Bitcoin ATM Scams EXPOSED!

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0:32I gave her some suggestions to be sexually aroused. Can you get someone to join your cult? NLP was used on me to access my subconscious. Mind Games, a new podcast exploring NLP, a.k.a. neurolinguistic programming. Is it a self-help miracle, a shady hypnosis scam, or both? Listen to Mind Games on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, it's Joel. and Matt from HowToMoney. If your New Year's resolution is to finally get your finances in shape, we've got your back. Prices, they're still high, and the economy is all over the place. But 2026 is the year for you to get intentional and make real progress.

1:15That's right. Yeah, each week we break down what's happening with your money, the most important issues to focus on, and the small moves that make a big difference. Kick off the year with confidence. Listen to HowToMoney on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This season on Dear Chelsea with me, Chelsea Handler, we've got some incredible guests like Kumail Nanjiani. Let's start with your cat. How is she? She is not with us anymore. Great, great, great way to start. Maybe you will cry. Ross Matthews. You know what kids always say to me? Are you a boy or a girl?

1:48Oh my God. All the time. That's so funny. I know. So I try to butch it up for kids so they're not confused. Yeah, but you're butching it up. It's basically like Doris Day. No, I turn into Bea Arthur. Listen to these episodes of Dear Chelsea on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode is brought to you by PNC Bank. A lot of people think podcasts about work are boring. And sure, they definitely can be. But understanding a professional's routine shows us how they achieve their success little by little, day after day. It's like banking with PNC Bank. It might seem boring to save, plan, and make calculated decisions with your bank, but keeping your money boring is what helps you live a more happily fulfilled life.

2:34PNC Bank, brilliantly boring since 1865. Brilliantly boring since 1865 is a service mark of the PNC Financial Service Group, Inc. PNC Bank, National Association, member FDIC. Yeah, for sure, 100%. Let's do this. Let's talk about some financial topics before we get into the spiky topics. So I want to show this clip about Bitcoin fraud that's been happening with ATM machines. Can we show this clip, please? No, no, no, no, no. You are watching a victim get scammed. How much money have you already sent to them? 10 ,700. Jesus Christ. Man. One of thousands of Americans caught in a growing global crime spree that's no secret to police.

3:19What'd they tell you to do? Take$31 ,000. So I put it into Bitcoin. Please, I have to bank on the phone. I'm in danger. Okay, no, you're not, ma 'am. In all of these cases, these machines, called crypto ATMs, become the getaway car for the scammers who prey on victims, like Gus Kasin. That's where I stuffed them$100 bills. It would prompt you for everything to come up. And I had him on the phone, too. Had you ever seen this before? Never been here before, never been here after. This happened as he was recovering from a stroke. I got a phone call. Well, he told me he was president of the bank. I said, now you tell me I want you to swear that you're not a scam.

4:00I swear I'm not a scam and all that. He convinced me he was good. He was good. A scammer told Gus that he would be arrested unless he withdrew$15 ,000 in cash and deposited it in that crypto ATM. It looks like a normal ATM, but a crypto ATM is different. Put in cash and it converts it into cryptocurrency in an instant. The FBI says victims like Gus have lost about$240 million so far this year, double the pace of last year. I should have known better. I should have known better. I was stupid enough. I fell for it. The scammer took off with Gus's cash in the form of cryptocurrency. But the crypto ATM company also made money from the transaction in the form of fees and markups, often at 20 to 30 percent that they charge on transactions, scam or legit.

4:50Lawsuits from attorneys general accused the top three crypto ATM firms of profiting from scams and not protecting customers. When police have seized the scam cash out of ATMs, the crypto ATM companies hit back hard in court to get that cash back, which is what happened. to Gus. Cops went and got it that night. They took to it. They go in under the machine and took out$15 ,000. They held on to it. Bitcoin Depot, the company with the most crypto ATMs in the U.S., fought in court to get the$15 ,000 back and won. Run a business and not thinking about podcasting? Think again. More Americans listen to podcasts than ad-supported streaming music from Spotify and Pandora.

5:31And as the number one podcaster, iHeart's twice as large as the next two combined. So whatever your customers listen to, they'll hear your message. Plus, only iHeart can extend your message to audiences across broadcast radio. Think podcasting can help your business? Think iHeart. Streaming, radio, and podcasting. Let us show you at iHeartAdvertising.com. That's iHeartAdvertising.com. What if mind control is real? If you could control the behavior of anybody around you, what kind of life would you have? Can you hypnotically persuade someone to buy a car? When you look at your car, you're going to become overwhelmed with such good feelings.

6:06Can you hypnotize someone into sleeping with you? I gave her some suggestions to be sexually aroused. Can you get someone to join your cult? NLP was used on me to access my subconscious. NLP, aka Neuro Linguistic Programming, is a blend of hypnosis, linguistics, and psychology. Fans say it's like finally getting a user manual for your brain. It's about engineering consciousness. Mind Games is the story of NLP. It's crazy cast of disciples and the fake doctor who invented it at a new age commune and sold it to guys in suits. He stood trial for murder and got acquitted. The biggest mind game of all?

6:46NLP might actually work. This is wild. Listen to Mind Games on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. New year, new goals, and in this economy, a better money plan is more necessary than ever. I am Matt. And I'm Joel. We are from the How to Money podcast, and every week we help you to spend smarter, save more, and make sense of what's going on out there. If you want 2026 to be the year you finally feel in control of your money, we're here to give you the tools and advice to help you make it happen. Listen to How to Money on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

7:24This season on Dear Chelsea with me, Chelsea Handler, we've got some incredible guests like Kumail Nanjiani. Let's start with your cat. How is she? She is not with us in her. Okay, great, great, great way to start. So this is a great beginning and hopefully you'll be able to, I don't know, maybe you will cry. Amanda Seyfried. Life is so short. If you feel something like that, you have that fire in you for this experience. It's not for a guy. It's for the experience of being in love. and like it's bigger than a guy. Elizabeth Olsen. I love swimming naked so much. And I know you love taking pictures of yourself naked.

8:01I love to be naked. I just want to be in my brown underwear all the time. Ross Matthews. You know what kids always say to me? Are you a boy or a girl? Oh my God. All the time. That's so funny. I know. So I'm always like, hi. I try to butch it up for kids, you know, so they're not confused. Yeah, but you're butching it up. It's basically like Doris Day. No, I turn into Bea Arthur. Listen to these episodes of Dear Chelsea on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Bitcoin had no business getting that money at all. I mean, really, especially when it's a scam. You think that's fair?

8:35Well, hell no. The company points out its machines, like many crypto ATMs, have multiple on-screen warnings, alerts of scams, and requires that customers agree that they're only sending money to their own accounts. Bitcoin Depot also told CNN, we do not profit from scams and the vast majority of our customers use our kiosk for lawful purposes. The company adds, if it can't stop the transaction, it reviews every potential scam case individually for possible fee relief or refunds.

9:11All right. So, you know, this is interesting. Bitcoin is interesting on a few different levels. If you follow the Bitcoin bull bear cycle, we're at the tail end of this bull run. If history would repeat itself. Why do you say that, Rashad? Well, ChatGBT says it. But if you go by the amount of time that a bull run lasts for, this bull run will be over fourth quarter of this year or first quarter of next year. So we're at the tail end and you start to see one of the signs of seeing the tail end is when you start to see scams pick up dramatically. And they said like, this is the highest level of scams that we've seen in Bitcoin ever.

10:01I think it's almost twice as what it was last year, but this is a cautionary tale for people just in general as far as what artificial intelligence has done now is it's made it easier to scam people and to be clear you're not saying bitcoin is a scam because i don't want them to clip that up and no no i'm not saying bitcoin is a scam i'm saying that it can be used as a shield to facilitate um to facilitate a scam and so these people you know a lot of elderly people but it can happen to anybody you know they saying okay like did i go to the atm machine give the atm machine the money So if you see, I'm pretty sure you people, everybody has seen Bitcoin ATM machines.

10:39For sure. And that's the way to actually put physical cash into a, into a machine, send Bitcoin to somebody. But now the Bitcoin ATM machine is like, no, we're not, it's your fault. Like, we're not going to give you the money back. Like just because you got scammed. Like, you know, like we make you read everything on this, make sure you know who you're sending it to. And that's the thing about crypto. Once you happen to me before I've sent crypto, I missed one letter. You can't, there's no customer service number. There is no recourse to get your money back. That's why Citibank, I think that they said that they're going to start holding Bitcoin for people starting next year.

11:17And like we already have either we already have Bitcoin ETFs. Now, the next thing is that banks are going to start to be custodians of people's Bitcoin. It's a good way to prevent that crash from happening on your end because them books not looking solid, right? All of a sudden, every fucking bank on Earth loves Bitcoin. I bet. but should Saweetie have gotten paid in Bitcoin or no? Maybe she did. I don't know. Shout out to her. Salute. Salute. Be careful of all scams going around. The end of the bull run or start of the bull... Do you think this time is different? You think we still got some more time?

12:01I think we have a little bit more time because the banks and financial institutions have vested interest for it to stay afloat. A, so that the mid-tier banks don't get crushed. And I think with the onboarding of that asset class, it makes banks a – I think the institutional takeover of Bitcoin or adoption of Bitcoin, I think that they're going to push it up a little bit further, a little bit longer. or maybe end of Q1, but I can definitely see a pullback. Not like the one we have from 60 to 20, but I definitely can see a pullback. And I think there will be a gold rush, no pun intended, from the rest of the banks into it.

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14:37Can you hypnotize someone into sleeping with you? I gave her some suggestions to be sexually aroused. Can you get someone to join your cult? NLP was used on me to access my subconscious. Mind Games, a new podcast exploring NLP, a.k.a. neurolinguistic programming. Is it a self-help miracle, a shady hypnosis scam, or both? Listen to Mind Games on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, it's Joel. And Matt. From HowToMoney. If your New Year's resolution is to finally get your finances in shape, we've got your back. Prices, they're still high, and the economy is all over the place.

15:16But 2026 is the year for you to get intentional and make real progress. That's right. Each week we break down what's happening with your money, the most important issues to focus on, and the small moves that make a big difference. Kick off the year with confidence. Listen to How to Money on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This season on Dear Chelsea with me, Chelsea Handler, we've got some incredible guests like Kumail Nanjiani. Let's start with your cat. How is she? She is not with us anymore. Great, great, great way to start. Maybe you will cry. Ross Matthews.

15:51You know what kids always say to me? Are you a boy or a girl? Oh, my God. All the time. That's so funny. I know. So I try to butch it up for kids so they're not confused. Yeah, but you're butching it up. It's basically like Doris Day. No, I turn into Bea Arthur. Listen to these episodes of Dear Chelsea on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, hello, all my people. What's up? It's Questlove. Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with the one and only ASAP Rocky. He reflects on his journey from Harlem roots to global icon status and discovering the hip-hop origin of his name.

16:26The ledge was on the TV. Rakim had the Buckethead Kangol join on. I'm possibly like, that's Rakim. That's who you named after. I just, damn the f***, I swear. Listen to The Questlove Show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human.