The US Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has issued a warning about the growing use of crypto kiosks in scams, especially those targeting older adults.
In an August 4 notice, the agency said losses tied to these machines reached nearly $247 million in 2024, a 31% increase compared to the previous year.
Often referred to as Bitcoin
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At the same time, the number of kiosks operating across the US has surged from around 4,100 in 2019 to more than 37,000 today.
FinCEN highlighted several problems with how many of these kiosks are run. A number of operators fail to register as money service businesses, and many skip basic steps like verifying users’ identities.
Some advertise privacy and charge high fees, sometimes as much as 25%, while allowing repeated transactions without ID checks.
The alert also noted that adults over 60 are suffering the most harm. Despite being less likely to use cryptocurrency, they make up more than two-thirds of those affected by these scams.
In many cases, victims are pressured into withdrawing savings or retirement funds and converting them into crypto, which is then sent through a kiosk.
The Michigan town of Grosse Pointe Farms has recently introduced rules to regulate crypto ATM operations, despite none currently existing there. What do the rules include? Read the full story.
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