An elderly Forest Lake man lost almost $1 million after scammers persuaded him to withdraw cash from his bank and deposit it into a cryptocurrency ATM.
Another resident told police he lost $600,000 before he realized he was being scammed.
“It’s sad. They get in a panic, they just get tunnel vision, and they lose all sense of reasonableness,” said Det. Nathan Olstad of the Forest Lake Police Department.
Once the cash is deposited into a cryptocurrency ATM, it is extremely difficult to recover the funds, Olstad said.
The Forest Lake City Council is expected to vote on a new ordinance next week that could help others from being scammed. The proposed ordinance would require that all cryptocurrency ATMs located within…
