Elderly Couple Duped Into 'Helping' Investigation in $1.3 Million Bitcoin ATM Scam

Benzinga_recent_news01-11

An elderly couple was swindled out of their $1.3 million retirement fund by scammers pretending to be representatives from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The elaborate scam involved Bitcoin ATMs ...

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The elaborate scam involved Bitcoin ATMs ...</p>\n\n<a href=\"https://www.benzinga.com/crypto/cryptocurrency/26/01/49830695/elderly-couple-duped-into-helping-investigation-in-1-3-million-bitcoin-atm-scam\">Source Link</a>\n\n</div>\n","source":"benzinga_recent_news","html":"<!DOCTYPE html>\n<html>\n<head>\n<meta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text/html; charset=utf-8\" />\n<meta name=\"viewport\" content=\"width=device-width,initial-scale=1.0,minimum-scale=1.0,maximum-scale=1.0,user-scalable=no\"/>\n<meta name=\"format-detection\" content=\"telephone=no,email=no,address=no\" />\n<title>Elderly Couple Duped Into 'Helping' Investigation in $1.3 Million Bitcoin ATM Scam</title>\n<style type=\"text/css\">\na,abbr,acronym,address,applet,article,aside,audio,b,big,blockquote,body,canvas,caption,center,cite,code,dd,del,details,dfn,div,dl,dt,\nem,embed,fieldset,figcaption,figure,footer,form,h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6,header,hgroup,html,i,iframe,img,ins,kbd,label,legend,li,mark,menu,nav,\nobject,ol,output,p,pre,q,ruby,s,samp,section,small,span,strike,strong,sub,summary,sup,table,tbody,td,tfoot,th,thead,time,tr,tt,u,ul,var,video{ font:inherit;margin:0;padding:0;vertical-align:baseline;border:0 }\nbody{ font-size:16px; line-height:1.5; color:#999; background:transparent; }\n.wrapper{ overflow:hidden;word-break:break-all;padding:10px; }\nh1,h2{ font-weight:normal; line-height:1.35; margin-bottom:.6em; }\nh3,h4,h5,h6{ line-height:1.35; margin-bottom:1em; }\nh1{ font-size:24px; }\nh2{ font-size:20px; }\nh3{ font-size:18px; }\nh4{ font-size:16px; }\nh5{ font-size:14px; }\nh6{ font-size:12px; }\np,ul,ol,blockquote,dl,table{ margin:1.2em 0; }\nul,ol{ margin-left:2em; }\nul{ list-style:disc; }\nol{ list-style:decimal; }\nli,li p{ margin:10px 0;}\nimg{ max-width:100%;display:block;margin:0 auto 1em; }\nblockquote{ color:#B5B2B1; border-left:3px solid #aaa; padding:1em; }\nstrong,b{font-weight:bold;}\nem,i{font-style:italic;}\ntable{ width:100%;border-collapse:collapse;border-spacing:1px;margin:1em 0;font-size:.9em; }\nth,td{ padding:5px;text-align:left;border:1px solid #aaa; }\nth{ font-weight:bold;background:#5d5d5d; }\n.symbol-link{font-weight:bold;}\n/* header{ border-bottom:1px solid #494756; } */\n.title{ margin:0 0 8px;line-height:1.3;color:#ddd; }\n.meta {color:#5e5c6d;font-size:13px;margin:0 0 .5em; }\na{text-decoration:none; color:#2a4b87;}\n.meta .head { display: inline-block; overflow: hidden}\n.head .h-thumb { width: 30px; height: 30px; margin: 0; padding: 0; border-radius: 50%; float: left;}\n.head .h-content { margin: 0; padding: 0 0 0 9px; float: left;}\n.head .h-name {font-size: 13px; color: #eee; margin: 0;}\n.head .h-time {font-size: 11px; color: #7E829C; margin: 0;line-height: 11px;}\n.small {font-size: 12.5px; display: inline-block; transform: scale(0.9); -webkit-transform: scale(0.9); transform-origin: left; -webkit-transform-origin: left;}\n.smaller {font-size: 12.5px; display: inline-block; transform: scale(0.8); -webkit-transform: scale(0.8); transform-origin: left; -webkit-transform-origin: left;}\n.bt-text {font-size: 12px;margin: 1.5em 0 0 0}\n.bt-text p {margin: 0}\n</style>\n</head>\n<body>\n<div class=\"wrapper\">\n<header>\n<h2 class=\"title\">\nElderly Couple Duped Into 'Helping' Investigation in $1.3 Million Bitcoin ATM Scam\n</h2>\n\n<h4 class=\"meta\">\n\n\n2026-01-11 04:11 GMT+8&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href=https://www.benzinga.com/crypto/cryptocurrency/26/01/49830695/elderly-couple-duped-into-helping-investigation-in-1-3-million-bitcoin-atm-scam><strong>Benzinga_recent_news</strong></a>\n\n\n</h4>\n\n</header>\n<article>\n<div>\n<p>An elderly couple was swindled out of their $1.3 million retirement fund by scammers pretending to be representatives from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The elaborate scam involved Bitcoin ATMs ...</p>\n\n<a href=\"https://www.benzinga.com/crypto/cryptocurrency/26/01/49830695/elderly-couple-duped-into-helping-investigation-in-1-3-million-bitcoin-atm-scam\">Source Link</a>\n\n</div>\n\n\n</article>\n</div>\n</body>\n</html>\n","isBrief":false,"type":0,"news_type":1,"symbol":"83042","symbol_name":"华夏比特币-R","start_time":0,"source_url":"https://www.benzinga.com/crypto/cryptocurrency/26/01/49830695/elderly-couple-duped-into-helping-investigation-in-1-3-million-bitcoin-atm-scam","article_id":"2602453623","we_media_id":null,"thumbnails":["https://cdn.benzinga.com/files/images/story/2026/01/10/Stack-Of-Bitcoins-And-Handcuffs-Over-Bla.jpeg?optimize=medium&dpr=2&auto=webp&width=240"],"rights":{"source":"benzinga_recent_news","url":"https://www.benzinga.com/crypto/cryptocurrency/26/01/49830695/elderly-couple-duped-into-helping-investigation-in-1-3-million-bitcoin-atm-scam","rn_cache_url":null,"directOrigin":true},"url":"https://stock-news.laohu8.com/highlight/detail?id=2602453623","pubTimestamp":1768075860,"columns":[],"sourceInfo":{"source_id":"benzinga_recent_news","name":"Benzinga"},"weMediaInfo":null,"summary":"An elderly couple was swindled out of their $1.3 million retirement fund by scammers pretending to be representatives from the FTC.","collect":0,"end_time":0,"defaultTopTitle":"benzinga.com","property":[],"viewcount":null,"language":"en","relate_stocks":{"83042":"华夏比特币-R","BK4594":"比特币ETF概念","BK1611":"加密货币现货ETF","BK4588":"碎股","BK4601":"加密货币现货ETF","BK4585":"ETF&股票定投概念"},"translate_title":"比特币ATM诈骗130万美元，老年夫妇被骗“帮助”调查","themeId":null,"isJumpTheme":false,"ttsUrl":null,"symbols_score_info":{"83042":0.6},"content_text":"An elderly couple was swindled out of their $1.3 million retirement fund by scammers pretending to be representatives from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The elaborate scam involved Bitcoin ATMs and gold bullion transactions.\nBarbara and Larry Cook were approached by fraudsters in September 2023, who impersonated security representatives of Amazon and TD Bank. The scammers convinced the Cooks that their identity had been misused for illegal purchases on the dark web.\nThe Cooks were ensnared in a convoluted scam that had them depositing large amounts of money into Bitcoin ATMs and surrendering gold bullion in Maine and Florida. They were made to believe they were aiding the FTC in apprehending cybercriminals.\nAs per the report by Insider, the scam continued for over half a year before the Cooks realized they had been tricked. By this time, they had lost their entire savings of $1.3 million, earmarked for their retirement, charity, and family inheritance.\nThe couple was assigned a fictitious “FTC agent” named “Ryan Terry,” who walked them through the process of setting up a Bitcoin wallet and conducting transactions. The Cooks were convinced their actions were part of a legitimate investigation and that they were acting patriotically.\nThe scam was finally unmasked in April 2024 when Larry Cook attempted to contact “Terry” and found his WhatsApp was no longer operational. The FTC confirmed there was no such agent, and an investigation was initiated.\nDespite the ongoing investigation, the authorities have suggested that the Cooks are unlikely to recover their lost savings. The couple is now sharing their story to alert others and provide solace to those who have been similarly scammed.\nThis incident underscores the growing threat of cybercrime and the sophistication of scams targeting vulnerable individuals. It serves as a stark reminder for individuals to exercise caution when dealing with unsolicited communications, especially those involving financial transactions. \nIt also highlights the need for financial institutions and tech companies to bolster their security measures and educate their customers about potential scams.\nImage: Shutterstock/Igor Faun","kind":"highlight","is_publish_news":true,"is_publish_highlight":false,"is_publish_live":false,"is_publish_wemedia":null,"editions":null,"column":"","sentiment":"0","news_tag":"","news_rank":0,"symbols":[],"gpt_button":0,"need_auth":false,"code":"91000000","status":"200"},"commentList":[],"isCommentEnd":true,"newsSizeData":{"likeSize":0,"commentSize":0,"repostSize":0,"favoriteSize":0,"likeStatus":false,"favoriteStatus":false},"APP":{"userAgent":"Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)","isDev":false,"isTTM":true,"tenantId":"TBGLOBAL","deviceId":"web-server-community-laohu8-v3","version":"4.36.0","shortVersion":"4.36.0","platform":"web","vendor":"web","appName":"ttm","isIOS":false,"isAndroid":false,"isTiger":false,"isTHS":false,"isWeiXin":false,"isWeiXinMini":false,"isWeiBo":false,"isQQ":false,"isBaiduSwan":false,"isBaiduBox":false,"isDingTalk":false,"isToutiao":false,"isOnePlus":false,"isHuaWei":false,"isXiaomi":false,"isXiaomiWebView":false,"isOppo":false,"isVivo":false,"isSamsung":false,"isMobile":false},"href":"/m/news/2602453623","isCrawlerRequest":true}