Tas Police warn public against scams involving cryptocurrency ATMs, with loss of $2.5m
A staggering $2.5 million has been lost by Tasmanians to cryptocurrency ATM scams. The red flags police are urging the public to look out for.
Tasmania
Don't miss out on the headlines from Tasmania. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Tasmanian victims of a growing cryptocurrency scam lost a combined $2.5m discovered through a national crackdown on the criminal use of CATMs.
CATMs, or cryptocurrency ATMs, look similar in appearance to a normal cash ATM, but instead allows people to buy and sell cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or Ethereum through cash deposits.
A recent Tasmania Police operation found that the top 15 users of CATMs in Tasmania were all involved in scams, with $900,000 deposited by the users into CATMs and an average loss of $165,000 for all users.
Tasmania Police Cyber Investigations Unit Detective Sergeant Paul Turner said the victims would suffer lifelong impacts from these scams.
“In some cases, it delayed retirements, it meant that victims were forced to sell assets and then become reliant on social services and payments and the like,” he said.
“The common scams we identified that these victims were falling for were romance scams and investment scams, also government and authority scams and tech support scams.
“The scams where you receive a phone call from an agency purporting to be who they’re not and as a result they were sending money to crypto ATMs.
“The victims we found were manipulated, they were threatened, they were intimidated to go to the ATMs to deposit money.”
Detective Sergeant Turner said a misunderstanding of cryptocurrency had contributed to their use in scams as CATMs grew from one location in 2015 to 21 statewide in 2025.
The average age of scam victims was 65, with Mr Turner revealing one man had lost over $750,000 to both an investment and recovery scam.
“He was involved in an investment scam initially and then the scammers recontacted him at a later date to inform him that his money had been found,” he said
“He’s now involved in a recovery scam, so he believes that he’s sending them money to recover the initial money that he lost and it’s a common scam tactic that the scammers use to phone the victim a period of time after their initial scam to promise their return of their money.
“It was a really disappointing case because we provided a lot of advice in that case to try and to get the person to move away from the scam, which at times is really difficult.”
Mr Turner said police were asking Tasmanians to spot the warning signs of a scam, including unsolicited contact from people online.
“If you are asked to deposit cash into a cryptocurrency ATM by someone you’ve never met in person, or the offer comes with a high-pressure deadline or urgent tone, then it is likely a scam,” Detective Sergeant Turner said.
“If the offer or the request is made with some level of urgency or intimidation or threats, or if you’re simply promised higher returns for your money, it’s likely a scam.
“If you do get scammed, we would urge people to immediately cease contact with the persons that they’re contacting, that they don’t send any more money and that they report it to police immediately.”
More Coverage
Originally published as Tas Police warn public against scams involving cryptocurrency ATMs, with loss of $2.5m
Two boys charged over CBD attack
Police are looking for further information regarding an alleged assault on a 14-year-old in Hobart, with their search continuing for a group of youths seen leaving the area at the time of the incident. The latest.
Beaker St Festival gets more Antarctic flavour
Science lovers will get a bigger slice of polar life at next month’s Beaker Street Festival, after organisers announced a bonus week of activities at its Antarctic-themed precinct, Hobartica.