How Fran Bates Was Tricked at a Bitcoin ATM
By The Lumoset Team Published on July 28, 2026
Fran Bates thought she was protecting her money. A caller had convinced her that her bank account was in danger, and that the safest move was to withdraw cash and feed it into a Bitcoin ATM.
ABC News reported that in June 2024, Bates, an 85-year-old in the Fort Worth area, went into a gas station while still on the phone with the scammer. She was in the process of putting more than $23,000 into the kiosk when police intervened. The machine was not protecting her money. It was sending cryptocurrency to a scammer’s wallet.
This kind of scam works because the caller creates fear first. They may claim to be from a bank, government agency, tech support, or a company like Amazon. Then they say your money is at risk and tell you to “move” it somewhere safe.
The FTC is blunt about this pattern: no real business or government agency will send you to a Bitcoin ATM to protect money, fix an account problem, or avoid trouble. Once cash is converted to cryptocurrency and sent away, it is very hard to recover.
The Lesson
5 Things You Can Learn From Fran Bates’s Bitcoin ATM Scam
- A Bitcoin ATM is not a safety vault. The scammer used the machine as a one-way payment tool.
HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF
- Do not deposit cash into a crypto kiosk because someone on the phone tells you to.
- If money is supposedly at risk, call your bank using the number on your card.
- Urgency is part of the trick. The caller wanted Bates to stay scared and keep moving.
HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF
- Hang up when someone pressures you to act immediately.
- Talk to one trusted person before moving money.
- Caller ID cannot prove who is calling. A scammer can pretend to be a bank or agency.
HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF
- Do not use phone numbers the caller gives you.
- Go through the official app, statement, or website.
- Crypto payments are hard to reverse. That is why scammers like them.
HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF
- Treat crypto, wire, gift card, and cash pickup demands as danger signs.
- Call your bank before withdrawing large cash amounts.
- A pause can save the money. In this case, intervention mattered before the cash was gone.
HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF
- Leave the store or step away from the kiosk if you feel rushed.
- Ask staff or local police for help if someone is directing you by phone.
The moral is simple: real protection does not require secrecy, panic, or a crypto kiosk. If someone tells you to move money to keep it safe, stop and verify through a path you already trust.
Sources & References
ABC News, Bitcoin ATMs increasingly used by scammers to target victims, critics say Federal Trade Commission, Scammers use Bitcoin ATMs to steal your money Federal Trade Commission, Did someone send you to a Bitcoin ATM? It’s a scam
Keep learning with Lumoset’s free course, Spot the Scam – Level 2: Money Fraud, Gift Cards, Wires, Crypto Kiosks. Read More Real Scam Stories. Sign up for free scam-safety updates at lumoset.org.
Image credit: Amaury Sechet (CC0 1.0).