How the Bitcoin ATM scam works
The FTC describes the same story again and again. It starts with a call or message about suspicious activity on one of your accounts, or a pop-up that pretends to be a security warning from a company like Microsoft or Apple.
Then the story gets bigger: your money is at risk, or your identity is linked to money laundering. A second person may join who claims to be a government agent, sometimes from the FTC itself. You are told to withdraw cash from your bank or retirement account and take it to a specific Bitcoin ATM, and they text you a QR code to scan at the machine.
Why the cash is so hard to get back
The QR code holds the scammer's wallet address, so the machine sends your money straight to them. The FBI says that once you make the payment, the recipient instantly owns the cryptocurrency, and recovering it is difficult.
The FBI also says scammers often stay in constant contact and give step-by-step instructions until the payment is done. That pressure is the point: it stops you from hanging up and checking the story.
What a scammer says
- Withdraw cash to protect your money
- Go to this exact Bitcoin ATM
- Scan the QR code I text you
- Do not tell the bank teller or your family
- Stay on the line until it is done
What real organizations do
- Never ask you to move money to keep it safe
- Never ask for payment at a crypto kiosk
- Never send a QR code for you to pay into
- Are fine with you asking someone you trust
- Are happy for you to hang up and call back
Who loses money at Bitcoin ATMs
The FTC found that reported losses at Bitcoin ATMs rose nearly tenfold from 2020 to 2023 and topped $65 million in just the first half of 2024. The median loss was $10,000, and about 86% of the reports involved government impersonators, business impersonators or tech support scams.
Older adults are hit hardest. In that period, people 60 and over were more than three times as likely as younger adults to report a loss at a Bitcoin ATM, and lost about 71% of the money. The FBI received 13,460 complaints about crypto ATMs and kiosks in 2025, with $389 million lost, and people 60 and over reported about $257 million of it.
If an older relative mentions a Bitcoin ATM, a sudden cash withdrawal or a government agent on the phone, ask them to pause and call you first.
If it already happened
- Stop all contact and do not make another deposit, even if they say it will release the first one.
- Keep every receipt from the machine. It shows the time, the amount and the wallet address the money went to.
- Call the company that runs the Bitcoin ATM on the number printed on the machine or receipt, and report the transaction as fraud right away.
- Call your bank, using the number on your card, and tell it what happened, especially if the scammers know your account details.
- If anyone then offers to get the money back for a fee, read recovery scams first: that is a second scam.
- ReportFraud.ftc.govReport the scam to the Federal Trade Commission.
- IC3.govThe FBI’s internet crime complaint center, for losses online.
- IdentityTheft.govIf they got your ID, Social Security number or account details.
Questions
Would the government ever ask me to pay with a Bitcoin ATM?
Can I get money back from a Bitcoin ATM scam?
Why do scammers want a Bitcoin ATM instead of a bank transfer?
Are Bitcoin ATMs themselves illegal?
Realr never handles money and cannot stop a payment, but before you send anything to someone you met online, you can ask them to prove who they are with a Realr check.
Ask them to verify
