{"id":10153,"date":"2025-09-08T20:27:48","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T20:27:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/d-c-ag-accuses-bitcoin-atm-operator-of-actively-enabling-fraudsters\/"},"modified":"2025-09-08T20:27:51","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T20:27:51","slug":"d-c-ag-accuses-bitcoin-atm-operator-of-actively-enabling-fraudsters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/d-c-ag-accuses-bitcoin-atm-operator-of-actively-enabling-fraudsters\/","title":{"rendered":"D.C. AG accuses Bitcoin ATM operator of actively enabling fraudsters"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-detail__content blocks\">\n<p class=\"is-style-lead\">D.C.\u2019s attorney general is taking aim at Athena Bitcoin, accusing the ATM operator of knowingly enabling scams that drained seniors\u2019 savings. Nearly every deposit, investigators claim, came from fraud schemes that the company ignored while pocketing hidden fees.<\/p>\n<div id=\"cn-block-summary-block_44fdcc357c2445b4fbc29c84948df0d1\" class=\"cn-block-summary\">\n<div class=\"cn-block-summary__nav tabs\">\n        <span class=\"tabs__item is-selected\">Summary<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n<div class=\"cn-block-summary__content\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>D.C. Attorney General sued Athena Bitcoin, alleging its ATMs enabled widespread fraud targeting seniors.<\/li>\n<li>Investigators say 93% of deposits were scam-related, with hidden fees reaching 26%.<\/li>\n<li>The suit claims Athena ignored red flags and profited while refusing refunds to victims.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- .cn-block-summary --><\/p>\n<p>On September 8, the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/oag.dc.gov\/release\/attorney-general-schwalb-sues-crypto-atm-operator\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">announced<\/a> it had filed suit against Athena Bitcoin, one of the nation\u2019s largest crypto ATM operators.<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit alleges the company knowingly allowed its machines to be used as a primary conduit for fraud, ignoring internal data that showed a staggering 93% of its deposits were scam-driven. Notably, the AG argues that Athena actively profited from the crime wave by imposing and keeping hidden fees that reached as high as 26% on these fraudulent transactions.<\/p>\n<p>    <!-- .cn-block-related-link --><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Athena\u2019s ATMs under scrutiny for enabling fraud<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>According to the attorney general\u2019s office, Athena\u2019s seven BTMs in the District became a favored tool for criminals due to a perceived lack of oversight. The AG\u2019s office states that this created an \u201cunchecked opportunity for illicit international fraud,\u201d turning the kiosks into off-ramps for cash and on-ramps for irreversible crypto theft.<\/p>\n<p>The cited data revealed that fraudsters focused on seniors, with the median age of victims being 71. This group is often targeted for its perceived lack of technological familiarity and, tragically, a greater reluctance to report having been defrauded.<\/p>\n<p>According to investigators, the median amount lost per transaction was $8,000, a life-changing sum for many on fixed incomes. In one extreme case detailed in the suit, a single victim was bled dry for $98,000 across 19 separate transactions in just a matter of days, highlighting the relentless nature of the schemes and the ease with which operators could repeatedly drain victims\u2019 accounts.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cAthena\u2019s bitcoin machines have become a tool for criminals intent on exploiting elderly and vulnerable District residents,\u201d Attorney General Brian Schwalb said. \u201cAthena knows that its machines are being used primarily by scammers yet chooses to look the other way so that it can continue to pocket sizable hidden transaction fees. Today we\u2019re suing to get District residents their hard-earned money back and put a stop to this illegal, predatory conduct before it harms anyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Legal action<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The legal action alleges Athena violated two key District laws: the Consumer Protection Procedures Act and the Abuse, Neglect, and Financial Exploitation of Vulnerable Adults and the Elderly Act. The suit lays out a three-part pattern of alleged misconduct.<\/p>\n<p>First, it accuses Athena of actively facilitating scams, noting the company\u2019s own internal logs show that in its first five months, consumers directly reported to Athena that 48% of all deposited funds were the result of fraud, a glaring red flag the company allegedly ignored.<\/p>\n<p>Second, the lawsuit zeroes in on what it calls \u201cillegally profiting from hidden fees.\u201d While typical fees on digital asset exchanges range from 0.24% to 3%, Athena\u2019s BTMs allegedly charged up to 26% per transaction.<\/p>\n<p>According to the AG\u2019s office, these fees were never clearly disclosed during the transaction process and were instead buried under opaque jargon like \u201cTransaction Service Margin\u201d in the Terms of Service, a document rarely scrutinized by users in a hurried, high-pressure scam situation.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, the AG cites a hardline \u201cno refunds\u201d policy as a final, crushing blow to victims. Even when fraud was proven, Athena allegedly refused to return the exorbitant fees it collected or required victims to sign liability waivers absolving the company of any future responsibility, effectively blaming them for their own victimization.<\/p>\n<p>    <!-- .cn-block-related-link --><\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>D.C.\u2019s attorney general is taking aim at Athena Bitcoin, accusing the ATM operator of knowingly enabling scams that drained seniors\u2019 savings. Nearly every deposit, investigators claim, came from fraud schemes&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5608,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cryptocurrency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10153"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10153\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10154,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10153\/revisions\/10154"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}