Law enforcement officials in Minnesota are raising concerns about cryptocurrency ATM scams impacting local communities.
Lynn Lawrence from the Woodbury Police Department recently addressed the House Commerce Finance and Policy Committee, highlighting the financial losses faced by seniors, vulnerable adults and families due to these scams.
“Our seniors, vulnerable adults and hardworking families are being drained of their savings if we don’t act decisively. These losses are only going to grow,” said Lawrence.
Faribault Police Chief John Sherwin shared similar concerns. He said residents have lost over half a million dollars to crypto ATM scams since 2022.
“It’s very difficult, I can tell you, with the cases we’ve looked into, we’ve never had a successful prosecution,” said Sherwin.
Sherwin recounted a recent incident where a woman was nearly scammed at a crypto ATM near Haskell’s liquor store. Fortunately, she sought help from the police, and a civilian staff member recognized the scam.
“And she had enough wherewithal to come into the police station and ask, and fortunately, one of our non-sworn staff, one of our civilian staff, was able to help her and recognize that it was a scam that was taking place,” said Sherwin.
The state has 350 licensed kiosks operated by eight to 10 companies. During a Capitol hearing, industry representatives argued that the kiosks themselves are not the issue.
“No one is saying that the kiosk operators themselves are the bad actors; it’s the scammers,” said Larry Lipka from CoinFlip.
What will legislators do?
A bill to ban all crypto ATMs in the state is currently under consideration. Republican Rep. Tim O’Driscoll supports the measure.
“To everyone involved, Democrats and Republicans want a solution to this, and we will be working in this committee to get that solution by the end of session this year,” said O’Driscoll.
