Haverhill bans cryptocurrency kiosks after victims scammed for $20,000

The city of Haverhill, Massachusetts is banning all cryptocurrency kiosks after the Essex District Attorney's Office says three people fell victim to scammers for roughly $20,000 total.

"He told me 'Mom you have been scammed,'" said Mary Mbugua after she told her son what happened to her. "Oh my God, I said what I am I going to do?"

Cryptocurrency scam in Haverhill

Mbugua is one of the three victims. She came to the U.S. from Kenya 22 years ago. Scammers messaged her saying she needed to make a payment on an order she made, but she didn't place the order. When she called a contact number from the message, their story got darker.

"He said according to our system, we can see you are doing marijuana and drugs and have been doing it in Kenya and in the U.S.," said Mbugua. "I told him I have never done drugs, nor do I know what they look like."

The man on the other line told her she is going to be arrested. He urged her to remove money from her accounts before police get to her.

"I told them according to doctor's orders, I can't drive the car because I am sick," said Mbugua.

She is currently battling breast cancer, but the voice didn't care.

"I went outside and got into my car shaking and even crying. He was talking, talking, talking, and didn't give me a second," explained Mbugua.

He directed her to a bank in Lawrence and demanded she take out the cash and bring it to a specific government location.

"I told him I almost got into an accident, he said 'you need to drive fast!' Oh my God!" she said.

Victim says 6 men waited for her at convenience store  

She took out $5,500, and went to the address he gave, but to her confusion it was a convenience store. She says six men sat outside watching her while they were on their phones. She was terrified, so she followed instructions from the voice to go to a cryptocurrency kiosk in the back.

"Those guys followed me. There are some seats at the back, next to the back by the bitcoin machine. They sat over there," said Mbugua.

She says one man sat right next to her. As she asked him to move aside, she dropped her cash. She says the men glared at her from the corner of their eyes. She deposited the money but refused to provide the man the receipt number from the slip. They continued to call and threaten her for days. They demanded the receipt number and told her they had all of her personal information.

She went to the Haverhill Police Department to tell them her story.  When they later called her back, she didn't believe it was law enforcement.

"I told him, 'No, I can't talk to you.' I am scared I thought it's another scammer," said Mbugua.

Police met Mary and her son at her home. Detectives began looking into her case and miraculously were able to recover all of her stolen money. Haverhill Police Detective Blake Harris went before the city council asking for a ban on the kiosks.

"Most legitimate cryptocurrency users don't rely on these machines at all," Detective Harris told the council.

The council approved the request unanimously after hearing Mbugua's testimony. The Massachusetts AARP is now calling for a statewide ban on these kiosks. WBZ went back to the store Mbugua went to, and the kiosk was already gone. At a nearby store down the street, their kiosk has a warning on it from Haverhill Police alerting users of scammers.