Someone says my bank account is compromised and I should move money into crypto. Is that real?

The full answer

A call or message saying your bank account is compromised, followed by instructions to move your money into crypto, is a scam script that US and Canadian authorities have described many times. The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) states the rule directly: “Institutions or online merchants will never request transferring funds to an external account for security reasons.”[8] The FTC says: “No legitimate business is going to demand you send cryptocurrency in advance – not to buy something, and not to protect your money.”[4]

How does the script usually go?

The FTC’s August 2025 analysis found these scams start with one of three lies. The first “might start with someone pretending to be your bank, flagging so-called suspicious activity.”[1] Others claim your identity is linked to a crime, or that your computer has been hacked. Then the caller offers a way out. Moving the money, they say, “will keep your money safe, secure your identity, clear your name, or help catch the criminals.”[1]

The CAFC describes the Canadian version as the “bank investigator” fraud. The caller asks for “your help in an ongoing ‘investigation’ against the criminals who stole your money” and asks you to send funds as part of it.[8] In July 2026 the CAFC reported a continuing increase in reports of fraudsters impersonating the CAFC itself in these frauds. It warned that fraudsters “may claim to be a fraud investigator from your bank.”[9]

Crypto enters at the payment step. The FTC says some scammers “stay on the phone with you as they direct you to a cryptocurrency ATM and give step-by-step instruction on how to insert money and convert it to cryptocurrency.”[4] Scammers have even called Bitcoin ATMs “safety lockers.” They text a QR code to scan at the machine, and “the cash you deposit goes right into the scammer’s wallet.”[5]

How much is lost this way?

The FTC’s figures cover business and government impersonators together, which include fake bank staff. In 2024, 33% of older adults who reported losing $10,000 or more to these scams “indicated cryptocurrency was the method of payment,” and “Most reports that identified cryptocurrency as the payment method mentioned Bitcoin ATMs.”[1] Reports of business and government impersonation from older adults who lost $10,000 or more rose from 1,790 in 2020 to 8,269 in 2024.[1] In these impersonation scams, combined losses reported by older adults who each lost more than $100,000 went “from $55 million in 2020 to $445 million in 2024.”[2]

The FBI’s IC3 counted 13,460 complaints involving crypto ATMs or kiosks in 2025, with $389 million in losses, up 58% from 2024. People aged 60 and over reported $257,466,130 of that.[6] FinCEN, the US Treasury’s financial-crimes unit, told financial institutions in August 2025 that fraudsters “often direct victims to use a CVC kiosk to send payments under false pretenses.”[7] The IC3 2025 report, read on September 29, 2026, has no separate category for bank impersonation, so it gives no crypto total for this exact script.

In Canada, the CAFC recorded $28.3 million lost to “fraud investigator” scams in 2025, from 2,167 reports.[10] In May 2026 the federal government proposed banning crypto ATMs. It estimated Canadians lost “between $142 million and $284 million due to fraud facilitated by crypto ATMs in 2024,” and said details “will be provided in legislation expected to be tabled shortly.”[11] As of that release the ban was still only a proposal. Why crypto ATMs feature in these scams, and what limits apply, is on crypto ATMs and buying XRP.

Doesn’t my bank really call about fraud?

Yes, and that is the strongest point on the other side. The FTC acknowledges that account security and identity theft “are real concerns that real companies might call you about.”[1] So a call about fraud is not by itself proof of a scam. In the FTC and CAFC guidance, the warning sign is being told to move money, go to a crypto ATM, or send funds to protect it.[1][3][8]

The FTC names the tells in its January 2024 alert: a caller who says to “go to a cryptocurrency ATM, or go to the bank in person while they stay on the phone with you” is a scammer, and so is one who “tells you to lie to anyone who asks why you’re transferring or withdrawing so much money.”[3]

How do I check whether the call is real?

Both regulators give the same method. The FTC says: “Hang up the phone and call the company or agency directly using a phone number or website you know is real.”[1] The CAFC adds that caller ID can be faked: “Do not assume that phone numbers appearing on your call display are accurate.” It advises calling “the number on the back of your bank debit card from a different phone if possible or wait 10 minutes before making the outgoing call.”[8]

How can older relatives be protected from this script?

Older adults carry most of the reported losses at crypto ATMs. In the first half of 2024, more than two of every three dollars reported to the FTC as lost at Bitcoin ATMs came from people 60 and over.[5] The FTC notes that keeping a victim on the phone “is also designed to keep you from talking to anyone who could help – a friend or family member in a calmer state of mind who might see through the lies.”[1]

The FTC’s advice is “Slow down” and “Before you do anything else, talk with someone you trust.”[5] In the US, people 60 and over can call the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 833-372-8311 for help filing a report with the IC3.[12]

What if the money has already gone into a crypto ATM?

Whether a crypto payment can be pulled back is covered on whether XRP transfers can be reversed. The reporting steps, including contacting the ATM operator, the police and the CAFC or IC3, are on how to report an XRP scam.