A retired Arizona couple have filed a class action lawsuit in a US federal court accusing Bitcoin ATM operatorBitcoin Depotof enabling a $76,000 impersonation scam that wiped out their savings between 9 and 13 August 2025 and, they say, forced one of them back to work.
The claim centres on a pattern fraud investigator have been warning about for years. Scammers allegedly pose as trusted institutions, terrify victims with invented criminal allegations, then insist the only way to 'fix' the problem is to move money into Bitcoin via acrypto ATM. The Laceys argue Bitcoin Depot has long been aware of how its machines are used in these schemes yet failed to put in place basic protections for inexperienced, often older, customers.
Retired couple loses $76,000 life savings to Bitcoin ATM scam, sues Bitcoin Depot in Federal Court.pic.twitter.com/juf8pFQ0CQ
According to the lawsuit, Karen and Robert Lacey were first contacted by someone claiming to be fromNorton, the antivirus software provider, who said there was suspicious activity on their account. That call, the couple say, was quickly escalated tosupposed FBI agentswho told them their accounts were linked to child pornography and illegal gambling.
The complaint sets out a clear pattern. Over five days, the Laceys were allegedly kept on the phone and instructed to withdraw cash, then feed it into Bitcoin Depot ATMs in a series of large deposits. The scammers, the filing claims, warned them that speaking to anyone about what was happening would jeopardise the 'investigation.'
To reinforce the illusion of official legitimacy, the fraudsters allegedly manipulated the couple's phones so wireless networks labelled 'FBI' appeared in their settings. The lawsuit says these networks remained visible for months after the money had gone, a lingering digital ghost of the ruse that had emptied the Laceys' accounts.
By the end of the week, the couple say they had deposited $76,000 described in the complaint as 'the entirety of their retirement savings' into Bitcoin Depot machines. Once converted into Bitcoin and sent on to a wallet controlled by the scammers, the cash was effectively unrecoverable.
The heart of the Bitcoin Depot lawsuit is not simply that the Laceys were conned. It is the contention that the company's ATMs processed every single transaction without 'meaningful intervention,' despite what the claim describes as glaring warning signs.
The complaint highlights several alleged red flags. The Laceys were first-time users of Bitcoin ATMs. They were making unusually large cash deposits for several days in a row. And, crucially, staff allegedly could see them acting 'under telephone instructions from unknown parties' while using the machines.
'Despite obvious red flags ... Bitcoin Depot's ATM processed each transaction without meaningful intervention, taking its substantial cut before transferring the remainder to the scammer's wallet,' the lawsuit states.
Source: International Business Times UK
