Crypto ATM sting uncovers elderly widow who lost $282K in scam

One of the victims identified in the police operation said she carried around $13,000 in cash at one point to send Bitcoin to scammers via crypto ATMs.

Australian federal police said it has contacted over 90 Australians as part of a crackdown on criminal use of crypto ATMs, including pig butchering victims and suspected offenders. 

One of the victims was a 77-year-old widow who was scammed out of 433,000 Australian dollars ($281,947) in an online dating scam, Australia’s financial intelligence agency, AUSTRAC, said on Wednesday.

Australian public broadcaster ABC reported the widow was unaware that the Belgian man she’d been dating online for two years was a fraud until police showed up at her door.

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