Bitcoin ATM fraud suspect arrested
CIB Telecommunications Investigation Corp Deputy Captain Yu Wen-sheng (游文å‹) on Thursday said that the investigation began after a person called the 165 anti-fraud hotline to inform the bureau that they had been defrauded when transferring bitcoin through a specialized ATM on Zhongxiao E Road Sec 4 in Taipei.
Investigators found that the ATM had been installed by a 42-year-old man surnamed Chuang (莊) who has a criminal record including fraud, Yu said, adding that fraud groups often use bitcoin ATMs to launder money.
Chuang allegedly founded a company to import bitcoin ATMs from a foreign manufacturer and installed several of them in business areas in Taipei, the bureau said.
However, he did not report his business to the Financial Supervisory Commission, as required by the Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法), the bureau said.
The manufacturer told investigators that the ATMs usually come with a feature to verify the identity of people making transactions, but the feature was disabled upon Chuang’s request, it said.
The bureau said groups that defraud people via bitcoin ATMs usually immediately transfer the money to another wallet or change it to another cryptocurrency. Read More…