Australia’s national cybercrime body has warned of a rise in scams involving cryptocurrency ATMs, with reported losses surpassing $3 million in 2024.
The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) said it had received 150 individual scam reports involving the machines in 2024.
Crypto ATMs allow users to make cash deposits to buy or sell cryptocurrency, which are digital currencies that allow people to make direct online payments. They are not governed by any country or institution.
Authorities fear a “significant under-reporting,” saying the reported losses “may be just the tip of the iceberg.”
Crypto ATMs
Crypto ATMs are kiosks that allow people to use cash or debit cards to:
- Buy cryptocurrency (convert real Australian dollars into digital money)
Sell cryptocurrency (convert digital money into real Australian money) - Unlike traditional ATMs, these machines connect to an online ‘crypto
wallet’ rather than a bank card.
These ATMs also allow people to send digital currency directly into other people’s crypto wallets.
The Australian financial intelligence agency AUSTRAC says it’s aware of upwards of 1,800 active crypto ATMs across the country, up from 23 in 2019.
According to AUSTRAC data, people aged over 50 are carrying out more than 70% of transactions made on these machines.
Authorities estimate that around $275 million is moved through crypto ATMs in Australia each year, warning that “a large number of these transactions are scam related.”
Scams
According to the ACSC, scam victims using crypto ATMs lost an average of more than $20,000 each over the past year.
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Investment scams were the most common, where fraudsters lured people in by promising “high returns” on cryptocurrency schemes.
Extortion emails and romance scams were among the top three most common kinds of scams.
The victims in more than two-thirds of the incidents the ACSC knew about were women aged over 51.
Authorities have attributed the rise in financial abuse to a lack of education around cryptocurrencies.
AUSTRAC said scammers are increasingly directing victims to use these crypto ATMs due to the lack of regulation on the digital currency.
“I would warn anybody who is asked to use one of these machines to send funds to someone to stop and think twice, as once your money is gone it is almost impossible for authorities to retrieve it,” said AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas.
Warnings
The AFP says Australians are likely losing “significantly more” to crypto ATM scams than official figures show.
Commander Graeme Marshall said there are several reasons scam cases go unreported.
“This could be because victims don’t realise they’ve been the victim of a crime, they don’t know how to report scam activity, or they feel embarrassed because they were scammed,” Marshall said.
AUSTRAC said it has also flagged other “suspicious” interactions, suggesting these machines are being used for “other illicit activity,” including money laundering.
AUSTRAC’s Brendan Thomas said the organisation has introduced several requirements for crypto ATM operators to minimise the potential for criminal activity, including deposit and withdrawal limits.
“In light of the risks and harms, we consider it absolutely necessary to ensure the sector meets minimum standards and reduces the criminal misuse of crypto ATMs,” Thomas said.
