Crypto ATM scam losses up 33%…AI deepfake abuse spreads

Losses from scams involving crypto (cryptocurrency) ATMs surged sharply last year, a report shows.

According to Cointelegraph on the 12th (local time), cybersecurity firm CertiK said in a report that losses tied to crypto ATM scams in the U.S. totaled about $333 million in 2025.

Related complaints filed with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) also jumped. From January to November 2025, the number of victim reports exceeded 12,000—up about 33% from a year earlier.

CertiK said crypto ATMs are being used by criminal groups as one of the easiest ways to siphon off funds. The cash-to-crypto conversion can be completed in under five minutes, and identity checks are often limited, making them easy to exploit for fraud, the firm explained.

The U.S. is also home to about 78% of the world’s roughly 45,000 crypto ATMs, resulting in relatively larger losses.

The report said a significant share of victims are older adults. About 86% of total losses were incurred by people aged 60 and above, with large cash holdings such as retirement funds and low understanding of crypto cited as key factors.

Most crypto ATM scams rely on social engineering to coax victims into making transfers directly at an ATM. Common schemes cited include impersonation of government agencies, tech-support scams, “grandparent scams,” investment fraud and romance scams—so-called “pig butchering.”

In particular, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in fraud has been driving losses even higher. CertiK estimated that AI-driven social engineering scams in 2025 delivered about 4.5 times the profitability of traditional methods.

“The biggest near-term risk factor is scam tactics using real-time deepfake video and audio,” the report said, adding that criminal groups are even leveraging social media data to replicate the speech patterns and appearance of a victim’s acquaintances.