Keeping Sun City safe
South Carolina’s Lowcountry is a haven for seniors. Spanish moss drips from trees, beautiful beaches abound, and golf carts share slow roads with cars. In Beaufort County, more than a third of the population will be 65 or older by 2040. That makes it attractive to scammers, too.
People 60 and older are more than three times likelier to report being scammed at bitcoin ATMs, according to the data from the Federal Trade Commission.
Eric Calendine, a lieutenant with the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Department, said one of the worst cases he has seen involved a retired couple deceived for months into thinking they were protecting their savings by depositing them at bitcoin ATMs. The couple went to several ATMs in Savannah, Georgia, and Beaufort County. In the end, they lost almost $390,000.
“We can’t keep doing this,” Calendine told NBC News. “$390,000. $30,000. $80,000.
“We can’t keep going down this road of our victims going to these ATMs, just putting a large amount of money into them and there not be any regulation.”
On a Tuesday evening, a small crowd gathered in a meeting room at a retirement enclave of about 18,000 just outside Hilton Head known as Sun City.
“It’s easier to take your money than to rob a bank,” Calendine said as he launched into his presentation on scams.
There hasn’t been a bank robbery in Beaufort County since 2016, Calendine told the room. Two years ago, the largest losses from scams involved wire transfers. But last year, cryptocurrency scams, including ones involving BTMs, rose to the top of his list. One of the most common, he said, was the jury duty scam.
Retirees are targeted, experts say, because of savings they’ve built up over decades. Hilton Head’s affluence might also be drawing scammers.
“They’re targeting where the money is located at, and they know that through census data,” Calendine said. But many of the victims he deals with can’t afford such hits.
“Eight thousand dollars is still a lot of money when you’re living on a budget,” he said.
The Federal Trade Commission shows that reported losses in scams involving crypto kiosks grew from $12 million in 2020 to $114 million in 2023. Victims have been misled to believe they’re speaking with tech support about computer troubles, receiving sound investment advice, or bailing a loved one out of jail.
Most victims don’t realize the “warrant numbers” they’ve been given for missing jury duty or the QR codes they’ve been provided to scan at the machines are actually the scammers’ virtual wallets.
Once that money reaches a fraudster, it can be nearly impossible for funds to be recovered — even when authorities can see where they are.
That means that when scam victims approach kiosks, they might be a few keypad strokes away from losing their life savings.
AARP’s fraud hotline receives daily reports about scams involving bitcoin ATMs, said Amy Nofziger, director of victim support for the fraud watch network at the organization, which has advocated for tighter regulation of the machines.
Customers who work with bank tellers or cashiers might pick up on people’s being nervous during transactions, she said. But with BTMs, “there is nobody watching the machine,” she said. “Less eyes on it is better for the criminals and, of course, harder on the victims.”
‘Who am I going after?’
One 80-year-old man in Beaufort County lost $31,000 in September.
“It’s an insult,” he said of the alleged scam. “She did a damn good job on me.”
The man, a retired banker, spoke to NBC News on the condition that his name not be used over safety concerns because the perpetrators haven’t been identified. After a warning that appeared to be from Microsoft popped up on his computer screen, he called the number provided. He was transferred to someone who told him his browser history showed illegal activity, including viewing child pornography.
