AARP Virginia Fraud Alert: Crypto ATMS: What to Know

If you’re like most Americans, you walk right past a tool used to steal a reported $35 million from US consumers last year each time you go out for groceries. Cryptocurrency ATMs are often colorful kiosks that are popping up in supermarkets, convenience stores, gas stations, restaurants, liquor stores and even laundromats across the US. There are more than 49,000 crypto ATMs in the United States, up from only about 1,200 at the end of 2017.

Criminal scammers are always looking for the quickest way to get money from their victims. As awareness and protections around other payment methods increase, crypto ATMs have become their tool of choice. Because these kiosks look similar to regular ATM machines, they seem more legitimate to victims who are directed to them. The AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline has heard from countless victims who have been directed to insert thousands of dollars in cash into these machines to address an “urgent” financial matter.

While there are many different scams, there are only a handful of ways that criminals can get paid. If you are directed to a crypto ATM to address an urgent financial matter, it is a scam.

Be a fraud fighter! If you can spot a scam, you can stop a scam.

Report scams to local law enforcement. For help from AARP, call 1-877-908-3360 or visit the AARP Fraud Watch Network at www.aarp.org/fraudwatchnetwork.

With about 1 million members in Virginia, AARP is the largest organization working on behalf of people age 50-plus and their families in the Commonwealth. To learn more about how AARP Virginia is working in your community, like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/aarpvirginia and follow @AARPVa on X at www.X.com/aarpva.

AARP is the nation's largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering people 50 and older to choose how they live as they age. With a nationwide presence, AARP strengthens communities and advocates for what matters most to the more than 100 million Americans 50-plus and their families: health security, financial stability and personal fulfillment. AARP also produces the nation's largest circulation publications: AARP The Magazine and AARP Bulletin. To learn more, visit www.aarp.org/about-aarp/, www.aarp.org/español or follow @AARP, @AARPenEspañol and @AARPadvocates on social media.