The "slot machine" hidden in convenience stores is draining Americans' savings

Source: ICIJ & CNN

Authors: Ben Dooley, Majlie de Puy Kamp, Curt Devine, Yahya Abou-Ghazala, Kyung Lah, Casey Tolan

Original Title: Retailers keep cashing in on crypto ATMs as scams surge

Translation and Editing: BitpushNews

In-Depth Investigative Report in Collaboration with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and CNN

In December 2024, a criminal robbed thousands of dollars from Steve Beckett at a Circle K convenience store in Indiana. The robbery took place in broad daylight.

The robber didn’t use a knife or a gun, and there was no getaway vehicle.

The tool of the crime was a machine that looked like a regular ATM, owned by Bitcoin Depot. As part of a nationwide agreement with Circle K, this machine was placed inside the convenience store.

66-year-old Beckett was at home paying bills when his computer suddenly froze, and a message appeared instructing him to call a so-called “Microsoft support hotline”—which was later proven to be fake.

On the phone, a man claiming to be “Josh” told Beckett that someone had hacked his computer and used his credit card and bank accounts to buy child pornography.

Soon, Beckett began speaking with another man claiming to work at a bank, then another claiming to be a Federal Reserve representative. These men told him his life savings were at risk, and the only way to protect them was to convert his money into Bitcoin.

Over the next two days, these scammers repeatedly deceived and threatened him, warning him he could go to jail. Although Beckett had worked in casino management for years and had experience in securities sales, his intuition told him something was wrong, but he was still terrified.

“I was about to have a heart attack, my blood pressure shot up,” he said.

Panicked, Beckett withdrew $4,000 from his bank and, following the scammers’ instructions, drove to a Circle K convenience store that had a Bitcoin Depot ATM. Beckett had never bought Bitcoin before and knew little about it, but he didn’t dare ask questions. On the phone, one of the scammers carefully guided him through the deposit process. “I was trembling with fear,” he said. The next day, he deposited another $3,000.

These machines are commonly called “cryptocurrency ATMs” or “Bitcoin ATMs,” which exchange cash for Bitcoin and transfer it to digital addresses provided by the scammers. As a fee for completing the transaction, Bitcoin Depot charged him about $2,000 in fees.

Beckett was scammed out of all his money.

[The Circle K in Indiana. Beckett deposited his money into a Bitcoin Depot ATM under the scammers’ influence. Photo: CNN]

As the number of cryptocurrency ATMs has doubled—according to industry publication Coin ATM Radar, there are nearly 40,000 such machines worldwide—the number of scams has surged.

In 2024, the FBI received nearly 11,000 reports of scams involving cryptocurrency ATMs, a 99% increase from the previous year. These reports account for approximately $247 million in losses.

And this year’s figures are expected to be even higher: Between January and November 2025, scams involving these machines caused losses of about $333 million.

This sharp increase has become a major challenge for the entire cryptocurrency ATM industry and has raised questions about whether the retailers hosting these machines are doing enough to protect consumers.

The deal between Circle K and Bitcoin Depot is one of the largest collaborations between a global retail chain and a Bitcoin ATM operator.

According to investigations by ICIJ and its media partner CNN, Circle K earned millions of dollars from this arrangement, and continued the relationship despite increasing complaints from customers and employees.

In January 2025, Circle K extended its contract with Bitcoin Depot until mid-2026.

Based on analysis of police reports, consumer complaints, court cases, news reports, and interviews conducted by ICIJ and CNN, more than 150 victims have reported scams involving Bitcoin Depot machines inside Circle K and Holiday stations (owned by Circle K’s parent company, Alimentation Couche-Tard) since January 2024, with losses totaling at least $1.5 million.

In one Circle K in Florida, police recorded a regional manager saying during a scam investigation: “I hate these machines. I want to get rid of them from the store.”

Other employees interviewed by ICIJ and CNN expressed similar sentiments. One anonymous manager recalled a victim returning to the store with a sledgehammer, trying to smash the machine to get his money back.

“If we could eliminate scams 100%, our days would be tough”

Circle K warned employees to watch out for scammers; employees said management sent emails and provided training. In one Indiana Circle K, a notice was posted near the cash register warning staff not to deposit store proceeds into Bitcoin Depot machines.

In response to detailed questions from ICIJ and CNN, a Circle K spokesperson said the company’s employees had received training to identify common scams, but they are not responsible for customer transactions on Bitcoin Depot ATMs because these machines are “independently owned and operated by third parties.” The company stated it works closely with Bitcoin Depot “to ensure their services always meet our standards, regulatory requirements, and customer expectations.”

Bitcoin Depot stated in a release: “The vast majority of our customers use our kiosks for legitimate purposes. Protecting consumers is at the core of our model, which is why we invest heavily in compliance, blockchain monitoring, scam alerts, and cooperation with law enforcement.”

Findings about Circle K and Bitcoin Depot are part of “The Coin Laundry” investigation, a multinational project led by ICIJ. This investigation exposes how cryptocurrency companies profit from scams, thefts, and other crimes, while those who lose their savings or livelihoods see little hope for justice.

“If we could eliminate scams 100%, our days would be tough,” said a former Bitcoin Depot employee who requested anonymity when discussing the company.

In a lawsuit filed against Bitcoin Depot in early 2025, Iowa’s Attorney General wrote that an analysis of transactions made through the company’s machines from October 2021 to July 2024 showed that more than half involved scams.

Authorities also accused other major players in the cryptocurrency ATM industry of facilitating high levels of scam transactions. Court documents show that about 90% of transactions in the CoinFlip ATM network examined by the Iowa AG were related to scams. Similar conclusions were reached regarding Athena Bitcoin’s machines in Washington, D.C. According to Coin ATM Radar, these two companies are the second and third largest ATM operators globally.

[CoinFlip Bitcoin ATM inside a gas station in Pasadena, California. Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images]

A CoinFlip spokesperson told ICIJ that the company invests heavily in preventing scams and fraud. Athena did not respond to requests for comment. Court documents state that Athena Bitcoin considers itself a “neutral intermediary” and is not responsible for criminal misuse of its systems.

Industry representatives say their customers buy Bitcoin to send remittances abroad, shop online, and as an investment. However, some critics question whether these machines have other uses besides money laundering and scams.

“When we talk to Bitcoin Depot and other companies, they insist their ATMs are for investment purposes, to allow people to make legitimate investments,” said Louisiana detective Gerard Lotz, who has investigated many of the company’s scam cases in a recent interview. “But I don’t know of any investment company that charges 30% fees.”

According to company documents, in 2024, Bitcoin Depot charged fees ranging from 15% to 50% per transaction. Its relationship with Circle K accounted for nearly a quarter of its revenue that year.

For Bitcoin Depot and Circle K, Beckett’s loss of $7,000 is hardly a drop in the bucket compared to their annual revenue. But for this elderly Indiana man, who is also a pastor and volunteer firefighter, that money meant security.

“Those funds are our livelihood,” he said. “We rely on that money to pay bills, mortgage, and buy birthday and Christmas gifts for our daughters. Now we can’t do anything.”

Beckett believes that both the cryptocurrency ATM companies and the stores hosting them should be held accountable. He is suing Bitcoin Depot, one of at least three lawsuits against major players in the industry.

[Scammers persuaded Steve Beckett to exchange thousands of dollars into Bitcoin at a Bitcoin Depot ATM inside a Circle K. He lost everything. Photo: CNN]

Bitcoin Depot denies any wrongdoing, stating it “cannot be responsible for the criminal acts of third-party scammers, especially considering that our machines and transactions include strong warnings and safeguards.” In February, a federal judge ordered one of the cases involving allegations against Circle K to arbitration.

Circle K was not named as a defendant in Beckett’s lawsuit, but he still believes the retail chain bears responsibility for what happened to him and other victims.

“I think they definitely knew what was going on,” he said. They are “profiting from placing these machines in their stores and making big money.”

“The biggest transaction”

Since the early days of the cryptocurrency ATM industry in 2013, these machines have mainly been placed in small independent businesses like liquor stores, gas stations, and corner grocery stores.

Brandon Mintz, founder and CEO of Bitcoin Depot, installed the company’s first ATM in an Atlanta vape shop in 2016.

Mintz’s sales pitch to retailers was simple: businesses would get monthly rent and increased foot traffic. Customers would get convenience and privacy.

Mintz believed the company was also selling “trust.” He said at a Bitcoin conference in Atlanta in 2019 that it was understandable for people to be skeptical about exchanging cash for virtual currency. But he claimed that once “you see a physical machine sitting next to your usual ATM in a store you frequent,” perceptions would change.

By summer 2021, as Bitcoin rapidly gained mainstream acceptance, Bitcoin Depot signed an exclusive deal with Circle K, a major step toward realizing Mintz’s vision.

[Inside a Circle K in Pasadena, California, a Bitcoin Depot machine is placed between a regular cash ATM and vending machines. Photo: CNN]

“That was the biggest deal in the industry, and it remains the biggest to date,” said a former Bitcoin Depot employee.

In a press release, Bitcoin Depot claimed that through this deal, Circle K became “the first major retail chain to deploy Bitcoin ATMs inside its stores.”

Denny Tewell, then senior vice president of Circle K, said at the launch that this gave the chain “an important early foothold in the rapidly growing cryptocurrency market.”

The agreement with Bitcoin Depot was very lucrative for Circle K. According to two industry insiders and records reviewed by ICIJ, initial monthly rent per machine was as high as $700.

With over 6,300 stores in the U.S., Circle K became a potential goldmine for Bitcoin Depot. By the end of 2021, the convenience chain’s stores accounted for over 20% of the company’s transaction volume.

Bitcoin Depot also gained something potentially more valuable than increased revenue: the opportunity to move into high-profile locations.

However, problems soon emerged. Two insiders said store managers began reporting scam issues involving the machines and sought guidance from Bitcoin Depot. Scams and money laundering have been issues since the early days of the industry. In a 2018 official article, Bitcoin Depot warned it had “stopped scammers using various methods to steal, and new methods appear daily.”

To protect customers and reduce liability, cryptocurrency ATM operators placed scam warnings on machines and enhanced online monitoring. According to a copy obtained by ICIJ, Bitcoin Depot’s 2019 compliance manual required employees to document known scams on their ATM network and file suspicious activity reports with FinCEN when the amount involved exceeded $2,000. The company would blacklist known scammers and close victims’ accounts.

Despite these efforts, the problem continued to grow. By 2021, cryptocurrency ATMs had become the preferred tool for tech support scams and impersonation of government officials (like the one Beckett encountered). Special Agent Mike McGillicuddy, who leads the FBI’s Victim Assistance and Recovery Task Force, said:

He explained that scammers favor these machines because they don’t need middlemen. “Funds can be instantly deposited into their controlled wallets and transferred overseas,” where law enforcement cannot reach.

Marc Grens of DigitalMint, a digital asset company that has operated a nationwide network of machines for nearly a decade, said the rampant scams clearly indicate the industry needs self-regulation. Grens had tried to establish an industry organization to oversee machines and improve compliance standards, but other ATM operators were uninterested. Only one other company joined his effort. Now, both DigitalMint and that company have abandoned the business.

Grens concluded that if scam transactions are not facilitated, profitability is impossible. “The more we invest in fraud prevention, the more fraud we find,” he said. When it comes to the largest online transactions, “you end up talking to 95% of customers who are victims,” he added.

Moses Streed, who worked as a customer service representative for Bitcoin Depot in 2021, said he receives about 40% of scam-related calls daily.

“Some days, all I get are scam calls,” he said. “This job feels more like on-site anti-fraud work than customer service.” (Bitcoin Depot told ICIJ it disagrees with this characterization.)

Nevertheless, marketing materials on Bitcoin Depot’s website still promise potential ATM hosts that these machines will generate “zero risk. Zero cost. Monthly income,” according to archived versions reviewed by ICIJ.

But for Circle K, that’s not the case.

On the surface, everything seemed fine: in March 2022, a vice president of Circle K told a trade publication that the machines were “very popular,” and customer feedback was “extremely positive.” By August of that year, Bitcoin Depot reported that over 1,900 ATMs had been placed in the chain’s stores across the U.S. and Canada.

But behind the scenes, the scale of scams had become undeniable. According to two insiders, frustrated Circle K employees filed numerous complaints with Bitcoin Depot.

CNN and ICIJ interviewed 30 current store employees and managers familiar with cryptocurrency ATM scams at Circle K. Seventeen said they had witnessed scams firsthand; CNN’s analysis showed that 13 employees had received company notices about cryptocurrency ATM scams, via email or training.

One anonymous store manager said nearly all customers using the ATM were scammed. “98% of people are scammed over the phone with various tricks,” he said.

Interviews with current employees and police records show scammers even targeted Circle K staff. Scammers impersonated management and convinced multiple store employees to deposit money into Bitcoin Depot machines. The chain had to warn its staff to avoid falling for such tricks. In one Indiana store, a notice behind the cash register reminded staff: “Don’t put all the cash in the register into the Bitcoin ATM.”

[Scam alerts related to Bitcoin machines, included in notices to Circle K employees]

Sources say internal disputes have long existed among Bitcoin Depot staff about how to address broader scam issues. In early 2023, the company revised its refund policy, stating scam victims might be eligible for “a refund of fees depending on the circumstances.” By late October that year, the wording was removed.

In response to questions about this, Bitcoin Depot said, “Criminals attempt to abuse many types of financial self-service terminals,” and “this issue is not unique to any one retailer.” The company claimed it had “refunded millions of dollars in attempted scam transactions,” and that removing the wording was to prevent non-victims from seeking refunds for legitimate completed transactions.

Emails responding to consumer complaints show that even when refunds are possible, cumbersome procedures make refunds difficult. A Florida victim said her refund was denied because she couldn’t provide a police report before the deadline set by Bitcoin Depot. A complaint from the Connecticut Department of Banking indicated that the company’s website’s refund instructions pointed to a nonexistent form. State records show Bitcoin Depot ignored a victim’s refund request, while two of its competitors quickly reimbursed victims.

Court records and materials obtained by ICIJ through public records requests show that in responses to consumer complaints and lawsuits, Bitcoin Depot repeatedly blamed victims for falling into scams, claiming they failed to heed warnings and policies. The company posts scam warnings prominently on its ATMs, and users see additional prompts during deposits warning them not to send money to strangers. The company states that users must also confirm they are depositing into their own wallets and accept that all transactions are “final and non-reversible.”

However, law enforcement officials, consumer advocates, and industry insiders interviewed by ICIJ say these messages are often insufficient to prevent victims, who are usually confused and distraught. Beckett himself only noticed these warnings after losing his money.

Danny Foret experienced the same. He was tricked into depositing nearly $20,000 into a Bitcoin Depot machine at a Circle K in Louisiana. “I was so upset at the time I didn’t even look at the machine,” he said.

“That’s the vulnerability of victims,” said Brad Williams, a police detective in Peachtree City, Georgia, who investigates Bitcoin ATM scams and works on regulating such machines. “These scams can last for days,” he said, “and when victims break down mentally, what’s on the screen doesn’t matter anymore.”

Bitcoin Depot told ICIJ it believes scam warnings are “helpful,” and that it reviews every scam report. The company said, “In many cases, we are able to intercept transactions before funds reach the wrongdoers, or provide some mitigation.” It added that while it believes customers should protect themselves from scams, it also “recognizes that customers should not bear this burden alone.”

Regarding refund requests, it stated that this “is not intended to increase customer burden, but to ensure requests are handled responsibly and in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.”

“Not our problem”

Some retailers have become disillusioned with these machines and have tried to remove or disconnect them.

In April 2024, the chain grocery Fareway Stores signed an agreement with Bitcoin Depot to install 66 machines in its stores in Iowa and other states. But by February of the following year, it had unplugged all the machines.

Fareway accused the machines of becoming “tools for large-scale fraud.” By early 2025, nearly weekly, customers were being scammed, and soon Fareway found itself under investigation by the Iowa Attorney General and the state Gaming Commission.

Bitcoin Depot sued for breach of contract, demanding Fareway reconnect the ATMs and compensate for business losses and reputational damage.

[Fareway, a chain grocery, accused cryptocurrency ATMs of becoming “tools for large-scale fraud,” unplugged its Bitcoin Depot machines in February, and then reactivated them in May after new legislation protecting victims was passed. Photo: Dan Brouillette/Bloomberg via Getty Images]

According to AARP, as of September, 18 U.S. states had enacted laws or regulations to protect consumers from cryptocurrency ATM scams, with more states considering legislation. These changes include maximum transaction limits and, in some cases, mandatory refunds to victims.

But even strict limits have not stopped scammers from using ATMs. Minnesota began enforcing a $2,000 daily transaction limit for new users in August 2024 as part of a major bill regulating such machines, but the state’s Department of Commerce continued to receive complaints. In one case, a victim reported that scammers instructed her to make 15 transactions using different names, stealing nearly $15,000.

In Iowa, where Fareway is headquartered, new laws enacted in summer 2025 set a $1,000 daily transaction limit for first-time users of cryptocurrency ATMs, with a maximum of $10,000 per month. The law also capped operator fees at $5 per transaction or 15% of the transaction amount, whichever is higher.

Court documents show that as this law took effect in summer 2025, and with legal pressure from Bitcoin Depot, Fareway decided to reopen all its ATMs in May. It hoped the law would at least limit future damages to customers.

Fareway and Bitcoin Depot reached a settlement in November. Shortly before that, Bitcoin Depot announced it would begin requiring identity verification for each transaction and add “additional protections for seniors.” The company did not specify what these measures entail.

Debbie Joy, assistant manager at a Circle K in Port Orange, Florida, told CNN that over her four years working there, she estimates she intervened in at least 10 scams involving in-store Bitcoin Depot ATMs. Now she can spot the signs at a glance.

“Usually, it’s an elderly person holding a bank envelope on the phone, but the last one was probably about my age,” Joy said. “She was only in her thirties or forties, and she was scammed too. I just walked into the store to relieve her, and she was crying outside.”

Scams are so frequent that Joy keeps the number of a local police investigator on her phone. When she encounters a situation, she doesn’t call 911 but contacts him directly.

“Thanks to my frequent interventions, the amount lost in my store might not be that much,” she said. In April, the city council awarded her a commendation for successfully stopping a couple from depositing $10,000 into a Bitcoin machine. Joy estimates she has also helped three or four others who nearly fell victim.

Although company policy states “machines are not our responsibility, and issues are not ours to handle,” Joy told the city council, “I’ve seen this happen too many times, and I just can’t stand it anymore.”