‘It’s almost like I was hypnotized’: Bitcoin ATM scams trick victims into losing thousands
November 20, 2025
DISCOVERED. IT’S COSTING PEOPLE ALL ACROSS MASSACHUSETTS MILLIONS. AND I GET A PHONE CALL FROM TD BANK, WHICH HAS BEEN MY BANK FOR YEARS. 85 YEAR OLD JANICE PELTZ DIDN’T REALIZE IT AT THE TIME, BUT IT WASN’T TD BANK ON THE OTHER END OF THE LINE. SOMEHOW I WAS PERSUADED TO GO TO THE BANK AND GET MONEY OUT OF MY LINE OF CREDIT, AND HE SAID, I DON’T WANT YOU TO TELL ANYBODY. JANICE DROVE TO THE BANK, WITHDRAWING $18,000 IN CASH. I FELT ALMOST AS IF I HAD BEEN HYPNOTIZED. WHY DID YOU THINK YOU NEEDED TO GET ALL THAT CASH? THAT’S WHAT HE TOLD ME TO GET. AND YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO DO WHAT? WITH IT? PUT IT INTO A BITCOIN MACHINE. THE SCAMMER DIRECTED JANICE TO THIS STORE. AND THIS BITCOIN ATM. SHE SAYS SHE SPENT HOURS HERE DEPOSITING THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS INTO THE MACHINE. IT WASN’T ALL $100 BILLS. IT WAS $10 BILLS. IT WAS A MIXTURE OF MONEY. AND IT TOOK WHAT SEEMED LIKE FOREVER. AND JUST LIKE THAT, THIS MASSACHUSETTS WOMAN’S MONEY WAS GONE. THIS IS CHASE BANK. LET ME TALK TO THEM. OKAY. STOP PUTTING MONEY IN THEIR BITCOIN SCAMS ARE HAPPENING ALL OVER THE COUNTRY. A POLICE OFFICER IN TEXAS INTERVENED AS THIS 85 YEAR WOMAN WAS DEPOSITING THOUSANDS INTO A BITCOIN ATM. WHO IS THIS? THIS IS STEVE SECURITY TEAM. SO, CHRISTINE, YOU’RE NOT THE FBI ESTIMATES AMERICANS LOST NEARLY $250 MILLION IN BITCOIN ATM SCAMS IN 2024. A LOT OF THE INVESTIGATIONS WE’VE BEEN DOING HERE POINT TO INDIA BASED ON SUBPOENAS. JIM KEARNEY IS AN INVESTIGATOR WITH THE ESSEX COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE. HE SAYS THERE HAVE BEEN AT LEAST $77 MILLION IN REPORTED LOSSES IN MASSACHUSETTS THIS YEAR, AND AT LEAST 11 MILLION IN ESSEX COUNTY ALONE. HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO ACTUALLY FIGURE OUT WHO IS BEHIND THE SCAM? IT’S EXTRAORDINARILY DIFFICULT. MASSACHUSETTS LAWMAKERS ARE TRYING TO PREVENT BITCOIN ATM SCAMS WITH A BILL THAT WOULD IMPLEMENT DAILY TRANSACTION LIMITS, REFUNDS FOR FRAUD VICTIMS AND FEE CAPS, AMONG OTHER THINGS. AT THE VERY MOMENT SOMEONE IS BEING SCAMMED, THE VERY MOMENT A POLICE DETECTIVE TESTIFYING AT THE STATE HEARING LAST MONTH SAYS IT DOESN’T GO FAR ENOUGH. THE ONLY THING THAT WILL WORK, I LIKE TO CALL A PAUSE BUTTON. THERE NEEDS TO BE A TRANSACTIONAL PAUSE ON ALL TRANSACTION. IF YOU WANT TO PUT A MINIMUM ON IT. ANYTHING OVER $100 NEEDS TO BE A PAUSE BUTTON FOR 48 HOURS. THERE ARE HUNDREDS OF BITCOIN ATMS IN MASSACHUSETTS. PEOPLE CAN PUT MONEY IN TO BUY CRYPTOCURRENCY AND ARE CHARGED TRANSACTION FEES AS HIGH AS 35%. WE’VE HEARD DATA FROM OTHER STATES THAT ARE LOOKING AT 94 TO 98% OF TRANSACTIONS THROUGH THESE MACHINES ARE FRAUDULENT, BITCOIN DEPOT OPERATES MANY OF THE BITCOIN ATMS IN MASSACHUSETTS. THE COMPANY DECLINED AN INTERVIEW WITH US, BUT TESTIFIED AGAINST MOST OF THE PROVISIONS OF THE BILL. WE HAVE SERIOUS CONCERNS WITH CERTAIN PROVISIONS THAT REPRESENT AN EFFECTIVE BAN ON A NEW INDUSTRY DUE TO THE OVERLY AGGRESSIVE NATURE OF THE LIMITS ON DAILY TRANSACTIONS AND UNREASONABLY LOW FEE CAP PROVISIONS. FOR A LONG TIME, I COULDN’T STOP BLAMING MYSELF. LOWELL POLICE ARE INVESTIGATING JANIS’S CASE, AND SHE’S STILL HOPING TO GET HER MONEY BACK. DO YOU THINK THESE MACHINES SHOULD BE BANNED? OH, ABSOLUTELY. THERE’S NO POSITIVE REASON FOR ANYBODY TO USE THEM. NOTHING. POLICE SAY MANY OF THESE SCAM CASES GO UNREPORTED BECAUSE VICTIMS ARE TOO EMBARRASSED TO ADMIT THEY FELL FOR IT. THEY SAY IF YOU GET A STRANGE PHONE CALL LIKE JANICE DID, BE SKEPTICAL. DON’T RUSH OR ACT QUICKLY AND BEWARE OF ANY REQUEST
‘It’s almost like I was hypnotized’: Bitcoin ATM scams trick victims into losing thousands
Massachusetts residents have lost at least $77 million to the machines this year.
Updated: 11:22 PM EST Nov 20, 2025
When 85-year-old Chelmsford resident Janice Peltz got a phone call from her bank about a fraud issue, she believed them and followed every instruction they gave.”That was what suckered me in,” Peltz said.But it was not TD Bank on the end of the line; it was a scammer. The scammer, who kept Peltz on the phone for hours, directed her to the bank, where she took out $18,000 in cash. “He said, ‘I don’t want you to tell anybody. We don’t know who was doing this, and we don’t know if it’s somebody in the bank or it could be even somebody you know,'” Peltz said. She then drove to Village Variety in Lowell, where she deposited the cash into a Bitcoin Depot ATM. She did it one bill at a time and said it took around three hours to complete. “Being of an elder age, I didn’t know what a Bitcoin was,” Peltz said. “It’s almost like I was hypnotized.” Once in the machine, the money was gone, and Peltz was out $18,000, a sum she still has not recovered, though she is working with police in hopes of getting it back. “It’s more than devastating. For a long time, I couldn’t stop blaming myself,” Peltz said.Peltz is one of many people tricked by a Bitcoin ATM scam. Hundreds of the machines are scattered across the state in convenience stores, gas stations and grocery stores. The machines convert cash to crypto, and charge fees of up to 35% to do it. Once the money goes in, it’s difficult to get back, according to Jim Carney, an investigator in the Essex County district attorney’s office. “It’s almost instantaneous, the speed of light that money, that cryptocurrency can transmit to these bad guys’ wallet,” Carney said.Massachusetts residents have lost at least $77 million to Bitcoin ATM scams just this year, according to Carney. He said the scammers are primarily operating through call centers in other countries, and it’s showing no signs of slowing down. Massachusetts lawmakers are trying to prevent Bitcoin ATM scams with a bill that would implement daily transaction limits, refunds for fraud victims and fee caps, among other measures.AARP is sponsoring the bill. Jennifer Benson, the organization’s Massachusetts director, said she has seen a “huge increase” in the number of people getting scammed through Bitcoin ATMs in the past year. “It is the Wild West. It’s hard to track down the money. It’s hard to get the money back. And it’s using a device that many people feel familiar with because they use ATMs all the time,” Benson said.At least two Massachusetts cities, Waltham and Gloucester, have banned Bitcoin ATMs completely. The bill underwent a public hearing last month, during which representatives of CoinFlip and Bitcoin Depot testified. The companies operate most of the Bitcoin ATMs across the state. “We have serious concerns with certain provisions that represent an effective ban on a new industry due to the overly aggressive nature of the limits on daily transactions and unreasonably low fee cap provisions,” Ethan McClelland, director of government relations for Bitcoin Depot, said during the hearing.When asked for an interview, the company sent a statement, saying in part, “Hundreds of people in Massachusetts use Bitcoin Depot kiosks legitimately every month, from sending money to family to safely buying small amounts of Bitcoin for the first time. Many prefer in-person, cash-based transactions because they’re simple, accessible, and provide immediate access.A CoinFlip spokesperson said in a statement, “We hold ourselves to the highest standards of consumer protection, compliance, and transparency. CoinFlip never wants to profit when honest people are duped by bad actors, which is why we refund transaction fees to victims in instances of fraud.”TD Bank said in a statement, “While we cannot comment on specific preventative measures for security reasons, TD provides clients with a range of helpful resources, including materials posted online and in our stores, to equip them with the knowledge and know-how to detect and avoid scams which are becoming increasingly sophisticated across the global financial industry.”The bill currently sits with the Joint Committee on Financial Services.
When 85-year-old Chelmsford resident Janice Peltz got a phone call from her bank about a fraud issue, she believed them and followed every instruction they gave.
“That was what suckered me in,” Peltz said.
But it was not TD Bank on the end of the line; it was a scammer.
The scammer, who kept Peltz on the phone for hours, directed her to the bank, where she took out $18,000 in cash.
“He said, ‘I don’t want you to tell anybody. We don’t know who was doing this, and we don’t know if it’s somebody in the bank or it could be even somebody you know,'” Peltz said.
She then drove to Village Variety in Lowell, where she deposited the cash into a Bitcoin Depot ATM. She did it one bill at a time and said it took around three hours to complete.
“Being of an elder age, I didn’t know what a Bitcoin was,” Peltz said. “It’s almost like I was hypnotized.”
Once in the machine, the money was gone, and Peltz was out $18,000, a sum she still has not recovered, though she is working with police in hopes of getting it back.
“It’s more than devastating. For a long time, I couldn’t stop blaming myself,” Peltz said.
Peltz is one of many people tricked by a Bitcoin ATM scam.
Hundreds of the machines are scattered across the state in convenience stores, gas stations and grocery stores. The machines convert cash to crypto, and charge fees of up to 35% to do it.
Once the money goes in, it’s difficult to get back, according to Jim Carney, an investigator in the Essex County district attorney’s office.
“It’s almost instantaneous, the speed of light that money, that cryptocurrency can transmit to these bad guys’ wallet,” Carney said.
Massachusetts residents have lost at least $77 million to Bitcoin ATM scams just this year, according to Carney. He said the scammers are primarily operating through call centers in other countries, and it’s showing no signs of slowing down.
Massachusetts lawmakers are trying to prevent Bitcoin ATM scams with a bill that would implement daily transaction limits, refunds for fraud victims and fee caps, among other measures.
AARP is sponsoring the bill. Jennifer Benson, the organization’s Massachusetts director, said she has seen a “huge increase” in the number of people getting scammed through Bitcoin ATMs in the past year.
“It is the Wild West. It’s hard to track down the money. It’s hard to get the money back. And it’s using a device that many people feel familiar with because they use ATMs all the time,” Benson said.
At least two Massachusetts cities, Waltham and Gloucester, have banned Bitcoin ATMs completely.
The bill underwent a public hearing last month, during which representatives of CoinFlip and Bitcoin Depot testified. The companies operate most of the Bitcoin ATMs across the state.
“We have serious concerns with certain provisions that represent an effective ban on a new industry due to the overly aggressive nature of the limits on daily transactions and unreasonably low fee cap provisions,” Ethan McClelland, director of government relations for Bitcoin Depot, said during the hearing.
When asked for an interview, the company sent a statement, saying in part, “Hundreds of people in Massachusetts use Bitcoin Depot kiosks legitimately every month, from sending money to family to safely buying small amounts of Bitcoin for the first time. Many prefer in-person, cash-based transactions because they’re simple, accessible, and provide immediate access.
A CoinFlip spokesperson said in a statement, “We hold ourselves to the highest standards of consumer protection, compliance, and transparency. CoinFlip never wants to profit when honest people are duped by bad actors, which is why we refund transaction fees to victims in instances of fraud.”
TD Bank said in a statement, “While we cannot comment on specific preventative measures for security reasons, TD provides clients with a range of helpful resources, including materials posted online and in our stores, to equip them with the knowledge and know-how to detect and avoid scams which are becoming increasingly sophisticated across the global financial industry.”
The bill currently sits with the Joint Committee on Financial Services.
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