In December 2024, criminals stole thousands of dollars from Steve Beckett at a Circle K convenience store in Indiana. The robbery happened in broad daylight.

The thieves didn’t use a gun or a knife. There was no getaway car. The instrument of the crime was a machine, much like an ATM, owned by Bitcoin Depot and placed in the convenience store as part of a nationwide agreement with Circle K.

Beckett, 66 at the time, had been paying bills at home when his computer froze and a message directed him to call what turned out to be a phony Microsoft service hotline.

On the phone, a man named “Josh” told Beckett that someone had hacked his computer and used his credit cards and bank accounts to purchase child pornography….