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Spokane Valley council hears police warning on cryptocurrency kiosks, asks staff to draft ordinance options
Summary
Police briefed the council on rising “cash-to-crypto” scams that target elders and other residents; detectives described tactics, local recoveries and high kiosk fees. Council asked the city attorney to return with code-language options, including civil-infraction and business-license revocation approaches.
Law enforcement officials on Tuesday urged Spokane Valley leaders to consider new local rules for standalone cryptocurrency ATMs and kiosks after describing a surge in scams that use those machines to launder stolen cash.
Chief Dave Ellis and Sgt. Pat Bloomer told the City Council that scammers routinely pressure victims to withdraw cash and deposit it into crypto kiosks, often after impersonating law‑enforcement officers, prosecutors or court officials on the phone. "If someone on the phone directed you to this ATM machine, it's a scam," Bloomer said during his presentation, reading a warning that the…
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