Crypto ATM fraud in the United States reached $333 million in 2025, with complaints filed to the Federal Bureau of Investigation increasing 33% during the year as scam networks became more organized and began using advanced AI deepfake technology.
According to a new report from cybersecurity firm CertiK shared with Cointelegraph on Thursday, crypto ATM fraud has become one of the fastest-growing forms of financial crime in the country. The firm said criminal groups are exploiting the “speed and pseudonymity” of cryptocurrency ATMs, also known as kiosks, to extract funds from victims at an accelerating rate.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation recorded more than 12,000 complaints between January and November 2025 — also a 33% increase from the previous year. The US hosts about 78% of the world’s roughly 45,000 cryptocurrency ATMs, according to CertiK.
The machines allow users to convert cash into crypto in under five minutes with minimal identity verification, which the firm said makes them “the lowest-friction extraction channel available to scammers.”
Older adults most vulnerable
The report also highlighted an “attribution gap” in investigations. Because blockchain records only show transfers from the ATM operator to a destination wallet — not the identity of the victim — forensic tracing becomes extremely difficult without court orders to access operator records.
About 86% of losses involve victims over the age of 60. Older adults are particularly vulnerable due to factors such as having more liquid savings, lower familiarity with cryptocurrency and greater social isolation.
At the same time, younger victims are increasingly being targeted in romance or investment scams, commonly known as “pig butchering.”
CertiK identified four other common tactics used by scammers: government impersonation, tech support fraud, so-called “grandparent scams,” and fake fraud-recovery schemes.
Unlike phishing or wallet-draining attacks — which typically involve stealing private keys or tricking users into signing malicious smart-contract transactions — ATM-based fraud relies entirely on social engineering. Victims are manipulated into voluntarily depositing cash into a cryptocurrency kiosk, which is then transferred to wallets controlled by scammers.
According to CertiK, artificial intelligence is intensifying the scale and effectiveness of online fraud. The firm reported that AI-enabled social engineering scams were 4.5 times more profitable than traditional scam methods in 2025.
CertiK added that the use of real-time deepfake synthetic media in scam operations represents one of the most significant near-term escalations in fraud tactics, allowing criminals to conduct more convincing and sophisticated attacks.
“AI-driven personalization tools enable scammers to scrape social media data and construct hyper-targeted scripts that mirror the specific language, appearance, and communication patterns of the victim’s trusted contacts.”
The profile of crypto ATM scammers has also shifted from independent actors to structured transnational criminal organizations operating with corporate-level divisions of labor, according to CertiK.
“Transnational criminal organizations are industrializing ATM-based extraction at unprecedented scale.”
In September, Cynthia Lummis, a senator from Wyoming, said she hopes upcoming cryptocurrency market structure legislation will help address ATM-related fraud by holding bad actors accountable while still allowing innovation in the industry.
Earlier, in February 2025, Dick Durbin introduced the Crypto ATM Fraud Prevention Act in the United States Senate. The proposed bill aims to establish stronger safeguards to better protect users of cryptocurrency kiosks.
