MARATHON COUNTY, Wis. (WSAW) – People in Marathon County, mostly seniors, are losing up to $180,000 to scammers who convince them to deposit cash into cryptocurrency machines and send digital money to criminals.
The scams start with phone calls where scammers tell victims they have a warrant out for their arrest or missed jury duty and owe money. Scammers then direct people to download an app or go to a Bitcoin ATM to send them money.
How the scam works
The devices, called Bitcoin ATMs or cryptocurrency machines, are used to purchase and send digital money. Marathon County Sheriff Chad Billeb calls them “reverse ATMs.”
“So instead of taking money out, you’re putting money in. But through digital transactions, your money is being given to criminals and con artists in other places,” Billeb said.
People sending money to scammers using these machines represents the number one scam seniors in Marathon County are facing.
“The money is going to someone else, and I think that’s where this gets confused, is cryptocurrency and Bitcoin are not the problem here. They’re not the issue. The issue is the device that’s being used in order to complete the transaction,” Billeb said.
Investigation challenges and prevention
Billeb said these cases are hard to investigate because scammers are often overseas. He advises people who get contacted by suspected scammers to question them, say “This sounds like a scam, and I know the sheriff,” or hang up.
Local sheriff departments have been meeting with lawmakers to impose daily limits on the machines.
“So that if someone can’t just walk up to a machine and put $20,000 into it, set a limit, $500, $1,000 a day. If they’re being scammed, they’re not putting their life savings into a couple of machines in a matter of days,” Billeb said.
Wisconsin’s Department of Financial Institutions set a daily limit of $2,000 on cryptocurrency ATMs at the end of July. A spokesperson said any violation of this limit, or scammers using these machines to steal money, violates Wisconsin’s money transmission law through the DFI.
This can lead to machine operators having their licenses revoked, which are issued by the DFI. People can submit complaints about machines to the department’s website after choosing to file a money transmitter complaint.
Scams in Wood County
Since those $2,000 daily limits were implemented, the Wood County Sheriff’s Department has received zero complaints of scams involving digital currency.
When they do get reports, their office is getting search warrants and seizing money from cryptocurrency ATM’s. They then hold the cash as evidence until a judge makes a ruling. Marathon County Sheriff’s Office is not doing this.
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