When Scammers Come Calling: How Police Saved a 73-Year-Old from a $20,000 Bitcoin Trap

Picture this: You’re enjoying a quiet afternoon when your phone rings. The voice on the other end claims to be from your bank, urgently warning that your computer has been infected with a virus that’s putting your life savings at risk. They sound official, they know some of your information, and they’re offering to help you protect your money. What do you do?

For a 73-year-old Massachusetts woman, this nightmare scenario nearly cost her $20,000 — until alert family members and quick-thinking police officers stepped in to save the day. Her story isn’t just a close call; it’s a window into one of the fastest-growing threats facing Americans over 60 today.

On May 29th, Lakeville Police Chief Matthew Perkins received a call that’s becoming all too familiar. A 73-year-old woman had withdrawn $20,000 in cash from her bank and wasn’t answering her phone. Her family was convinced she was being scammed, and they were absolutely right.

The woman was at that very moment on the phone with criminals who had convinced her that her computer was infected with a virus and that the only way to protect her money was to deposit it into a Bitcoin ATM. The scammers had even instructed her not to answer any phone calls, including from family members — a classic isolation tactic that should have every senior’s alarm bells ringing.

If you’ve never heard of a Bitcoin ATM scam, you’re not alone — but you need to get up to speed quickly. Cryptocurrency-related investment fraud cost adults age 60 and over $716 million in reported losses in 2023. and reported losses from Bitcoin ATM scams exceeded $110 million last year, as fraudsters increasingly persuade victims to send them large sums through crypto kiosks.

The numbers are staggering and getting worse. The Federal Trade Commission reports that the amount of money consumers have lost to Bitcoin ATM scams has risen nearly tenfold since 2020, and consumers over age 60 were more than three times as likely as younger adults to be duped in these schemes.

The numbers are staggering and getting worse. The Federal Trade Commission reports that the amount of money consumers have lost to Bitcoin ATM scams has risen nearly tenfold since 2020, and consumers over age 60 were more than three times as likely as younger adults to be duped in these schemes.

Understanding exactly how these scams operate is your first line of defense. Scams often begin when bad actors get their hands on a victim’s phone number — many of which are increasingly available on the “dark web.”

Here’s the typical playbook criminals follow:

Stage 1: The Hook A widowed elderly person receives a disturbing phone call from someone claiming to be from their bank and the Federal Trade Commission, urgently warning that their bank account and life savings are at risk due to a security breach.

The caller might also impersonate:

Stage 2: The Isolation Scammers will scare you into keeping it a secret — even from your closest loved ones. Once they have you alarmed and alone, they’ll give you the solution to the problem they just created: “protect your money by moving it.”

Stage 3: The Direction Scammers text their targets a QR code connected to a digital wallet. The victim is directed to scan the code and deposit cash into the Bitcoin ATM, which converts it into bitcoin that immediately gets transferred to the scammer — all while the victim thinks they’re protecting their assets.

Stage 4: The Process The elderly victim makes multiple trips to the store within a short span of time. Each visit, they painstakingly feed the machine one $100 bill at a time, a process that takes far longer than a typical transaction due to their age and unfamiliarity with the technology.

You might wonder: why do criminals specifically target older Americans? The unfortunate truth is that seniors are often targeted because they tend to be trusting and polite. They also usually have financial savings, own a home, and have good credit—all of which make them attractive to scammers.

There are several factors that make seniors particularly vulnerable:

Social Factors Scammers strategically target recently widowed or divorced seniors due to their vulnerabilities and access to cash, often during periods when they’re feeling isolated or overwhelmed by managing finances alone.

Technology Challenges Some older adults come to technology late, and their learning curve is therefore steep. That makes them easier targets for internet and email scams.

This unfamiliarity with digital currencies makes Bitcoin seem mysterious and legitimate when presented as a “federal safety locker” or “secure government account.”

The good news is that law enforcement, legislators, and communities are fighting back against these scams with increasing sophistication and coordination.

Legislative Action Senator Dick Durbin’s proposed Crypto ATM Fraud Prevention Act would prevent new users from spending more than $2,000 in a day or $10,000 over a 14-day period at bitcoin ATMs, and would require companies to speak directly with new customers seeking to make transactions over $500.

Several states are taking action too: States like California and Vermont passed daily transaction limits of $1,000, and many states are requiring vendors to register as money transmitters, enacting fee regulations, and requiring written disclosure notices.