As technology and the economy evolve, so do scam methods. After all, scammers vying for your wallet are getting on with the times!

This is the case with the arrival of the latest breed of scams which is focused on cryptocurrency ATMs. It has become widespread to the extent of pushing the FBI to issue a warning about it.

At first glance, this new scam might seem relatively low-tech, but it gets the job done and leaves absolutely no print whatsoever of the scammers by which they could be tracked.

The process is simple enough for anyone to follow: The victims are first contacted by the scammers who foster a relationship between them until the scammers are able to convince the victims to send money. The scammers could frame this relationship as a romantic, business, or professional one before requesting a crypto wiring from their target.

The wiring itself is divided into two stages, the first starting with the victim withdrawing a certain amount of cash, sometimes out of personal investment or retirement accounts, followed by them heading to a cryptocurrency ATM that solely sells cryptocurrencies and supports reading QR codes. The victims then proceed to scan the QR code the scammer shared with them beforehand, which would direct the funds to the criminal. The usage of QR codes replaces the long wallet addresses that have long presided in these practices while also being useful for legitimate crypto purchases.

The new crypto scam has received two important “updates” when compared to the classic version: Scammers can now easily avoid the threat of being exposed when filling out a form as is custom with wire transfers, given that the QR code directly allows the money to be sent to them. The second “perk” lies in the nature of the currency itself, since crypto is decentralized and is far harder to track than physical currency, which leaves little room for the victims to regain their stolen money.

Overall, crypto scam or regular one, if some stranger, online or elsewhere, asks you to send them money, just avoid doing it at all costs; it will probably save you a lot of headaches and keep your wallet safe.