A new law requires cryptocurrency ATMs to include safeguards against scammers, who are often targeting older adults.
In 2025, older victims of scams lost nearly $40,000 on average, and getting people to feed their money into cryptocurrency ATMs has been an especially attractive method for some scammers.
“The amount of money lost through these scams has been going through the roof,” Christina FitzPatrick, State Director at AARP New Hampshire, said.
FitzPatrick said the cryptocurrency scammers use the usual techniques to deceive a potential victim – impersonating someone like a bank official and telling the person they need to urgently deposit money in a cryptocurrency ATM or something will go wrong.
Money lost in cryptocurrency transactions is difficult to get back. New Hampshire detectives told FitzPatrick that they have never been successful in recovering money lost in a cryptocurrency scam. A third of older adults who reported losing $10,000 or more in a scam in 2024 said that cryptocurrency was the method in which they paid the scammer.
During debate on the legislation, state lawmakers expressed concern for the growing trend. “This is becoming a scourge on our elderly,” said Sen. Regina Birdsell, a Republican from Hampstead.
The new legislation will cap daily transactions to crypto ATMs at $2,000, and there will be a 48-hour window when victims can cancel and be refunded their transaction.
“That limits what criminals are likely to get and makes it less lucrative for them,” FitzPatrick said.
Also, anyone scammed out of their money at one of these machines can report it to law enforcement within two weeks, and the crypto company that owns the machine will have to refund them in full.
According to FitzPatrick, Bitcoin Depot and CoinFlip, two of the biggest cryptocurrency ATM companies, hired lobbyists to oppose the bill during the past legislative session.
While advocates celebrate the new legislation, they acknowledge that fraud prevention is a game of Whack-A-Mole.
“Scammers are always adjusting their tactics and getting better and better all the time at convincing people that they are in trouble and something bad will happen if they don't follow the instructions of the scammer,” FitzPatrick said.
However, she said, scams all have a few hallmarks: the contact comes out of the blue, they urge you to deliver the money in an unusual way, and they say you have to act very quickly.
“The biggest piece of advice is to pause,” Fitzpatrick said. “If somebody's saying it's the police, the FBI, the bank – you can always call to verify.”
