A report from the CNN Investigates team documented more than a dozen fraud cases tied to a single crypto ATM in Arizona since last year. 

What's happening?

There were over 40,000 crypto ATMs worldwide as of September 2025. While they look just like traditional banking ATMs and can be used to turn cash into a $3.5 trillion market, these crypto machines have been the center of scams affecting countless unaware people.

According to the CNN report, the investigation team found that at least a dozen people were defrauded out of $118,000 at a single ATM in Arizona.

Common cryptocurrency scams involve scammers calling unsuspecting people, telling them they have a fine or debt that needs to be paid to a company or the government and then sending them to these new machines.

"Many people aren't familiar with crypto ATMs or how they work," chief investigators Yahya Abou-Ghazala, Curt Devine, and Majlie de Puy Kamp wrote to CNN analyst Zachary B. Wolf. "Scammers tend to exploit this, especially when they are pretending to be law enforcement or government officials. They send often elderly victims to these machines under the assumption that the crypto ATM is a legitimate way to pay off (made up!) fines, fees, or debts to companies or the government."

According to the FBI, in 2024 alone, people were defrauded out of $250 million from crypto schemes, per ABC News.

"Requesting crypto is now the No. 1 preferred method of criminals," Amy Nofziger, AARP's director of fraud victim support, told ABC News. "It is a huge problem." 

While older adults are a common target for fraudsters, people of all ages are being targeted.

Why is this report important?

There are approximately 40 million to 70 million active crypto users worldwide, making it a huge industry. This makes it a legitimate way for people to store and transfer funds globally. Renewable energy, such as hydroelectric dams, can power crypto mining — making it a sustainable currency option.

Crypto can also have a significant environmental footprint. According to some estimates, one transaction can consume the same amount of power as the average American household does in 15 days. Noise pollution from crypto facilities is also having a huge impact on communities.

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"Crypto mining consumes about twice as much electricity as Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and Apple combined," George Kamiya, an energy analyst at the International Energy Agency, told Time.

While questions of the energy use needed for crypto come more into play as crypto use grows, the report from CNN also highlighted the real impact crypto scams can have on people.

What's being done about cryptocurrency scams?

While many scammers do remain anonymous, authorities have made some arrests, including an Indian citizen who was charged in Arizona. According to CNN, prosecutors viewed this individual as "a high-level member of a sophisticated, organized, transnational fraud ring." It's difficult to recover money stolen from crypto machines, as fraudsters typically wire money directly to accounts and exchanges outside of U.S. jurisdiction.

Some U.S. states have taken steps to stop crypto schemes by setting daily transaction limits. Arkansas has a law that allows users 72 hours to recover money if they suspect a scam. Arizona has also recently announced new protections.

"I'm glad we can implement common-sense protections to prevent even more Arizonans from becoming victims of cryptocurrency ATM fraud," Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said in the announcement. "Last year, Arizonans lost an astounding $177 million in their hard-earned savings to cryptocurrency scammers. This is a good first step, but we need to do even more to protect Arizona seniors from these persistent criminals."

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