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What to Know About Cryptocurrency Kiosks and Why Criminals Love Them

The machines are everywhere, helping scammers steal cash from victims. But states are cracking down.

Sari Harrar,

Updated March 17, 2026

AARP

En español

Updated March 17, 2026

an a t m with buy bitcoin here on the screen

Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/For The Washington Post via Getty Images

Key takeaways

Scammers often direct victims to deposit cash into cryptocurrency kiosks, which can quickly transfer money to the criminals.
A request for payment through a crypto kiosk is a major red flag; legitimate businesses and government agencies would never ask for money in this way.
States are fighting back with legislation to regulate or ban the machines.

After scammers posing as federal agents convinced Alaina Weisman that her bank accounts had been compromised, she found herself feeding more than $11,000 in hundred-dollar bills into a cryptocurrency kiosk inside a cannabis dispensary in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

“I remember the sound of the machine sucking up my money — whoosh, ping!” says Weisman, an actor and writer in her late 70s.

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Dispensary staffers gave her a chair so she could sit down for the long transaction in October 2023. “I was so upset I forgot about my sick dog in the car,” she says. The criminals said the money would help the government protect her bank accounts. Before she fed in the cash, the kiosk flashed warnings about scams. “But I was instructed to lie,” says Weisman, who had scanned a QR code provided by the scammers into the machine. That code sent her money directly to their cryptocurrency wallet.

It was the nightmare start of a series of schemes pulled off by the same criminals that ultimately cost Weisman $159,000.

For years, gift cards, bank transfers, and payment apps were the preferred ways for scammers to get victims’ money, as each has been widely accessible and moved money quickly. But consumers, law enforcement, and the businesses behind these services have caught on, and the methods are facing more scrutiny (many stores now post scam warnings near their gift card racks, for example). The scammers’ solution: directing their victims to pay up the way Weisman did — at a “crypto ATM.”

What are crypto ATMs?

You may have noticed these often colorful kiosks in supermarkets, convenience stores, gas stations, restaurants, liquor stores and even laundromats across the U.S.

They offer a way to convert real dollars into cryptocurrency, but many critics say they are too frequently used in scams — government impostor scams, romance scams, grandparent scams, employment scams, lottery scams and other schemes.

Based on reports to the FBI, criminals used the machines to steal more than $333 million from people in 2025 alone. (Most victims don’t report fraud, so actual losses are undoubtedly far higher.)

Join Our Fight Against Fraud

Here’s what you can do to help protect people 50 and older from scams and fraud:

Tell lawmakers to stop criminals from using crypto kiosks to steal from us.
Sign up to become a digital fraud fighter to help raise awareness about the latest scams.
Read more about how we’re fighting for you every day in Congress and across the country.
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Criminals exploit the fact that crypto kiosks look like traditional bank ATMs: “Scammers often just tell victims, ‘Go to the ATM at the convenience store’ — the victim doesn’t even realize it’s a crypto machine,” says Amy Nofziger, senior director of fraud victim support for the AARP Fraud Watch Network.

Victims typically deposit cash ranging from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands of dollars, according to law enforcement and AARP Fraud Watch Network reports. “A woman told me it took her two hours to deposit $80,000 in cash into a crypto ATM,” Nofziger says.

The kiosks then quickly move victims’ cash into tough-to-trace cryptocurrency wallets owned by criminals, says Special Agent Trenson Akana of the U.S. Secret Service Criminal Investigative Division. “Once the money’s on the blockchain or public ledger, they can transfer and launder it in many ways.” The company that owned the machine Weisman used told her the money was unrecoverable, she says.

Protect yourself

Remember that a request to pay via a crypto ATM is a red flag that you are almost certainly dealing with a scammer. “Legitimate businesses and government agencies don’t take payment through crypto ATMs,” says Sgt. Jacob Pearce, a spokesperson for the Fairfax County Police Department in Virginia.

Regulating Crypto Kiosks

States across the country have passed or are working to pass legislation to regulate these kiosks, instituting consumer protections such as transaction limits, with AARP’s backing. On March 9, Indiana became the first state to institute a full ban on the machines. Republican Sen. Scott Baldwin, chairman of the state Senate’s insurance and financial institutions committee, said, “I can think of no...substantial legitimate reasons” to warrant the kiosks. (See our map tracking how other states are working to regulate crypto ATMs.) Ask your senators to join the fight.

If you spot or have experienced a scam

Report scams to local law enforcement and the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at IC3.gov. The more information they have, the better they can identify patterns, link cases and ultimately catch the criminals.

Read this story for detailed information on ways victims can protect themselves from further money loss or identity theft after a scam.

You can also contact the AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline, 877-908-3360, a free resource; call to speak with trained fraud specialists who provide support and guidance on what to do next and how to avoid scams. The AARP Fraud Watch Network also offers online group support sessions.

Sari Harrar is an award-winning reporter and contributing editor to AARP publications who writes on health, public policy and other topics.

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