Illinois Democratic Senator Dick Durbin has announced a new bill that aims to prevent fraud associated with crypto ATMs. Americans suffered losses amounting to $66 million due to crypto ATM scams in the first half of 2024, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Durbin states that his potential legislation would require crypto ATM operators to warn consumers about scams and take measures to prevent fraud at their machines. It would also establish provisions to limit the amount that individuals can lose if they fall victim to fraud.

The Illinois lawmaker explains, “There are now more than 30,000 cryptocurrency ATMs in this country. And they are being used by criminals to cheat Americans out of their hard-earned savings to the tune of $114 million in 2023 alone. Most of the victims are senior citizens. It’s past time that we put some common-sense guardrails in place to stop fraud in this largely unregulated industry.”

Durbin notes that the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center received nearly 2,700 crypto ATM fraud complaints from individuals aged 60 and older in 2023, surpassing all other age demographics combined. The senator’s bill would also provide law enforcement with “new tools” to track down crypto ATM fraudsters.

Durbin’s potential legislation comes as the number of domestic crypto ATMs continues to decline. The US lost 1,228 machines in February, according to data from Coin ATM Radar.

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