A caller says an account has been hacked and the only way to protect the money is to withdraw cash and deposit it into a Bitcoin machine. The FTC has documented this pattern in the United States, while the FCA says crypto ATMs in the United Kingdom are illegal. This guide summarises what the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) say. It is general information, not legal or financial advice.
How the scam works in the US
The FTC’s September 2024 Data Spotlight on “Bitcoin ATMs” (BTMs) says the machines have become a payment portal for scammers. It reports that fraud losses at BTMs increased nearly tenfold from 2020 to 2023 and topped $65 million in the first half of 2024, and adds that most fraud goes unreported, so the figure is likely only a fraction of the harm. These figures are estimates from the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network based on keyword analysis of report narratives, and they cover the first half of 2024 only.
According to the Spotlight, reports of BTM losses are overwhelmingly about government impersonation, business impersonation and tech support scams. About 86% of people reporting a loss via a BTM in that period named one of those three scam types. The story often runs like this:
- a call or message about supposed suspicious activity or unauthorised charges, or a fake computer security warning impersonating a company such as Microsoft or Apple;
- escalating claims that all the money is at risk or that the person’s details are linked to crime, sometimes with a second caller claiming to be a government agent;
- an instruction to withdraw cash from the bank and deposit it into a machine, which scammers have even described as a “safety locker”;
- a text with a QR code to scan at a specific machine, after which the cash goes into the scammer’s wallet.
The FTC says the median loss reported in the first six months of 2024 was $10,000, and people aged 60 and over were more than three times as likely as younger adults to report a loss via a BTM. It says they reported $46 million lost, about 71% of the reported BTM losses.
What the FTC advises
The FTC’s advice in the Spotlight is to:
- never click links in, or reply directly to, unexpected calls, messages or computer pop-ups, and look up any company or agency number independently;
- slow down, because scammers want to rush, and talk with someone trusted before acting;
- never withdraw cash in response to an unexpected call or message;
- not believe anyone who says a Bitcoin ATM, gift cards or moving money is needed to protect it, because real businesses and government agencies never ask for that.
Victims in the US can report to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. The scamsafetyguide.com guide to what to do after paying a scammer in the United States covers the steps by payment method.
The UK position: crypto ATMs are illegal
The FCA says crypto ATMs offering cryptoasset exchange services in the UK must be registered with it and comply with the Money Laundering Regulations. Its warning, last updated in February 2026, states that none of the firms registered with the FCA have been approved to offer crypto ATM services, so any crypto ATMs operating in the UK are doing so illegally and consumers should not use them.
The FCA’s press release on the first criminal sentence for unregistered crypto activity in the UK says a man who ran a network of crypto ATMs after being refused registration was sentenced on 28 February 2025 to four years in prison. It also says the number of crypto ATMs advertised on CoinATMRadar in the UK fell from more than 80 in 2022 to nil in 2024. The FCA continues to warn that crypto remains largely unregulated and high-risk, and that people who buy it should be prepared to lose all their money.
For UK readers, anyone told to use a crypto ATM is being pointed at something the FCA describes as illegal. The UK guide to where to report a scam explains the UK reporting routes.
Common threads
The FTC’s warning matches a principle that appears in other guides on this site, such as those on gift card payment scams and impersonation scams: unusual payment methods are a warning sign. The FTC says anyone who claims a Bitcoin ATM is needed to protect money or fix a problem is a scammer.
Frequently asked questions
Who is most affected in the US?
The FTC says people aged 60 and over were more than three times as likely as younger adults to report a loss using a Bitcoin ATM in the first half of 2024, and accounted for about 71% of the reported losses.
The bottom line
In the US, FTC data for early 2024 shows large losses from scams that send people to Bitcoin machines with cash, most often through impersonation and tech support stories. In the UK, the FCA says crypto ATMs are operating illegally and should not be used. In both countries, anyone told to withdraw cash and deposit it into a crypto machine to “protect” money is being scammed.
Sources
- Federal Trade Commission, “Bitcoin ATMs: A payment portal for scammers” (Data Spotlight, 3 September 2024)
- Financial Conduct Authority, “Warning on illegal crypto ATMs operating in the UK”
- Financial Conduct Authority, “Olumide Osunkoya sentenced to 4 years for illegally operating crypto ATM network”