The FBI has released a new statement to the public, warning the public about common scams involving fiat currency, cryptocurrency ATMs and QR codes.

Although many scams have been reported, the investigative agency says, they operate in essentially the same way, as fraudsters seek to persuade the victim to send their money to their shady wallets.

Thanks to a combination of public awareness campaigns and banks watching for signs of fraud, old-school methods of tricking people into transferring money to a random bank account are no longer as effective as they once were.

However, digital currencies provided a new method of transferring and anonymity, which led to their exploitation by fraudsters.

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The prevailing popularity of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has led to a new way to buy digital assets, such as:

Encrypted ATMs.

These machines, as their name suggests, are a way to get cryptocurrencies and deposit them personally like bitcoin without using commercial wallet addresses or using apps like Coinbase.

Crypto ATMs usually allow users to enter fiat currency to purchase the equivalent amount in any digital currency the machine supports.

For example, a person can withdraw $20 from their checking account, then deposit it at the nearest cryptocurrency ATM to purchase the equivalent amount of bitcoin.

In this way, crypto ATMs are not really ATMs, at least not the kind most people use at regular banks.

Instead, it revolves around digital wallets in which crypto funds are deposited and withdrawn.

The process of depositing money into the digital wallet is simplified by using QR codes, which enables the user to enter his fiat currency, and scan the QR code for his wallet.

How do scammers exploit users of these devices?

The method is to convince the scammer to withdraw money from their bank account, then deposit it using the scammer’s wallet QR code using the nearest cryptocurrency ATM.

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By scanning the QR code of the fraudster’s wallet, the money deposited through the ATM will be sent directly to the fraudster.

Once the transaction is made, there is no way for the victim to get his money back.

Fraudsters often demand large sums of money as part of the narrative driving the fraudulent transaction, which means that some victims may fail to realize that they are donating their savings or retirement money to someone who does not intend to keep their promises.

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Among the scammers promising their victims that they will double their investment, pretending to be a law firm or pretending to be a variety of legal entities or law enforcement asking for a transaction.

Regardless of the story used, the result is the same: the victim loses real money from his bank account.

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