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Lux Vending, operating under the name Bitcoin Depot, has allegedly initiated legal action against the McLennan County sheriff’s office in Texas, claiming it unlawfully confiscated $15,000 from a Bitcoin automated teller machine (ATM).
The funds were seized to reimburse an elderly individual who fell victim to a cryptocurrency scam.
Bitcoin Depot ‘Can Go to Hell’
As reported locally, the incident began in late April when an 82-year-old woman from Crawford was searching online for a cooking recipe. During her search, she received an email indicating that she had inadvertently activated a “Ransomware” virus on her computer.
The woman reached out to “customer support,” where she was transferred to a designated “fraud investigator.” This individual asserted that her personal information had been compromised, claiming that someone had issued a $15,000 check to an unknown construction company using her identity. The perpetrator instructed the victim to withdraw $15,000 in cash from her bank and deposit it into a Bitcoin ATM located in Waco, Texas.
“The woman stated she followed the directions and that the individual remained on the phone with her throughout the process. She mentioned that she deposited $15,000, $100 at a time,” the affidavit notes.
Shortly thereafter, she reported the fraud to the sheriff’s office, which obtained a search warrant for Bitcoin Depot, seized the funds, and returned them to the victim.
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“The $15,000 she deposited into the machine was still in the wallet where she had placed it. Therefore, we retrieved that $15,000 and brought it back to the office. We documented it, placed it into evidence, and ultimately returned it to the victim to prevent her from being further victimized by these criminals,” Sheriff Parnell McNamara stated.
He characterized the company as “a bunch of vultures” seeking to take money that rightfully belonged to the elderly woman. The sheriff further remarked that Bitcoin Depot “can go to hell.”
In response, the company’s representatives asserted that while the sheriff’s office had the authority to seize the funds, it did not have the right to return them to the victim. The lawsuit also claims that Bitcoin Depot was not involved in the scam, indicating they did not entice the victim into making the deposit.
A hearing has yet to be scheduled. Bitcoin Depot’s attorney, MacVane, stated that the company “committed to cooperating in any way possible” to assist investigators in the matter. According to the sheriff, the fraudsters are based in another country.
The Missouri Citizen Who Shot a BTC ATM
The case involving the elderly Texas resident is not the only perplexing incident related to a Bitcoin ATM. A Missouri resident, Matthew Klinger, recently received five years of supervised probation after shooting five rounds into such a machine.
The motive behind his actions remains unclear; however, he claimed he destroyed the device “so that it could not take money from anyone else.”
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