The U.S. Secret Service is warning San Antonio residents about a rising scam, one that could drain your life savings in just minutes. All it takes is a few taps of a button at an ATM in your neighborhood gas station.
The agency is collaborating with the San Antonio Police Department this week to place informational posters near cryptocurrency ATMs at about 90 locations around the city. The machines allow customers to buy digital assets with cash or debit cards.
Federal authorities say that they are receiving increasing reports of scammers who gain people's trust over social media or dating apps and encourage them to deposit large sums of money into cryptocurrency ATMs.
Once the money is deposited, it's nearly impossible for authorities to recover, said Detective Ricardo Heredia with SAPD's Financial Crimes Unit.
"It's not regulated... it's not made to be recovered as easily," he said. "It's not like a bank where you deposit money and there's a paper trail."
Most people assume that because the machines look like normal ATMs, their money will be protected the same way. Authorities hope that placing posters next to the machines with warning signs will encourage people to think twice.
"That might be the first time that some of these individuals realize that, 'Hey, this might not be something that's legitimate,'" Heredia said.
San Antonians lost $28 million last year to confidence and romance scams - schemes that aim to take advantage of a person's trust for financial gain - according to the FBI's San Antonio division.
The Austin area, which is covered by the FBI's San Antonio division, made up the majority of the local losses. Austin users were scammed out of $20.4 million, including almost $19 million taken from users over age 50.
In one recent case Heredia described, an online scammer developed a romantic relationship with a person over the course of two to three months.
"That person developed feelings for that person and trusted them," Heredia said. "And then that person asked them to deposit money into cryptocurrency."
In another case, a scammer stayed on the phone with a woman for about an hour to instruct her step-by-step on how to deposit money into a cryptocurrency ATM.
Scammers often try to create urgency by saying they need the money for a personal emergency or convincing the person they are making an investment that will produce significant returns.
Heredia believes that those carrying out the scams are likely individual actors who are familiar with cryptocurrency and see an opportunity to prey on those who don't have as much knowledge.
The Federal Trade Commission has tips on how to protect yourself or a loved one:
• Do not respond to unexpected calls, messages, or computer pop-ups
• Take your time to investigate, as scammers will try to rush you into a transaction
• Do not withdraw money in response to an unexpected call or message
• Remember that legitimate government agencies and businesses will never ask you to use cryptocurrency ATM
This article originally published at Cryptocurrency scams are rising, and Secret Service poster campaign in San Antonio aims to stop them.