ATMs are known as a national bank for many Americans, most Americans, instead of going inside of their actual bank, choose to go to an ATM, and access their bank account from there, making withdrawals and deposits as they wish.
Since there are different types of ATMs, the average American often uses on-site and off-site ATMs. Big companies behind a type of ATM called “bitcoin” or otherly known as “crypto”, have been exposed for scamming, and multiple investigations by attorneys concluded that a majority of ATMs that use crypto are scams.These criminals began exploiting the crypto ATMs for scams shortly after ATMs became popular in the U.S., this issue began in 2020, and scam reports have been flying in since then.
This came to be found out as the attorneys interviewed many other victims of these scams, and looking at previous transactions from these ATMs, an estimated 90% turned out to be scams.
It is known that most people do not read the types of terms and conditions that ATMs warn them of, and after depositing direct cash to these crypto ATMs, the companies turn this money into cryptocurrency, which is extremely hard to recover.
A majority of these victims involve the elderly, knowing that they may not acknowledge what may happen 0r the possibilities if they enter cash into a bitcoin ATM.
According to the news, across the US, the Federal Trade Commission found that money losses involving crypto ATMs jumped from a whopping 12 million dollars in 2020 to 114 million in 2023, this concludes that the scam rates have been increasing rapidly.
“It’s a red flag to us, knowing that a large majority of financial crimes that are happening in the United States are run by overseas actors,” said a Secret Service official who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of their position (Manley Sept. 14, 2025).“It likely is a money laundering indicator if large fees are charged and people are willing to pay those when there are other options that are much cheaper and just as convenient”(Manley Sept. 14, 2025).
Crypto ATM operators say their devices offer a fast and easy way to send money internationally, and that many customers use the machines to send remittances abroad. “Bitcoin is a global asset, so many transactions naturally flow to international exchanges,” Bitcoin Depot said in a statement (Manley Sept. 14, 2025).
Bitcoin Depot has gone as far as telling the law enforcements that no refunds will be made until the problem in Centralla was resolved.“The idea is that when we have these rogue agencies that don’t want to listen to law or logic, putting pressure on them from their peers will hopefully curb that behavior,” a Bitcoin Depot manager wrote in an email to another police department (Manley Sept. 14, 2025).
After the police in Centralla sent the money back to the Bitcoin Depot, the company then mailed a copy of the US Constitution in a package reading “A gift for you. May all your future warrants be free of 4th amendment violations.” Chad Withrow, a detective in the Centralla Police Department responded “It was kind of a slap in the face to the victims, there was no consideration for the victims … they don’t care, it’s about money”(Manley Sept. 14,2025).
