Durbin Highlights Bitcoin ATM Fraud Against Elderly Americans In Speech On The Senate Floor
Durbin announces plans to introduce legislation next Congress that establishes a federal antifraud baseline for Bitcoin ATMs
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today delivered a speech on the Senate floor highlighting how Bitcoin ATMs frequently contribute to financial fraud against elderly Americans. Reporting in the Illinois Times and New York Times outlines egregious examples of criminals contacting elderly Americans and using threats and other forms of intimidation to coerce them into depositing large sums of money in the criminals’ crypto wallets via local Bitcoin ATMs.
Durbin said, “These scams, which frequently target elderly Americans, start with a phone call. A criminal calls his target and claims he’s from their bank, the IRS, or some federal agency. He tells his victim that their bank account has been hacked or that they are late paying their taxes and explains that they need to go to their bank immediately and take out money—sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars. He directs his victim to a local business that hosts a Bitcoin ATM. He might even order them an Uber driver to pick them up. From there, he walks them through—step by step—how to deposit their money into the machine; how to use it to buy Bitcoin; and how to transfer the Bitcoin to a digital wallet controlled by the criminal himself. In a matter of minutes, the money is gone, lost to the anonymity and irreversibility inherent to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.”
Bitcoin ATM scams like these have exploded in recent years. According to data recently released by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the amount consumers reported losing in this form of fraud increased nearly tenfold between 2020 and 2023—from $12 million to $114 million. In the first half of this year alone, victims lost a staggering $65 million. A disproportionate number of these victims were elderly Americans. In 2023, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center received nearly 2,700 Bitcoin ATM fraud complaints from individuals aged 60 and older—more than all other age groups combined.
“Earlier this summer, the Illinois Times reported that a small business owner in my hometown of Springfield, Illinois, stepped in after he witnessed a Bitcoin ATM in his store repeatedly being used by elderly individuals to deposit large sums of money at the urging of fraudsters. As he explained, ‘One hundred percent of the time that we saw somebody at the machine they were being scammed. So, I was like, this machine has to go. I’m not going to be a part of that.’ He wisely removed the Bitcoin ATM from his store,” said Durbin. “In Texas, a good Samaritan called 9-1-1 after she, in her words, ‘noticed an elderly lady feeding thousands of dollars into the cryptocurrency machine’ at the urging of a criminal. She tried to stop the victim from feeding more and more of her money into the machine but was unsuccessful. Only when the responding officer arrived and intervened did the victim finally understand that she was being scammed. Scenarios like these are playing out across the country. While we should applaud bystanders who step in and stop—or at least limit—the damage caused by criminals, relying on good Samaritans is not a solution to this growing problem.”
In September, Durbin led a group of Senate Democrats in pressing the ten largest Bitcoin ATM operators to curb fraud against elderly Americans. The Senators wanted to understand what steps—if any—these companies were taking to prevent fraudulent use of their machines. The responses that the companies sent back were not reassuring. However, in their responses to Durbin’s letters, many of these companies offered to work with Congress to craft appropriate regulations for the industry.
“While some safeguards, such as warning screens and ID checks, were employed by all responding companies, other common-sense measures, like analyzing transactions and digital wallets to identify and stop fraud, were not,” said Durbin. “Other best practices, such as setting maximum transaction sizes, were left to the vagaries of state law, leaving too many Americans at risk in too many states.”
Durbin announced on the floor that next Congress he plans to introduce legislation that establishes a federal antifraud baseline for Bitcoin ATMs. Durbin stated that he plans to work with state attorneys general and organizations like AARP, who have been leaders on this issue, to draft the bill.
“As I start to develop this bill, there are a few things that strike me as absolutely necessary. First, Bitcoin ATMs should have daily transaction limits, particularly for new customers. As these machines are increasingly used to perpetrate fraud, we should limit potential losses. Second, any transactions initiated by a new customer should be held for some reasonable period before they are processed. This will allow new customers to cancel their transactions—particularly if they learn they were the victim of fraud. Minnesota and Connecticut recently passed legislation requiring Bitcoin ATM operators to wait 72 hours before processing a new customer’s transaction. This seems like a good place to start. Third, Bitcoin ATM operators should be required to use analytics to screen for fraudulent or otherwise illicit transactions. Many Bitcoin ATM operators already employ this technology, and there is no reason it shouldn’t be used across the board. Fourth, Bitcoin ATMs should be required to provide transaction receipts that include transaction hashes. This will allow law enforcement to more easily trace the transaction, collect evidence of the crime, and, maybe even, recover the stolen funds. These are a few pillars that this legislation will include,” Durbin continued.
Durbin concluded, “I won’t stand idly by while thousands of Americans—particularly elderly Americans—are ripped off in Bitcoin ATM scams. My bill will address this problem before it spirals out of control.”
Video of Durbin’s remarks on the floor is available here.
Audio of Durbin’s remarks on the floor is available here.
Footage of Durbin’s remarks on the floor is available here for TV Stations.
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