Security News > 2021 > November > Wire Fraud Scam Upgraded with Bitcoin

As the agency describes it, the scammer will contact their victim and somehow convince them that they need to send money, either with promises of love, further riches, or by impersonating an actual institution like a bank or utility company.

After the mark is convinced, the scammer will have them get cash, and head to an ATM that sells cryptocurrencies and supports reading QR codes.

Once the victim's there, they'll scan a QR code that the scammer sent them, which will tell the machine to send any crypto purchased to the scammer's address.

Just like that, the victim loses their money, and the scammer has successfully exploited them.

The "Upgrade" for scammers with the crypto ATM method is two-fold: it can be less friction than sending a wire transfer, and at the end the scammer has cryptocurrency instead of fiat.

Using the ATM method, there's less time to reflect on the fact that you're about to send money to a stranger.

News URL

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2021/11/wire-fraud-scam-upgraded-with-bitcoin.html