

(06:50):
rest of the banks into it.