UK regulators have charged a London man with operating multiple unlicensed cryptocurrency ATMs.
Olumide Osunkoya (45 years old) Unlicensed Machines Allows users to purchase cryptocurrencies or convert money into crypto assets Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) made the announcement on Tuesday (September 10th).
According to an FCA news release, Osunkoya processed $3.4 million worth of cryptocurrency transactions across multiple locations between December 2021 and September last year without proper registration. The regulator noted that there are no legitimate cryptocurrency ATMs in the UK.
The FCA said this is the first criminal prosecution relating to unregistered crypto asset activity under the Money Laundering/Terrorist Financing Regulations 2017, and the first against someone operating a crypto ATM in the UK.
“Our message today is clear: if you are operating a cryptocurrency ATM illegally, we will stop it.” Therese Chambers“When you use a cryptocurrency ATM, you are giving your money directly to criminals, who can use cryptocurrency ATMs to launder money around the world,” John F. Kelly, co-executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said in a press release.
The FCA's announcement comes as regulators on both sides of the Atlantic have warned about cryptocurrency ATMs. Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has released data showing that the amount of money lost by consumers to scams involving bitcoin ATM machines jumped to $114 million last year, a tenfold increase from 2020.
Cryptocurrencies have become a primary payment method for a variety of scams, the FTC said, adding: “Wide access to cryptocurrencies has led to [bitcoin ATMs (BTMs)] It helped make this possible.”
In other cryptocrime news, the FBI announced this week that cryptocurrency-related complaints made up 10% of all financial fraud complaints last year, but accounted for half of the total losses.
In its report, the FBI said one factor is the use of cryptocurrencies in investment scams, leading victims to accumulate “massive debt” to cover their losses. Cryptocurrency Scam Report.
According to the report, losses from financial fraud related to the use of cryptocurrencies are expected to increase by 45% overall in 2023, reaching $5.6 billion. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center received 69,468 complaints from the public related to the use of cryptocurrencies.
“Cryptocurrencies' decentralized nature, the speed of irreversible transactions, and the ability to transfer value around the world make them an attractive vehicle for criminals, while also making it difficult to recover stolen funds.” Michael D. Nordwall“Once an individual makes a payment, the cryptocurrency becomes the property of the recipient, who often quickly transfers it to overseas accounts for cash conversion,” the assistant director of the FBI's Criminal Investigation Division said in the report.
