Spokane, the second largest city in the state of the United States in Washington, has prohibited crypto ATMs to combat the growing scam activity aimed at the city’s residents.
Spokane City Council said on Monday that it became the first city in Washington to ban cryptocurrency ATMs after a unanimous vote.
the council member, proposed the measure, who helped present the prohibition, said that cryptography ATMs “have become a preferred tool for scammers who seek to disappoint the victims of confusedables”, and the spokrase kiosks of the prohibition. ”
Dillon told the New Paper the spokesman Review to local that the measure “will prohibit futures, as well as eliminating existing kiosks. We see a lot located in poor neighborhoods, convenience stores, grocery stores.”
According to the ordinance, the city of Spokane has a “significant increase in scams derived from the use of cryptocurrency kiosks, and there has been a constant increase of victims that lose thousands of dollars.”
The edict added that it provides a tool “to protect consumers from those people who mainly trust the virtual currency to disappoint others.”
Impact monitoring
Cryptographic ATM operators have 60 days to eliminate boxes from kiosks throughout the city or face civil infractions and revocation of commercial licenses.
On Tuesday, the City Council of Spokane said it will track progress and will report whether the ordinance has a measurable impact on the frequency of informed crimes involving cryptographic kiosks.
Seeders made for scammers
According to the reports, Police detective Tim Schwering told the Council that he has seen several cases in which money feeds the thesis kiosks “will end in places like China, North Korea, Russia.
He said that criminals are passed through the application of law or fiscal officials, tell the victims to buy cryptography at ATMs to protect their money or avoid jail.
“They are scamming people, saying they need to move their money to the cryptocurrency to protect it,” Schwering said, according to the spokesman’s review. “By when money is in the cryptocurrency, it’s too late.”
Arises from cryptographic kiosk scammers
The FBI reported in April that there were almost 11,000 complaints and more than $ 246 million in losses associated with cryptographic ATM scams in 2024, an increase of 31% of 2023.
The scammers have also been pointing to the elderly, with two thirds of the victims of fraud and scams of cryptographic kiosks that are about 60 years, he said.
