Battling Crypto Kiosk Fraud Crimes

At any given time, the Manheim Township Police Department is investigating dozens of scams linked to cryptocurrency kiosks. Officers get reports of a scam or attempted scam just about every week, Detective Kyle Smith says.

A scammer might claim to be from Apple Pay — or Microsoft or the Social Security Administration — and say a problem with the victim’s accounts requires urgent action. “There’s usually some sort of scary accusation involved — that your account’s involved in money laundering, or that illegal activity, like child pornography, has been detected,” Smith says.

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It’s the latest incarnation in the never-ending series of scams that seek to separate people from their hard-won money, which is motivating AARP and other organizations to teach people how to remain vigilant.

Typically, victims are told to withdraw cash from their accounts and deposit it in a crypto kiosk, sometimes called a crypto ATM, and frequently located in malls, gas stations, markets and other outlets. Scams like these, in which victims have lost life savings, are flourishing across the state and country and disproportionately affecting older Americans.

Unlike traditional bank ATMs, crypto ATMs are largely unregulated, says Teresa Osborne, state advocacy director for AARP Pennsylvania. It’s easy for criminals to move large amounts of money. And once the money is gone, it can be difficult to trace.

“Pennsylvanians are losing their hard-earned money, and one of the ways they’re losing it is these criminals that convince folks to go to a cryptocurrency kiosk in their local mall and put money into it,” she says.

The FBI says nationally in 2024, $246.7 million in losses from frauds and scams involving crypto kiosks were reported. In Pennsylvania, older adults reported $151.1 million in all fraud losses in 2024, up from $77 million in 2021, an increase of 96 percent.

Despite the sophistication of these crimes, including an increasing use of artificial intelligence and high tech, victims often blame themselves.

A 74-year-old widowed, retired teacher from Douglassville was a victim of cryptocurrency fraud. The retired teacher, who asked that their name not be used to protect their privacy, lost $16,000 in savings last fall after receiving a phone call saying their bank accounts had been compromised.

A man who said he was from the Social Security Administration persuaded the retired teacher to withdraw almost all of their savings and deposit it in a Bitcoin ATM, promising that someone would bring a certified check to their home that night.