Athena Bitcoin Lawsuit Alleges Failure to Prevent ATM Scams Targeting Elderly Consumers

A Houston man has filed a class-action lawsuit against Athena Bitcoin Inc., alleging that the company's cryptocurrency ATMs were used to scam him out of over $26,000.

The plaintiff, Douglas Arnold Schuler, claims that in February 2024, he was contacted by scammers impersonating law enforcement officers who told him an arrest warrant had been issued against him. The scammers directed Schuler to withdraw money from his bank and deposit it into an Athena Bitcoin kiosk at a Chevron gas station.

Schuler deposited $20,000 in cash through the ATM, which was converted to cryptocurrency and sent to a wallet he did not control. He then returned to his bank, withdrew another $6,600, and deposited it through the same ATM, with the cryptocurrency sent to a different wallet address.

Schuler alleges that Athena Bitcoin failed to implement adequate fraud protections at its ATMs, despite knowing since 2017 that its machines were frequently used in scams targeting older consumers. The company had previously used safeguards such as freezing first-time transactions and contacting customers, but Schuler claims these measures are no longer in place.