Circle K Crypto ATM Scams Drain $330 Million from Americans in 2025

Convenience store crypto access turns into a $330 million nightmare.

Circle K's bright green Bitcoin ATMs promised easy entry into digital finance. Instead, they became the perfect front for sophisticated scams targeting everyday Americans. The machines—often tucked between slushie stations and snack aisles—offered anonymity and immediacy, a combination fraudsters exploited with brutal efficiency.

The Anatomy of a Con

The scams followed a familiar, high-pressure script. Victims received urgent calls—from a supposed law enforcement officer, a family member in jail, or a government tax agency. The demand was always the same: pay immediately via a crypto ATM to avoid arrest, deportation, or worse. The scammers even stayed on the phone, walking targets through the entire transaction at the Circle K kiosk. Once the crypto was sent, it vanished—irreversibly and instantly.

Why Crypto ATMs Are the Perfect Weapon

These kiosks bypassed every traditional financial safeguard. No bank teller asking questions. No fraud department holding suspicious wires. Just a cash-to-crypto pipeline with transaction limits high enough to wipe out a savings account. The very features that appealed to legitimate users—speed and privacy—made them a weaponized tool. Regulatory oversight, as it often does, arrived late to the crime scene.

A $330 Million Wake-Up Call

The staggering losses forced a reckoning. The incident exposed the glaring vulnerabilities in off-ramping cash into the crypto ecosystem without guardrails. It's the dark side of financial innovation—where cutting out the middleman also cuts out the protection. For the crypto industry, it's another reputational blow from the physical world it often tries to transcend. For regulators, it's a $330 million lesson in the high cost of convenience. And for traditional finance? Just another quiet moment to polish its 'Know Your Customer' manuals while the new frontier cleans up its mess.

TLDR

• Circle K hosts crypto ATMs at over 750 US stores through a partnership with Bitcoin Depot that generates monthly rental income per location
• Americans lost more than $330 million to crypto ATM scams between January and November 2025, with thousands of incidents occurring at Circle K locations
• Circle K employees have witnessed repeated scams at their stores, with some trying to stop fraud while management maintains the machines are third-party operated
• Bitcoin Depot pays Circle K hundreds of dollars monthly per machine location, with the company describing the program as a “big hit” in past statements
• The FBI received over 12,000 crypto ATM scam complaints this year as criminals use the machines to rapidly transfer stolen funds to foreign digital wallets

A district manager at a Circle K in Niceville, Florida watched another elderly victim feed thousands of dollars into a crypto ATM after falling for a scam. The manager told police in September he wanted the machines removed from stores.

CRYPTO NEWSWIRE: How a major convenience store chain became a hub for crypto scams

USA CRIME NEWS: See how a big convenience store chain became a hub for crypto scams

CRYPTO ATM: Just inside the front door of a Circle K convenience store, the district manager glared at a small… pic.twitter.com/t1xImFJRrt

— Brian Harrod (@GetTheDailyDirt) December 17, 2025

This scene has played out hundreds of times across Circle K locations nationwide. The convenience store chain hosts crypto ATMs at more than 750 stores through a partnership with Bitcoin Depot.

Americans lost over $330 million to crypto ATM scams between January and November 2025. The FBI received more than 12,000 complaints about these scams during that period. Many victims lost their money at Circle K stores.

CNN and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists reviewed over 150 cases of crypto ATM scams at Circle K locations. They spoke with 17 employees who witnessed the fraud firsthand. Some employees tried to stop the scams while working.

Steve Beckett, a 67-year-old retiree, lost $7,000 at a Circle K in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Scammers claiming to be tech support told him his computer was hacked. They directed him to transfer money through a crypto ATM at the familiar convenience store.

The Business Partnership

Circle K and bitcoin Depot announced their partnership in 2021. Bitcoin Depot offered retailers extra revenue and increased foot traffic for hosting the machines. The company promised “zero risk, zero cost, monthly revenue” to potential partners.

Circle K initially received up to $700 monthly rent per location. That amount later decreased but many machines still generate hundreds of dollars monthly. A Circle K executive called the crypto ATMs a “big hit” in 2022.

The partnership is exclusive between Circle K and Bitcoin Depot. Circle K’s parent company operates about 7,000 US stores. More than 30,000 crypto ATMs sit in gas stations, grocery stores and other retail locations nationwide.

Employee Concerns

Debbie Joy, an assistant manager in Port Orange, Florida, said Circle K’s policy treats the machines as not their problem. She received an award in April for stopping a scam in progress. Joy believes Circle K should remove the machines entirely.

Some Circle K employees have been scammed themselves. Police reports show staff members took thousands from store safes and fed the money into crypto ATMs. One Indiana location posted a sign warning employees not to save register money for the Bitcoin machine.

Circle K has sent multiple emails and conducted trainings about crypto ATM scams. A company spokesperson said employees receive education about financial scams but don’t oversee transactions at the third-party terminals.

Police sergeant Nathan VanCleave in Evansville, Indiana said big corporations hosting Bitcoin ATMs are the main roadblock to stopping scams. He believes removing the machines WOULD make fraud harder to execute.

Bitcoin Depot said it maintains extensive safeguards including fraud warnings, ID requirements for transactions, live customer support and a team that assists law enforcement. The company disputes allegations that a large share of transactions involve scams.

Circle K renewed its deal with Bitcoin Depot in 2025. The company said it works closely with Bitcoin Depot to ensure services meet standards and regulatory requirements. Scammers use the machines to transfer stolen funds to digital wallets in foreign countries that don’t cooperate with US law enforcement.