Police saws into Bitcoin ATM to recover $25,000, but innocent owner takes the hit

[Redaktion]

Sheriff Chuck Havard of Jasper County, Texas, announced on June 17, 2025, that the Sheriff's Office, with the support of Hardin County police, successfully cut open a Bitcoin ATM in Hardin County and recovered $31,900. This was done in response to a family's report of losing $25,000 to scammers.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Police-saws-into-Bitcoin-ATM-to-recover-25-000-but-innocent-owner-takes-the-hit.1041537.0.html

[Observing]

The police effectively vandalized private property, causing tens of thousands in losses to a completely innocent 3rd party.

Why not just contact the ATM owner and seize the machine/contents? Not like the cash is going anywhere.

[A]

The police effectively vandalized private property, causing tens of thousands in losses to a completely innocent 3rd party.

Why not just contact the ATM owner and seize the machine/contents? Not like the cash is going anywhere.

They aren't innocent, they are encouraging the bitcoin pyramid scheme which makes them no more different han accomplices.

[David1100]

Cryptocurrency itself is a scam, and I agree that the ATM owner is an accomplice in this incident. I'm very thankful to the police for helping innocent people who were scammed. If the police don't do anything, more and more people will be scammed by BTC (and this machine, and the owner of this machine, of course). Think of it as a man going to a brothel (a "BTC machine") and being tricked by a prostitute ("BTC"). The prostitute claims she's 20 in the ads, but she's in fact 50. He wants his money back but she and the brothel (BTC machine) refuse that. Then, the man calls the police, and the police shuts down the brothel (BTC machine), arrests the prostitute (BTC), and refunds the man (by cutting the BTC machine open). The guy who ran the brothel (the owner of the BTC machine) is also guilty in this case. He hired the prostitute (BTC) who claimed to be much younger than she really was (safe haven for personal finance? Or safe haven for Jeffrey Epstein's money laundering and other child/drug trafficking and all sorts of criminal activities?). By the way, do we really believe the brothel owner (BTC machine owner) doesn't know anything about prostitution (what cryptocurrency really is)???

The police effectively vandalized private property, causing tens of thousands in losses to a completely innocent 3rd party.

Why not just contact the ATM owner and seize the machine/contents? Not like the cash is going anywhere.

They aren't innocent, they are encouraging the bitcoin pyramid scheme which makes them no more different han accomplices.

[Observing]

The BTC ATM machine/company was presumably compliant with all local/regional laws and regulations.  Taking responsibility for people entering shady markets is not the responsibility of our Justice system to parent with sawing through moral justifications.  (Or, just make them illegal.  But you can't have it both ways: Legal and we can cut your machines when we feel like it, or illegal and we allow you to exist.)

People have personal responsibility in the choices they make.  BTC/ using an ATM also has many uses that aren't illicit or nefarious, and provide convenience.

Otherwise, ban (saw?) cash/bank ATMs.  Because people use cash/bank account ATMs for illegal purposes as well.

[Albert Helena]

I need to share this with you so you won't lose your money to cheap scams. I invested approximately $476,000 in a binary option platform and then decided to withdraw after several weeks. However, the withdrawal was unsuccessful. I attempted to contact the platform via email and phone, but I didn't receive a response. This is when everything began to look suspicious. Some weeks later, I got an email from them insisting I should invest more money if I want to withdraw my money, which I rejected, and I never heard from them again. That was when I knew I had been scammed. I was devastated at that moment and felt so bad that my hard-earned money was gone. After some months, I came across a lot of testimonies on the web about how Fastfund Recovery had helped many people recover their stolen, scammed, or duped money in bitcoin or any other form of digital currency. I contacted them and they promised to help me get my money back, asked me some info about the scammer, which I provided. The result was amazing, I recovered all my stolen money in hours. I was thrilled, as I never thought I could get my money back. Thanks, Fastfund Recovery, you restored my happiness as I could see my funds in my wallet. For those of you in need of such help, here is Fastfud Recovery contact info: email: Fastfundrecovery8(@) gmail.com OR W/App 1 807 5.0.0-7.5.5.4.