- Australia’s financial crime watchdog, AUSTRAC, has established a cryptocurrency task force to crack down on the nation’s crypto ATMs, which it said are increasingly being used by criminal gangs to launder money.
- AUSTRAC said Australians are falling victim to crypto scams and being tricked into laundering money for crime gangs by making deposits into crypto ATMs, in some cases losing their entire life savings.
- The watchdog’s task force is the first stage of its crackdown on crypto, with plans to focus on cleaning up the industry over the next year.
Australia’s financial crimes watchdog, AUSTRAC, has established an internal cryptocurrency taskforce in order to combat the growing use of crypto ATMs for laundering the proceeds of crime.
The number of crypto ATMs in Australia has exploded in the past few years, from just 200 at the start of 2023 to now over 1200 — the third most of any country on Earth. AUSTRAC said this growth in crypto ATMs had seen the service increasingly used for illicit purposes and claims there’s been a rise in Australians being exploited as ‘money mules’ by criminal gangs.
The worry is that we see these people who are scammed being coerced by the scammers into becoming money mules, moving money around these ATMs.
Brendan Thomas, AUSTRAC CEO
Related: Bloomberg Report: Australia Hotspot for Bitcoin ATMs with Fastest Growth Globally
Victims of Crypto Scams Becoming ‘Money Mules’
Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) AUSTRAC’s CEO, Brendan Thomas, said many of these ‘money mules’ are Australians aged in their 50s and 60s who’ve fallen victim to crypto scams.
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Thomas said scam victims are tricked into depositing money into crypto ATMs. By doing so, the unwitting mules are helping these gangs funnel their ill-gotten gains out of Australia and back to their South-East Asian operational headquarters, according to Thomas.
He said in some cases these middle-aged ‘money mules’ are losing their entire life savings through these scams:
We’re seeing too many Australians falling victim to scams carried out through cryptocurrency, and we’ve heard of some victims losing their life savings, which is just heart breaking.
Brendan Thomas, AUSTRAC CEO
Crypto ATMs Need to Adhere to Anti-Money Laundering Rules, Says AUSTRAC
Figures cited in the SMH report reveal AU$119 million went through 75% of Australia’s crypto ATMs between January and November 2023, and almost all of the transactions were deposits. When a user deposits cash into a crypto ATM they can convert it into a cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum or Dogecoin, making them a convenient method of money laundering.
Of course, these ATMs are supposed to implement the same kind of anti-money laundering (AML) protections as regular crypto exchanges, but according to AUSTRAC this isn’t always the case.
Cryptocurrency and crypto ATMs are attractive avenues for criminals looking to launder money, as they are widely accessible and make near-instant and irreversible transfers…Cryptocurrency ATM providers need to ensure they are complying with their money laundering obligations and are reducing the risks of crime.
Brendan Thomas, AUSTRAC CEO
Thomas says the establishment of AUSTRAC’s new crypto task force will focus on making sure high-risk operations, such as crypto ATMs, are complying with AML requirements. He said: “As the use of cryptocurrency increases, so too will criminal exploitation, which is why this task force will work to eliminate non-compliant high risk operations.”
The AUSTRAC CEO added that this is just the first stage of the watchdog’s crackdown on crypto, adding that it will be “focusing on this industry over the course of next year”.
Related: Australian Youtuber Jamie Zhu Investigates Crypto Scams in Latest Video
Thomas also issued a warning directly to the operators of the crypto ATMs to get their money laundering controls in place quick-smart:
We will take strong action. We’re warning these businesses that the penalties are larger than the profits they can make.
Brendan Thomas, AUSTRAC CEO
