Officials to ramp up scam protection

SMITH COUNTY — Amid a surge in cryptocurrency scams sweeping East Texas, Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith convened regional lawmakers Monday in an urgent bid to confront what he warned is becoming a rapidly escalating threat. According to our news partner KETK, the meeting was attended by several lawmakers, including Sen. Bryan Hughes, State Representatives Cole Hefner and Daniel Alders, and the Captain of the Texas Federal Crimes Intelligence Center, Jeff Roberts.

Driven by a spike in cases, Smith convened the meeting after a growing number of East Texas seniors were coerced into depositing thousands of dollars into Bitcoin ATMs, funds that vanish instantly and are rarely recoverable.

Unfortunately many East Texans have failed to realize they were being scammed before being left in financial ruin. In early May, a Georgia inmate orchestrated a crypto kiosk scam by directing an elderly Smith County woman to a local crypto kiosk after claiming they were a sheriff’s office employee. The scam resulted in the woman losing $13,000 and the scammer was charged with theft from the elderly.

To combat this, participants during the meeting agreed that outlawing cash?to?crypto kiosks is necessary, arguing the devices have become little more than conduits for fraudsters to drain victims’ savings.

The sheriff’s office and local officials vowed to ramp up protections for residents and move swiftly on legislation aimed at banning cash?to?crypto kiosks altogether.