After a family reportedly used it to pay a fraudster, a Texas sheriff’s department allegedly took a power-cutting tool to a crypto ATM, as evidenced by images.
After a family was allegedly defrauded of $25,000, a county sheriff in Texas has reportedly taken a power-cutting tool to a local crypto ATM. This has sparked a debate among crypto users regarding the rationale behind his actions.
On Tuesday, local reports indicated that a fraudster had deceived a family in Jasper County, located northwest of Houston, into depositing funds at a local Bitcoin (BTC) ATM by impersonating a government employee.
The ATM, which was branded as being operated by Bitcoin Depot in photographs, was cut open by Jasper County Sheriff Chuck Havard to recoup approximately $32,000, including the $25,000 the family paid to the scammers after he secured a search warrant.
Havard asserted that the scam caller informed the family that they must deposit $25,000 in fines into a Bitcoin address. The family subsequently utilized the Bitcoin ATM to transmit the funds.
Bitcoin Depot was requested to provide commentary regarding the incident.
Cryptocurrency Users Question Police Tactics
JohnDLG, a Reddit user, responded to the news on Wednesday by suggesting that government employees may have destroyed the property of an innocent third party and stolen his money.
According to Reddit user Jad8484, “This is illogical unless the kiosk owner was defrauding.”
“It is akin to seizing all the money from a CVS register after an individual purchased numerous gift cards to send to scammers,” they further stated.
Havard defended his actions, stating, “We will work swiftly and utilize every resource at our disposal to protect our citizens and their property at all costs when thieves, low-lives, and scammers attempt to take advantage of the citizens of Jasper County.”
Sheriff asserts that the matter is exceedingly challenging to resolve.
Havard stated that crypto scheme cases can be “extremely intricate and challenging to resolve.”
He stated that his department has not yet determined the scammer’s location.
The incident occurs in the context of increasing scrutiny regarding crypto ATMs in the United States and abroad.
The second-largest city in Washington state, Spokane, prohibited using crypto ATMs on June 18 in response to increased fraud activity targeting residents.
In 2024, the FBI reported nearly 11,000 complaints and more than $246 million in losses associated with crypto ATM schemes, a 31% increase from 2023. This information was released in April.
Cash deposits and disbursements at crypto ATMs were recently restricted by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre to 5,000 Australian dollars ($3,250) on June 3.
