FBI Reports $333 Million Lost to Bitcoin ATM Scams in 2025

Americans lost more than $333 million to scams involving Bitcoin automated teller machines in 2025, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, marking a sharp escalation in fraud that has prompted calls for stricter regulations on the nation's network of over 30,000 kiosks.

The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center received over 12,000 complaints related to these scams from January through November 2025, affecting more than 10,000 victims. This represents a significant increase from prior years, with reported losses rising from $78 million in 2022 to $114 million in 2023 and continuing to climb. Officials attribute the surge to the machines' widespread presence in everyday locations such as gas stations and convenience stores, where they facilitate quick conversions of cash into cryptocurrency.

In a typical scheme, fraudsters impersonate representatives from banks, government agencies or technology companies, alerting victims to supposed issues like suspicious account activity, identity theft or computer viruses. They instruct individuals to withdraw cash and deposit it into a Bitcoin ATM to "secure" their funds or resolve the problem. Once the cash is inserted, it is...