US Senators urge top 10 Bitcoin ATM companies to address crypto scams targeting seniors

Seven Democratic senators in the United States recently wrote to the country's 10 largest Bitcoin ATM operators, urging them to address cryptocurrency scams targeting older Americans. The letter was sent to Athena Bitcoin, Bitcoin Depot, Bitstop, Byte Federal, Cash2bitcoin, Coinflip, Coinhub, Margo, Rockitcoin and Unbank. The letter states: "We call on you to take immediate action to address the problem that Bitcoin ATMs (BTMs) are facilitating widespread financial fraud targeting older Americans." The lawmakers said that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin "have long been associated with criminal activity" and "the relative anonymity and irreversibility of cryptocurrency transactions make them particularly attractive to scammers." The letter also cited data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). From 2020 to 2023, losses caused by BTM scams soared from $12 million to $114 million. It added that older people are "more than three times more likely to report losses using BTMs than young people." The senators asked the companies to take stronger steps to prevent scams and ensure their cryptocurrency ATMs are not misused, giving them until October 4 to respond with details of their current measures. (Bitcoin.com)