Why scammers tell victims to use a crypto ATM

A crypto ATM, or kiosk, takes cash and sends cryptocurrency to an address the customer provides, often by scanning a QR code. For a legitimate buyer that is a convenience. For a scammer it is ideal: the victim does the work, the money leaves the banking system in minutes, and once the coins arrive at the scammer’s address there is no chargeback.

How big is the problem?

The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center reports these figures for crypto ATM and kiosk use in 2025:

Age group	Complaints	Losses
Under 20	58	$124,013
20–29	825	$6,474,240
30–39	1,275	$10,936,943
40–49	1,472	$20,826,227
50–59	1,524	$44,584,724
60 and over	6,188	$257,466,130
All	13,460	$389 million

The report gives a 23% increase in complaints and a 58% increase in losses compared with 2024. People aged 60 and over filed 6,188 of those complaints and reported $257,466,130 of the losses, more than any other age group.

What does the script sound like?

The FBI’s 2021 public service announcement on kiosk fraud names the stories that lead victims there: impersonation of government officials, law enforcement or utility companies, romance schemes, and lottery schemes. The payment method is the same in each:

• A reason to pay now. A debt, a fine, a frozen account, a partner in trouble or a prize that needs a fee.
• Cash, then a kiosk. The victim is told to withdraw cash and take it to a crypto ATM, and is given step-by-step instructions for using it.
• A QR code. The scammer supplies a code to scan at the kiosk. The code is the scammer’s wallet address, so the coins go straight to them.
• Speed. The FBI notes that the recipient receives the crypto immediately and often moves it overseas, which makes recovery difficult.

FinCEN’s alert on pig butchering lists a version of this as a red flag for banks: a customer says someone who recently contacted them told them to exchange cash for virtual currency at a kiosk and deposit it at an address that person supplied.

What does FinCEN add?

In August 2025 FinCEN, the US Treasury’s financial-crimes unit, issued a notice on kiosks, FIN-2025-NTC1, urging banks and kiosk operators to watch for scam payments. It describes the same pattern from the money’s side:

• Detailed instructions. Criminals tell victims how to withdraw cash from their bank, find a kiosk, and send the funds using a QR code the scammer provides, often staying on the phone or online until the payment is done.
• Splitting payments. Victims may be told to break cash into several smaller deposits, or to spread payments across different kiosks, to get around reporting thresholds and limits.
• Coming back for more. Scammers often try to extract repeated payments, sometimes switching to wire transfers or to cash or gold handed to a courier.
• Tech-support and impostor scams. The notice cites a case in which a 70-year-old retiree, after a pop-up warning on her computer, was passed between fake tech-support and fake bank staff, deposited about $55,700 into kiosks, and then lost her life savings in gold.

Among FinCEN’s warning signs for banks: an older customer with no history of crypto activity making a high-value kiosk transaction, and a customer withdrawing large amounts of cash who says someone on the phone or internet told them to put it into a kiosk.

How do I interrupt it?

• Do not follow a stranger’s instructions to pay at a crypto ATM or to scan a QR code they sent. This is the FBI’s own advice in its announcement on kiosk fraud.
• Hang up and call back using a number you find yourself, not one the caller gives.
• Talk to someone before moving money: a family member, your bank in person, or a friend. The demand for secrecy is part of the scam.
• If you help an older relative, agree in advance that any request to pay by kiosk, gift card or wire is checked with you first.

What if money has already been sent?

Keep the kiosk receipt: it usually shows the transaction ID and the destination address. Report the loss to the FBI’s IC3 at ic3.gov, and in the case of an older victim, to the Department of Justice’s National Elder Fraud Hotline at 833-FRAUD-11 (833-372-8311). Then expect the second wave: the IC3 report counts 10,516 recovery scam complaints in 2025, many from people who had already been defrauded once.