Judge rules RPD must give scam money to Bitcoin ATM operators, not victims

Protecting yourself from Bitcoin scams has become even more urgent.

That’s because a Wake County court ruling has made it harder to recover money lost in these scams.

Last week, 5 On Your Side spoke with Pauline Miller of Raleigh. She was involved in a complicated and detailed scam This convinced her that her bank account was compromised and that she needed to transfer $15,000 to a Bitcoin digital wallet or lose the money.

She deposited the money into a Bitcoin ATM, but a Raleigh Police Department (RPD) detective was able to physically remove the money from the ATM and return it to Miller.

“He came to my house to get all the receipts, went to that Bitcoin machine, had it taped off with crime scene tape, and subsequently got… my money was still in that machine,” Miller said, explaining what the detective did. “And he was able to unlock it with the armored vehicle and all that stuff, and physically brought back all my money.”

The judge explained in his ruling that the Bitcoin ATM companies have not been accused or suspected of any wrongdoing. And once the money is deposited in exchange for Bitcoin, the ATM owner becomes the legal owner of the money.

The general statute allows for money to be seized as evidence of a crime. However, the same statute “does not support returning the currency to the victim,” the judge noted.

So the money the RPD seized from Bitcoin ATMs — which they hoped to return to victims — must now be returned to the Bitcoin ATM companies.

Now that an important recovery tool no longer exists, it is even more important to recognize and not fall for these scams from the start.

“The big thing we want everyone to know: No government agency or reputable company will ask you to pay [or] to deposit money into a Bitcoin ATM,” Detective Christopher Gay told us in a Previous interview for Pauline Miller story.

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