By HILTON HEAD, S.C. — Marianne, a retired health care worker, was on her way to a breakfast date with her girlfriends in November when her phone rang.
The caller, who said he was with the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Department, told her she was in contempt of court for missing jury duty and facing jail time. He connected her to his supervisor, who said she could pay a $7,500 bond to remain free until her court date.
Initially skeptical, Marianne, 66, eventually withdrew the sum, a mix of $50 and $100 bills, from her bank and followed their instructions to feed the cash into a Coinstar ATM at a local Food Lion grocery store.
But the money Marianne thought was keeping her out of jail was converted to cryptocurrency and transferred to a scammer’s digital wallet.
Then the supposed sheriff’s officer, still on the phone, told her she needed to pay $3,000 more.
Marianne felt uneasy, so she called the sheriff’s office directly. When the dispatcher she reached told her it was a scam, she broke down.
“Oh, my God,” she realized. “They got me. Doggone them.”
Marianne, who spoke on the condition that NBC News publish only her first name out of concern she could be targeted again, was the victim of a new crypto con based on an old scam. From Keystone, Colorado, to Sandy Springs, Georgia, sheriffs and police departments are warning residents about impersonators who claim their marks have missed jury duty and must pay fines or face arrest.
At least three states — Minnesota, California and Vermont — have daily transaction limits for bitcoin ATMs.Henry Taylor for NBC News
Today a growing number of people in the United States have crypto kiosks at their local grocery stores or gas stations. There are roughly 30,000 bitcoin ATMs (BTMs) in the United States, according to Coin ATM Radar, a website that tracks them. The Coinstar machine where they haul in loose change for cash might now also sell bitcoin. Bitcoin Depot, North America’s largest BTM operator, has kiosks in 48 states and is still expanding. The operators can charge users hefty transaction fees, and the stores often receive payment for hosting the BTMs.
Food Lion, the store Marianne visited, referred questions to Coinstar, which said in a statement that it is “committed to consumer protection” at its kiosks. Coinme, a platform that partners with Coinstar to sell cryptocurrency, said it was “deeply saddened” to learn of the incident. In a statement, it cited security measures including on-screen warnings and multi-factor authentication but noted that “scammers continually evolve their tactics.”
Last fall, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., then the chair of the Judiciary Committee, and six other senators contacted the 10 largest companies running crypto ATMs and asked how they were preventing fraud against seniors. Many, like Coinme, display on-screen warnings and disclaimers. At least two companies said they require older customers to speak with agents before they complete transactions.
A Bitcoin Depot ATM at a gas station on Hilton Head Island, S.C.Henry Taylor for NBC News
Still, as the Trump administration’s embrace of cryptocurrency boosts the industry, advocates say more should be done to protect consumers.
Residents of Beaufort County, where Marianne is based, reported $3.1 million in losses from crypto scams, including several involving BTMs, to local law enforcement agencies last year alone.
Some advocates are trying to get the Legislature to take up the issue.
“The problem is already there, but it can certainly get bigger over time,” said Carri Grube Lybarker, administrator of the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs. “And the longer we wait, we’re concerned the more folks will lose their hard-earned money.”
