also made a push to educate the public about frequent scams and they’ve continued this education as new scams develop. “I also recommend chiefs work with their respective city attorneys and elected officials to enact an ordinance or some form of regulation for these machines. The City of Manitowoc has seen a decrease in our overall scams since we’ve mandated warning labels be placed on this machine,” added Chief Reimer. In summary, while technology advancements are a good thing, inevitably criminals always find a way to exploit them. Nonetheless, there are affirmative steps that communities can take to mitigate the impact on their residents. Community education, staff training, local regulation through ordinance, and involvement in legislative processes at the state level are great places to start.
enforcement as we work through the legal process to identify where the money went through document subpoenas and search warrants. This also poses a problem, as the money is often transferred to a wallet in another country within seconds of the victim depositing cash into the crypto ATM.” What is being done to control BTM fraud nationally? Data from the National Conference of State Legislatures indicates that roughly 12 states have enacted BTM controlling legislation, and 40 states have introduced or have pending related legislation in the 2025 legislative session. In Wisconsin, AB384 has been introduced. If passed, the bill would provide various BTM restrictions, such as obtaining licensure, display of fraud warnings, verification of customer identity, limiting transactions to no more than $1,000/day and the issuance of a customer refund in certain circumstances, amongst other requirements. Will these measures be enough to significantly curb BTM fraud? “I think the limit of transactions may help and give time for someone to intervene on the victim’s behalf. It would at least limit the loss,” said Chief Smetana, following up with a thought-provoking question, “I do wonder how it would work if someone visited multiple kiosks?” Chief Reimer agreed. “I believe these provisions will make a significant difference for those victimized by these scams. Currently, there is very little law enforcement can do in order to return funds. The best-case scenario is law enforcement is able to work with cryptocurrency transaction companies to return the transaction fee to the victimized individual.” When asked what advice they would have for municipalities that are just beginning to notice BTMs in their communities, both chiefs agreed that education is key. “My advice would be to educate the community and ensure that the education is ongoing. Most people don’t have a great understanding of this currency, and I believe that lack of awareness impacts our ability to adequately warn people about the level of these scams,” noted Chief Smetana. Chief Reimer concurred, indicating that the City of Manitowoc Police Department has
View a copy here of the City of Manitowoc’s Regulating Cryptocurrency Kiosks/ATMs ordinance.
Craig Sherven , Public Safety Specialist, League Insurance. Contact Craig at csherven@lwmmi.org
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