FTC Data Show Tenfold Increase in Consumer Losses Involving Bitcoin ATMs

The Federal Trade Commission says fraud losses to bitcoin ATMs have already topped $65 million in the first six months of 2024.

A sign advertising a bitcoin ATM at a shop in Halifax, Canada, on Feb. 4, 2020. Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press

Americans are losing an increasing amount of money to scams involving bitcoin ATMs, according to a newly published report from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Since 2020, the amount of money consumers reported losing to scams involving such machines increased nearly tenfold to more than $110 million in 2023, the FTC said in a Sept. 3 statement.