Bitcoin ATMs Under Fire as Crypto Scams Surge Across the U.S.
There’s a growing storm around cryptocurrency ATMs, and it’s not about their convenience — it’s about the scams they’re helping to fuel. Across the country, law enforcement officials and prosecutors are raising alarms, saying these machines have quietly become a favorite tool for fraudsters targeting unsuspecting victims, especially seniors.
Take the story of Diane Reynolds, a retiree from Maryland. She thought she was calling a tech support line after getting a warning that her computer had been hacked. Instead, she was connected to a scammer who convinced her that her bank account had been compromised and that the only way to protect her money was to move it into Bitcoin. Trusting the advice, she withdrew her life savings — over $13,000 — and deposited it into a Bitcoin ATM at a nearby gas station. But that “safe” transfer went straight into a scammer’s crypto wallet.
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That ATM was operated by Athena Bitcoin, one of the largest providers in the U.S. with thousands of machines across the country. Now, the company is facing a lawsuit from Washington, D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb, who claims Athena knowingly allowed its ATMs to be used for scams while profiting from high fees — sometimes as much as 26% per transaction. Schwalb alleges that 93% of all deposits through Athena’s kiosks are tied to fraudulent activity. Athena, however, denies the charges, saying it uses multiple safeguards to protect users, including verification screens and transaction limits.
But stories like Reynolds’s are not isolated. In Michigan, state police have started posting warning flyers directly on Bitcoin ATMs after seeing a wave of scams involving people depositing thousands — even hundreds of thousands — of dollars into these machines. Lt. Ashley Miller of the Michigan State Police explained that once the money is sent through a Bitcoin ATM, “you’re not getting it back.” The department says these scams have become so widespread that they’re now one of the fastest-growing forms of financial crime in the region.
Local law enforcement officers, like Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt in Wisconsin, are even pushing for laws to limit how much can be deposited at crypto ATMs. “Criminals use them because it’s difficult for us to track transactions,” he said, emphasizing that tighter limits could save people from devastating losses.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, crypto-related scams are skyrocketing nationwide — with many victims losing their entire savings after being manipulated into using Bitcoin machines. The Better Business Bureau warns that older adults are especially at risk, often falling for fake tech support or emergency scams that instruct them to send money via crypto ATMs.
The message from law enforcement is clear: if anyone asks you to use a Bitcoin machine to send money, it’s almost certainly a scam. And once that cash is gone, it’s nearly impossible to recover. As Diane Reynolds put it, “Now I’m an advocate for telling people this is real. Be aware — it can happen to anyone.”
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