Are crypto ATMs a safe or sensible way to buy XRP?

The full answer

What the FBI’s 2025 figures show about crypto ATMs

The FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Report, released in April 2026, counted 13,460 complaints involving crypto ATMs or kiosks in 2025. Reported losses came to $389 million [1]. Complaints were up 23% on 2024, and losses were up 58% [1].

Older people account for much of that loss. In the same report, people aged 60 or older filed 6,188 of the crypto ATM complaints, with $257,466,130 lost [1]. These are complaints filed with the FBI. They do not count every loss.

How impersonation scams use crypto ATMs

The FTC described the pattern in August 2025. A scam often opens with a fake story, such as someone posing as your bank and flagging suspicious activity. The caller then says that moving money will keep it safe, secure your identity or help catch criminals [3]. Some scammers stay on the phone and walk the person to a crypto ATM, giving step-by-step instructions for inserting cash and converting it [2]. The FTC says keeping a person on the line is meant to stop them talking to a friend or relative who might see through the story [3].

The FTC’s 2024 data link this pattern to the machines. Among older adults who reported losing $10,000 or more to a business or government imposter scam in 2024, 33% paid in cryptocurrency, and most of those reports mentioned Bitcoin ATMs [3]. The full scam is covered on the page about someone saying your bank account is compromised and you should move money into crypto.

Canada shows the same impersonation pattern. The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre said on July 2, 2026 that reports of fraudsters posing as bank fraud investigators, and as the Centre itself, kept rising [4]. Its 2025 figures list 2,167 “fraud investigator” reports, 1,137 victims and $28.3 million lost [5]. Finance Canada estimated in its May 6, 2026 Spring Economic Update that Canadians lost between $142 million and $284 million to fraud facilitated by crypto ATMs in 2024, and proposed a ban on crypto ATMs, with details to follow in legislation.

What genuine banks, police and agencies say about crypto payments

The FTC says only scammers demand payment in cryptocurrency. It says no legitimate business will demand crypto in advance, whether to buy something or to protect your money [2]. The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre says it and the police will never ask anyone to transfer money or make a payment [4].

Both agencies also say what to do with a call like this. The FTC advises hanging up and calling the company or agency on a number you know is real [3]. The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre advises calling your financial institution on the number printed on your debit or credit card, never on a number the caller gives [4]. The FTC also says real companies do sometimes call about account security, so a call alone proves nothing. The warning sign is the instruction to move money [3].

Whether crypto put into an ATM can be recovered

The FTC says crypto payments typically are not reversible. Money usually comes back only if the person who received it sends it back [2]. The FBI says crypto transactions are irrevocable and no third party sits between or authorizes them [6]. More on this is on the page about whether a crypto transfer can be reversed.

The strongest evidence that avoiding ATMs is not enough

Crypto ATMs are a small part of total crypto fraud losses. The same FBI report recorded $7.228 billion lost to crypto investment fraud in 2025, across 61,559 complaints [1]. The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre said in June 2023 that in most investment-fraud reports it received, victims were told to buy crypto on a legitimate exchange and send it to the fraudster [7]. Scammers work through online platforms as well as machines.

Registered online platforms come with checks of their own. The Ontario Securities Commission says a registered Canadian trading platform must meet know-your-client rules and FINTRAC anti-money-laundering requirements before opening an account [8]. The same source says CIPF coverage does not cover crypto losses if a platform goes insolvent [8]. How online buying works, and what it protects against, is set out on the page about how buying and selling XRP works and where people can do it.

Fees, operator rules and limits

For costs on other routes, see what fees people really pay to buy XRP.

Where to report a crypto ATM scam

In the US, the FTC lists ReportFraud.ftc.gov, the CFTC, the SEC, the FBI’s IC3 and the exchange used to send the money [2]. In Canada, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre says to gather all records of the fraud and report it to the financial institution that moved the money. It also says to report to local police and get a file number, then report to the Centre online or at 1-888-495-8501 [9]. The full steps are on the page about how to spot and report an XRP scam.