Overview

• FinCEN’s advisory took effect on August 4 and instructs financial institutions to monitor convertible virtual currency kiosks for suspicious behavior and file timely Bank Secrecy Act reports.
• Complaints involving crypto kiosks jumped 99% last year, with more than 10,956 incidents reported to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.
• The agency warned that criminals use kiosks to facilitate fraud, cybercrime, money laundering and drug trafficking, often targeting older adults with tech support and bank-impersonation scams.
• The notice outlines specific red-flag indicators such as high-frequency transactions across locations and customer behavior inconsistent with prior patterns.
• International regulators have pursued parallel measures, including the UK’s FCA seizure of four illegal crypto ATMs and New Zealand’s proposal to ban the machines.