FTC 警告稱，比特幣 ATM 詐騙不斷增加，尤其是針對老年人

根據聯邦貿易委員會 (FTC) 的數據，新形式的貨幣可能為新形式的詐欺打開大門，比特幣 ATM (BTM) 詐騙正在增加。

New forms of currency can open the door to new types of fraud, and scams involving Bitcoin ATMs (BTMs) are on the rise, according to data from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

根據聯邦貿易委員會 (FTC) 的數據，新形式的貨幣可能為新型詐欺打開大門，涉及比特幣 ATM (BTM) 的詐騙正在增加。

November will mark two years since the third-largest cryptocurrency brokerage platform, FTX, collapsed due to a massive fraud that cost investors millions, but the FTC is now warning of another type of swindle entirely: smaller in scale and targeting ordinary people, particularly the elderly. It scammed the unsuspecting out of a total of $66 million in the first half of this year alone, and those are just the reported cases.

11 月將是第三大加密貨幣經紀平台FTX 因大規模詐欺事件導致投資者損失數百萬美元而倒閉兩週年，但聯邦貿易委員會(FTC) 現在完全警告另一種類型的詐騙：規模較小，針對一般民眾，尤其是一般民眾。光是今年上半年，該公司就在毫無戒心的情況下騙取了總計 6,600 萬美元的資金，而這些還只是報道的案例。

Losses last year amounted to $114 million, 10 times more than in 2020. Authorities believe that these figures are just a fraction of the total, as most cases go unreported. The FTC describes the growth of these operations perpetrated through BTMs installed in 24-hour convenience stores, gas stations and other urban areas as “enormous.” BTMs can be used to buy or send cryptocurrencies.

去年的損失達 1.14 億美元，是 2020 年的 10 倍。 FTC 將透過安裝在 24 小時便利商店、加油站和其他城市地區的 BTM 進行的此類業務的成長描述為「巨大」。 BTM 可用於購買或發送加密貨幣。

The average reported loss per scam is $10,000, an amount that would seriously impact a family’s finances. According to the authorities, people over the age of 60 are three times more likely to report falling victim to this scam than younger people.

每份詐騙報告的平均損失為 10,000 美元，這筆金額將嚴重影響家庭的財務狀況。據當局稱，60 歲以上的人報告成為這一騙局受害者的可能性是年輕人的三倍。

How does it work?

它是如何運作的？

There is no single script, but in most cases the victim receives a call or text about unauthorized spending from their account or other suspicious activity such as unauthorized transfers. In other cases, a security alert is sent to the victim’s computer on behalf of Apple or Microsoft. This is followed up by a phone call from someone masquerading as a representative of a government office or even the FTC itself. The victim is told that the money in their account is at risk or that their accounts are being used by criminals in money laundering operations, drug trafficking and other crimes.

沒有單一的腳本，但在大多數情況下，受害者會收到有關其帳戶未經授權的支出或其他可疑活動（例如未經授權的轉帳）的電話或簡訊。在其他情況下，安全性警報會代表 Apple 或 Microsoft 傳送到受害者的電腦。隨後，有人冒充政府辦公室甚至聯邦貿易委員會本身的代表打電話來。受害者被告知其帳戶中的資金存在風險，或者其帳戶正被犯罪分子用於洗錢、販毒和其他犯罪活動。

Next, the scammer encourages the victim to deposit their money in a BTM for safeguarding. According to the FTC, these BTCs are known as lockboxes. “They ask the victim to go to their bank, take the money out and go to a nearby or specific BTM to make the deposit. The victim will receive a QR code to scan into the machine via text and once that happens the money will go directly into the scammer’s pocket,” the FTC states.

接下來，騙子鼓勵受害者將錢存入 BTM 進行保護。根據 FTC 的說法，這些 BTC 被稱為密碼箱。 「他們要求受害者去他們的銀行，把錢取出來，然後到附近或特定的 BTM 存錢。受害者將收到一個二維碼，透過文字掃描到機器中，一旦發生這種情況，錢將直接進入詐騙者的口袋，」聯邦貿易委員會表示。

Distinguishing legitimate calls and text messages from scams is becoming increasingly difficult, even for experts. And remaining alert is a job that is becoming increasingly more complicated.

即使對於專家來說，區分合法電話和簡訊與詐騙也變得越來越困難。保持警覺是一項變得越來越複雜的工作。

The FTC recommends that you never open a link to a web page that has been sent to you, or respond to unsolicited calls or texts that appear on your cell phone. If you think a message about non-payment of your last electricity bill may be genuine, call the utility company directly, but use the phone number you have for the company, not the one provided in the text. Never use the telephone number or the web site attached to the message.

FTC 建議您切勿開啟發送給您的網頁鏈接，也不要回覆手機上顯示的未經請求的電話或簡訊。如果您認為有關未支付最後一次電費的消息可能是真實的，請直接致電公用事業公司，但使用您擁有的該公司的電話號碼，而不是文字中提供的電話號碼。切勿使用訊息中附帶的電話號碼或網站。

Keep in mind that government agencies will never call you on the phone if they have not contacted you by letter first. Callers that claim to be the police, IRS, FTC, SEC or any other agency, without any written legal communication or visit, are fraudulent.

請記住，如果政府機構沒有先透過信件與您聯繫，則永遠不會打電話給您。聲稱自己是警察、國稅局、聯邦貿易委員會、證券交易委員會或任何其他機構的來電者，在沒有任何書面法律溝通或訪問的情況下，都是欺詐行為。

A line such as “we have been trying to contact you for several weeks now without success to warn you that we will be cutting off your electricity supply tomorrow due to non-payment” should ring alarm bells. The urgency of the supposed situation aims to prevent the victim from having time to verify the allegations or even think straight and suspect they may be fabricated.

諸如“我們幾週來一直試圖聯繫您，但沒有成功警告您，由於未付款，我們明天將切斷您的電力供應”之類的內容應該敲響警鐘。假設情況的緊迫性旨在阻止受害者有時間核實指控，甚至無法思考並懷疑這些指控可能是捏造的。

There is no banking emergency that will be solved by transferring your money to a Bitcoin ATM or via a prepaid card or gift card. No business or state agency is ever going to ask you to do anything similar. As soon as a caller makes such a suggestion, hang up, stay as calm as possible and congratulate yourself on the fact you have just escaped becoming a victim of a scam. If you suspect you are a victim, report the scam to the police and the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

沒有任何銀行緊急情況可以透過將錢轉移到比特幣 ATM 或透過預付卡或禮品卡來解決。沒有任何企業或國家機構會要求你做類似的事情。一旦來電者提出這樣的建議，請掛斷電話，盡可能保持冷靜，並慶幸自己剛剛逃脫了詐騙的受害者。如果您懷疑自己是受害者，請透過 ReportFraud.ftc.gov 向警方和 FTC 舉報該騙局。

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