Quality Fuel & Mart on Allen Street in Springfield has an Athena Bitcoin ATM in the gas station, and the Springfield Police Department is warning residents about a high number of cryptocurrency scams conducted through such machines. Cryptocurrency is an online form of money that exists only digitally and is stored using blockchain technology—a digital ledger that tracks every transaction in real time. When Bitcoin debuted in 2009 as a decentralized alternative to the stock market, its price was mere cents; today a single Bitcoin trades for about $67,000. Other coins include Ethereum, Tether, Solana, and Dogecoin, which generally cost far less than Bitcoin.
The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center reported 149,686 crypto scamming complaints in 2024, totaling about $9.3 billion in losses, including $246.7 million from ATM- and kiosk-related scams. In Springfield alone, police estimate 29 victims since January 2024 have lost roughly $624,000, most of which remained unrecovered. Detectives Provost, Chad Joseph, and Christian Cicero handle these crypto ATM cases atop their other duties and have tracked stolen cryptocurrency as far away as Turkey. The scams often hinge on fear and urgency, with victims directed to either withdraw cash or visit a crypto kiosk and then transfer funds to an online wallet.
Tracking money via blockchain analysis can help, but investigations face jurisdictional issues when funds move across borders. Courts are often hesitant to seize assets when the money’s location is in cyberspace and not clearly tied to a physical jurisdiction. The lack of regulation allows deposits into gas station kiosks to reach thousands of dollars, prompting some stations to remove the kiosks or post warnings. Officials urge residents to approach crypto exposure slowly.
Leave a Reply