It’s not about scamming tourists at its core, it’s about avoiding electronic banking networks and pulling cash back into the system.
Disclaimer: Amsterdammer…
They are not much of a guide to bad areas, for example American Candyland (bad) is opposite Selfridges (popular). Streetview: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.514156,-0.1516145,3a,75y,1...
They get a clean €101 when someone makes a withdrawal, and the tourist has no problem spending the money.
Other than that, this would then not be any different from a regular cash deposit, no?
As far as I can tell, this is more common in the US – I'd be quite surprised if Euronet depended on business owners to restock their machines rather than having their own couriers doing that.
But in either case, I don't see how a merchant could hide anything using an ATM: Dispensing $100 of cash via a self-operated ATM has exactly the same effect on their bank account as depositing $100 of cash directly at their bank, no?
They are scam but not for money laundering. Just scam.
So it's beneficial to society!
You make it sound like a good thing.