WI scam survivor turns loss into law

Karin Schmeling, 71, a retired nurse from Greenfield, said she lost $4,400 to scammers who instructed her to secure her account from illegal activity under pressure, telling her to deposit funds into a cryptocurrency kiosk. Despite reporting the scam to authorities, she was unable to recover her money.

She said the experience took an emotional toll and inspired her to advocate for stronger safeguards against these types of scams.

“I was just floored when I found out how often this happens,” she said. “And crypto kiosks were like handing the scammers a tool to scam people with a silver platter. They were so easy to use in these manipulations.”

A cryptocurrency kiosk regulation bill was signed into law last week. Schmeling advocated alongside AARP Wisconsin to help get the legislation passed. The law includes requirements such as mandatory scam warning labels, daily transaction caps and reimbursement for fraud victims.

Crypto-related fraud in the United States surged to a new record last year, with Americans reporting more than $11 billion in losses. Yet, authorities estimate less than 10% of all fraud victims report scams to law enforcement.

Schmeling said she believes this is due to shame. She said she learned while meeting with legislators that she was the only scam victim to publicly advocate and testify for the Wisconsin law.

“I thought, ‘I understand why they’re not here, but I know why I’m here,'” she said. “And I often made reference in talking to the legislators, ‘I’m just one person here who’s been scammed using a cryptocurrency kiosk. But imagine hundreds of little invisible grandmas behind me who have no voice. They’re suffering too. I’m speaking for them.’”

Schmeling said getting the legislation passed often proved to be just as emotionally taxing as the scam itself. But she added that seeing it get signed into law last week brought her experience full circle.

“I shook (Gov.) Tony Evers’ hands,” she said, “and I said, ‘This means so much to me personally, because of what I went through.’ And now I was actually able to do something about it.”

Related: Watch: Scammers are stealing around $1.2 billion (with a B) from Wisconsin families almost every year