德克萨斯州的大草原 - 80岁的约瑟夫·布特内洛（Joseph Buentello）正通过错误地声称他的儿子在监狱中被错误地巡游。

来电者告诉Buentello，如果他想让儿子出去，他需要赶往当地的杂货店，并通过比特币ATM派遣5,000美元。

Grand Prairie, Texas — Joseph Buentello, 80, was cruising through retirement when he received a call erroneously claiming his son was in jail.

德克萨斯州的大草原 - 80岁的约瑟夫·布特内洛（Joseph Buentello）正通过错误地声称他的儿子在监狱中被错误地巡游。

"I was scared, I hit the panic button and I let my panic take control of my good judgment," Buentello, of Grand Prairie, Texas, told CBS News.

德克萨斯州大草原的Buentello告诉CBS News：“我很害怕，我打了恐慌按钮，让我的恐慌控制了我的良好判断。”

The caller told Buentello that if he wanted to get his son out, he needed to rush to his local grocery store and send $5,000 through a bitcoin ATM.

来电者告诉Buentello，如果他想让儿子出去，他需要赶往当地的杂货店，并通过比特币ATM派遣5,000美元。

Buentello said he never even thought about calling his son first.

Buentello说，他甚至从未想过先打电话给儿子。

"They said there is nothing we can do about it," said Buentello the ATM operator told him after he was scammed. "That money has already been distributed. They said it was distributed the minute you got through putting your money in there."

“他们说我们无能为力，” ATM操作员Buentello在被骗后告诉他。 “这笔钱已经被分配了。他们说，这是在您通过将钱放进去的那一刻分发的。”

That is why, Buentello learned, the cryptocurrency scammers wanted him to use that machine. Often found inside convenience stores, Bitcoin ATMs resemble regular ATMs and provide a legitimate and straightforward method to convert cash into cryptocurrency.

这就是为什么Buentello了解到，加密货币骗子希望他使用该机器。比特币ATM通常在便利店内发现，类似于常规ATM，并提供了一种合法且直接的方法将现金转换为加密货币。

According to data from the Federal Trade Commission, between 2020 to 2023, consumer losses in bitcoin ATM scams skyrocketed nearly tenfold, from $12 million annually in 2020 to $114 million annually in 2023. During that timeframe, consumers over the age of 60 were more than three times more likely than younger adults to lose money to bitcoin scams, the FTC found.

根据联邦贸易委员会的数据，在2020年至2023年之间，比特币ATM骗局中的消费者损失飙升了近十倍，从2020年的每年1200万美元到2023年的每年1.14亿美元。在那段时间里，60岁以上的消费者比年轻人更可能损失30岁以上的消费者。

And getting the money back has been tough.

拿回钱一直很艰难。

When McLennan County Sheriff Parnell McNamara first joined law enforcement back in 1970, he said the biggest thieves in the Texas county were bank robbers.

麦克伦南县警长帕内尔·麦克纳马拉（Parnell McNamara）于1970年首次加入执法部门时，他说得克萨斯州县最大的小偷是银行抢劫犯。

"Take a gun, go rob a bank, get the money, and we'd go after 'em," McNamara said. "But this is a totally different deal now."

麦克纳马拉说：“拿枪，抢一家银行，拿钱，我们会追随他们。” “但这现在是完全不同的交易。”

A couple of years ago, after a caller scammed an 83-year-old woman in Waco, Texas, into depositing $15,000 into a bitcoin ATM, McNamara's deputies pulled the cash right out of the machine and returned it to her.

几年前，在呼叫者将一名83岁的妇女骗了德克萨斯州韦科的一名妇女后，将15,000美元存入了比特币ATM中后，麦克纳马拉的代表将现金从机器中撤出，并将其退还给她。

The bitcoin ATM operator then sued the county, claiming the seizure was unlawful, but the lawsuit was eventually dismissed and the woman was allowed to keep the money.

然后，比特币ATM运营商起诉该县，声称癫痫发作是违法的，但诉讼最终被驳回，该妇女被允许保留这笔钱。

However, the lawsuit was dismissed only after the county admitted that the funds were seized "in error."

但是，只有在该县承认这些资金被扣押“错误”之后，诉讼才被驳回。

McNamara doesn't regret how the situation was handled.

麦克纳马拉不后悔如何处理这种情况。

"I don't regret it at all," McNamara said. "We got the lady's money back. It should have gone back to her."

麦克纳马拉说：“我一点都不后悔。” “我们把那位女士的钱回来了。它应该回到她身边。”

Bitcoin ATM operators told CBS News that they take extensive measures to warn users about fraud, including displaying up to six screens alerting customers to potential scams.

比特币ATM运营商告诉CBS News，他们采取了广泛的措施来警告用户有关欺诈行为，包括显示多达六个屏幕，以提醒客户潜在的骗局。

In recent years, a handful of states, including California, Vermont and Minnesota passed laws regulating Bitcoin ATMs. However, most of the country, including Texas, has no regulations.

近年来，包括加利福尼亚州，佛蒙特州和明尼苏达州在内的少数州通过了监管比特币ATM的法律。但是，包括德克萨斯州在内的大多数国家都没有法规。

"I feel like such a fool," Buentello said.

“我觉得真是个傻瓜，”布伦特洛说。

Had there been any sort of refund policy in place when he made his transaction, Buentello believes could have saved his money and avoided the scam.

如果他进行交易时有任何退款政策，Buentello认为本可以节省自己的钱并避免骗局。

According to the FTC, scammers will often offer an urgent reason for the victim to withdraw cash from their bank account and deposit it in a bitcoin ATM. They will provide a QR code that victims can scan, which deposits the money directly into the scammers' crypto account.

根据FTC的说法，骗子通常会为受害者从其银行帐户中撤回现金并将其存入比特币ATM中。他们将提供一个QR码可以扫描的QR码，将资金直接存入诈骗者的加密帐户。

Some tips from the FTC to avoid being scammed include never clinking on unknown links or responding directly to unexpected calls or unknown text messages. Scammers will be trying to rush you, so you should slow down and consult with someone you trust. And never withdraw cash in response to an unexpected call or message.

FTC的一些提示避免被骗取，包括永远不要在未知的链接上碰到或直接响应意外的呼叫或未知的短信。骗子将试图赶紧您，因此您应该放慢脚步并咨询您信任的人。并且切勿根据意外的电话或消息撤回现金。