Scammers are using Arizona’s large network of around 600 crypto ATMs for fraud, pushing Attorney General Kris Mayes to issue an urgent warning to caution consumers and also to help them recover their stolen funds.
Arizona launches a fraud reporting tool
In 2024, Arizona residents lost over $177 million in crypto ATM scams, and the office has now launched a new complaint form for the victim, requesting the complaints to be raised within 30 days to ensure high odds of recovery.
“My message to Arizonans is this: be careful around the physical cryptocurrency ATMs we’re seeing pop up around the state,” Mayes said in a statement.
Once cash is converted to crypto and sent through these machines, it’s extremely hard, often impossible, to recover. According to cybercrime consultant David Sehyeon Baek, crypto ATMs are built in a way that scammers can abuse them easily.
The increasing national concern regarding crypto ATMs is based on the reports of $246 million in losses linked to the machines in 2024. FBI data also reported that approximately 43% of the victims were over the age of 60.
How does the scam work?
Every scam follows a specific pattern, where imposters approach victims through calls or emails. Here, they reach out to their victims on call, creating panic and claiming to be law enforcement agents, utility companies, or even a friend in distress. The victim is told to withdraw cash and deposit it into a crypto ATM to “fix” the problem.
According to CoinATMRadar, around 31,339 crypto ATMs had been installed across the U.S. The lack of certain features of the traditional exchanges and wallets, such as no fraud desk, traditional account setup, or cooling-off period, means that once money is sent, it is effectively gone.
The crypto kiosk law
Arizona enacted a law regulating crypto kiosks in 2025, called House Bill 2387. The new law requires the kiosks to operate multilingual fraud warning displays, issue receipts with every transaction displaying wallet addresses, and use blockchain analytics to avoid transferring funds to wallets flagged for fraudulent activity.
They are to provide 24/7 live customer support and cap daily transactions at $2,000 for new customers and $10,500 for existing users. Arizona is only one among the counties implementing restrictions on crypto ATMs, such as Spokane and Illinois.
Regulators are beginning to hold crypto ATM companies responsible when their machines are used heavily for scams. Instead of holding only the scammers accountable, the ATM companies are expected to take precautions with stronger protections, warnings, monitoring, and refund processes.
Mayes also noted that no legitimate company or government will ever request crypto ATM deposits and asked consumers to be more cautious and independently verify any urgent payment requests before making large financial transactions.
