Where it starts
Stop it at the phone
The surest way to stop a crypto ATM scam is to stop the call that starts it. How scam calls work, what your carrier and your phone already do, and what you can add.
Crypto ATM scams start most often with a phone call, frequently from a faked number. Hang up on anyone who wants money in a hurry and call back on a number you look up yourself. Turn on your carrier’s free scam blocking and your phone’s screening for unknown callers, and report scam calls to the FTC and the FCC. A paid screening service such as PhoneShield adds a filter that asks unknown callers who they are before the phone rings.
Checked and updated by Byte Federal’s fraud-prevention team. How we check facts.
Why the phone
When the FTC studied reports from people who lost money at a bitcoin ATM, the most common first contact was a phone call, in about 47% of cases; next came pop-ups, online ads and emails, which usually carried a phone number to call. FinCEN, the Treasury’s financial-crimes bureau, says the same in its notice on kiosk scams: “many scammers using CVC kiosks initiate contact with potential victims through unsolicited calls,” and stay on the phone with the victim until the payment is made.
Even when the first contact is a pop-up or an email, the aim is a phone call. In the FTC’s words: “these scams still depend on a phone call. Even when they don’t start with a call, reports show the goal is to get you on the phone.”
Phone scams also cost the most per victim. People who reported fraud that began with a phone call lost a median of $1,500 in 2024, the highest of any way scammers make contact; for people 60 and over the median was $2,210. The FBI counted more than 80,000 complaints about tech support and government-impersonation call centers in 2025, with over $2.9 billion lost.
How a scam call works
- A faked number. Caller ID spoofing makes the call show a real bank’s, police department’s or agency’s number, sometimes its name. The FCC calls it illegal when it is done to defraud, and it is still common.
- A robot, then a person. Robocalls cast the net (“your account has been compromised, press 1”); whoever presses 1 gets a trained caller with a script. Industry trackers estimate about 52.5 billion robocalls to U.S. phones in 2025, and in October 2026 nearly a third of them were scams.
- A voice you know. Scammers clone voices from short clips posted online, so a “grandchild in jail” can sound right. The FBI’s advice: agree on a family code word.
- A text first. “Did you authorize this $4,000 charge? Reply YES or NO.” Reply, and the “fraud department” calls you.
- A script that keeps you on the line. Stay on the phone, don’t tell the teller, don’t tell your family, go to this machine. Every one of those instructions is a red flag. The scripts, word for word.
What carriers do, and what they don’t
What they do. Carriers are allowed to block calls from invalid and “do not originate” numbers without asking, and to block or label likely scam calls by analysis, as long as you can opt out. The FCC’s rules say basic blocking of that kind comes without a line-item charge. Carriers must also sign calls on their internet-based networks with a system called STIR/SHAKEN, which checks that a call really comes from the number shown.
What they don’t. The FCC itself lists the gaps. STIR/SHAKEN works only on modern internet-based networks; it confirms a number, not who is calling or why, and the FCC warns that people may “mistakenly believe” a verified checkmark means a call is not a scam. The share of calls that arrive signed fell from 49% to 38% between October 2024 and September 2025, and in July 2026 the FCC wrote that “despite these mechanisms, many bad actor providers remain.” Forty-nine state attorneys general put it more bluntly in September 2026: some voice providers fail to stop illegal robocalls on their networks.
The same goes for the platforms that carry the bait. In October 2026 the FTC wrote that scams are amplified by search, social media and other platforms “that profit from optimizing online ads for third parties, regardless of whether the third parties are legitimate,” and that “platforms internalize the revenue but externalize the risk.”
Free tools you already have
Turn these on today, on your phone and on a parent’s. Each company describes its own features; none promises to catch every scam call.
The Do Not Call Registry is worth joining, but it doesn’t block calls: the FTC says scammers ignore it.
PhoneShield: a front desk for the phone
PhoneShield is a paid call-screening service built around the idea behind this page: stop the scam at the phone, before the conversation that does the damage begins. You forward your phone’s calls to a PhoneShield number. Numbers already reported as scams are refused before your phone rings, and your saved favorites ring straight through. Everyone else is asked, by an automated front desk, who they are and why they are calling; a caller with a real reason rings you with their name on the screen, and sales pitches and scam scripts are turned away.
- Cost: $29.99 a month, with no free trial. Your carrier may charge for call forwarding.
- Phones: U.S. phones that can forward calls. Answered calls ring in PhoneShield’s iPhone app, or on a second number you choose; the Android app is still in testing.
- For families: it can send a daily or weekly summary to family members, once the person it protects has agreed.
- Limits: no screening catches every scam, and PhoneShield says so: it “cannot guarantee that every scam is detected.”
PhoneShield and Is This Number a Scam? are made by Who Can It Be, LLC, a sister company of Byte Federal founded by members of its team. We describe it here because it is built to stop these scams where they start; the free tools above are a good first step, and for many people they are enough.
Check a number
Got a call you weren’t sure about?
Look it up on Is This Number a Scam?, a free list of numbers people have reported to the FTC. Remember that caller ID can be faked: a number with no reports doesn’t make a call safe. A request to pay at a crypto ATM, in gift cards or by wire is all you need to know.
Set it up on a parent’s phone
- Turn on the carrier’s free scam blocking. AT&T ActiveArmor, Verizon Call Filter or T-Mobile Scam Shield (dial #662# to turn on Scam Block). The free tier is enough to start.
- Screen or silence unknown callers. On an iPhone with iOS 26 or later: Settings > Apps > Phone > Screen Unknown Callers, then Ask Reason for Calling. On a Pixel: Call Screen. Older phones: send unknown callers to voicemail.
- Save the numbers that matter. Family, doctors, the pharmacy, the bank’s real number from the back of the card. Saved contacts ring through; strangers are screened.
- Agree on the rule and a family code word. Anyone who wants money in a hurry gets a hang-up and a call back on a number you already have. A code word settles a “grandchild in trouble” call in seconds.
- Report the scam calls that get through. To the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov or DoNotCall.gov and to the FCC; forward scam texts to 7726.
More on protecting an older relative, including the conversation to have: for families. If a scam call already got through: where to report it.
From the team behind this site
Put PhoneShield on a parent’s phone
Reported scam numbers are refused before the phone rings. Family rings straight through. Everyone else has to say who they are and why they’re calling before they get through. About ten minutes to set up.
- Subscribe. PhoneShield assigns your PhoneShield number and emails you when it is ready.
- Forward. From the phone people already call, dial your carrier’s forwarding code (it is on your settings page). Callers keep dialing the number they know.
- Verify. Use “Test that forwarding is on” to confirm calls come through, and install the iPhone app, where calls that pass will ring.
- Pick a mode. Open (vetted calls ring you), Do not disturb (callers leave a message) or Receptionist (the assistant answers and decides).
$29.99 a month for one line, or $299 a year (two months free); each extra line is $19.99 a month. Scam refusals and front-desk screening are unlimited; 150 minutes a month of the assistant’s talk time are included, then 12¢ a minute. No contract and no free trial; cancel any time from the billing page. Your carrier may charge for call forwarding.
What happens to each call
- A number reported as a scam
- Refused. The phone never rings.
- Someone on the favorites list
- Rings straight through.
- Anyone else
- The front desk asks: “Who’s calling, and what’s it about?” A real caller rings through with their name on the screen; scam scripts and sales pitches are turned away.
No screening catches every scam, and PhoneShield says so. The free tools above still matter.
PhoneShield and Is This Number a Scam? are made by Who Can It Be, LLC, a sister company of Byte Federal founded by members of its team. Subscriptions help keep this free site running.
Questions people ask
Can a scammer make the call look like it comes from my bank or the police?
Yes. It is called caller ID spoofing: the caller fakes the number and sometimes the name your phone displays. It is illegal when done to defraud, but it still happens, so a familiar number on the screen proves nothing. Hang up and call back on the number printed on your card, your statement or the agency’s own website.
Does the Do Not Call Registry stop scam calls?
No. The FTC says plainly that the Registry doesn’t block calls; it tells law-abiding telemarketers not to call you. Scammers ignore it. Screening and blocking tools are what stop scam calls.
Should I answer calls from numbers I don’t know?
Let screening or voicemail take them. Someone with a real reason will say who they are and why they called, or leave a message. A caller who demands that you stay on the line, keep a secret or pay right now is the one to hang up on.
The voice sounded exactly like my grandson. Can they fake that?
Yes. The FBI and the FCC warn that scammers clone voices from short clips posted online. Hang up and call your relative, or another family member, on the number you already have, or ask for the family code word.
Is PhoneShield free?
No. It costs $29.99 a month, with no free trial. The free tools from your carrier and your phone, listed on this page, are a good place to start, and for many people they are enough.
I already talked to a scammer and paid. What now?
Go to what to do in the first hour. Then report the number that called you, and set up screening: scammers call back.
Sources for this page
- FTC Consumer Protection Data Spotlight on bitcoin ATM fraud (Sept 3, 2024) · Jan–Jun 2024 loss reports: a phone call was the most common first contact (about 47%), then online ads or pop-ups (16%); about 86% of people reporting a loss were on government impersonation, business impersonation or tech support scams; median loss $10,000; people 60+ more than three times as likely to report a loss.
- FinCEN Notice FIN-2025-NTC1: Use of convertible virtual currency kiosks for scam payments (Aug 4, 2025) · “Many scammers using CVC kiosks initiate contact with potential victims through unsolicited calls”; tech support scams are the most common kiosk scam; scammers stay on the phone until the payment is made and pick the machines.
- FTC data spotlight: False alarm, real scam: how scammers are stealing older adults’ life savings (Aug 7, 2025) · “These scams still depend on a phone call. Even when they don’t start with a call, reports show the goal is to get you on the phone.” In 2024, 41% of older adults who lost $10,000 or more to an imposter scam said it began with a phone call; scammers told people to deposit cash into Bitcoin ATMs or hand cash or gold to couriers.
- FTC: Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2024 (March 2025), pp. 11–12, fraud reports by payment method and by contact method · $12.5 billion reported lost. By payment method: bank transfer or payment $2,089M, cryptocurrency $1,417M, wire transfer $287M, credit cards $275M, gift or reload cards $212M. By contact method: phone call $948M lost, median $1,500, the highest of any contact method.
- FTC: Protecting Older Consumers 2024–2025 (December 2025), p. 25 · For people 60 and over, “median individual losses remained far higher for phone fraud at $2,210, compared to $650 for fraud originating on social media.”
- FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center: 2025 Internet Crime Report (crypto ATMs/kiosks, p. 53) · 13,460 crypto ATM complaints and $389 million lost in 2025; $257 million of it by people 60 and over. Call center fraud (tech support and government impersonation): more than 80,000 complaints and over $2.9 billion lost.
- FBI public service announcement: “Phantom hacker” scams target senior citizens (Sept 29, 2023) · Fake tech support, bank and government callers who move victims’ money “to safety”, over days or months.
- FBI public service announcement: Criminals use generative AI to facilitate financial fraud (Dec 3, 2024) · “Create a secret word or phrase with your family to verify their identity.”
- FCC: “Grandparent” scams get more sophisticated (Apr 24, 2026) · Spoofed caller ID, cloned voices, “please don’t let mom and dad know”, a fake lawyer on the line.
- FCC: Caller ID spoofing (updated Nov 13, 2024) · Spoofing is when a caller deliberately falsifies the caller ID display; illegal under the Truth in Caller ID Act when done to defraud. Hang up and call the number on the agency’s or company’s own website.
- FCC: Stop unwanted robocalls and texts (updated Feb 27, 2026) · Stopping illegal robocalls is the FCC’s top consumer protection priority; unwanted calls are its top consumer complaint. The FCC doesn’t resolve individual complaints.
- FCC: Combating spoofed robocalls with caller ID authentication (STIR/SHAKEN) · STIR/SHAKEN lets the receiving carrier check that a call comes from the number shown; it “is only operational in IP networks.”
- FCC notice of proposed rulemaking: Advanced methods to target and eliminate robocalls, Federal Register (Dec 5, 2025) · “STIR/SHAKEN information does not provide consumers with robust information about who is calling”; proposes to bar foreign-originated calls from spoofing U.S. numbers.
- FCC notice of proposed rulemaking: Know-your-upstream-provider requirements, Federal Register (July 9, 2026) · “Despite these mechanisms, many bad actor providers remain.” Calls signed with STIR/SHAKEN fell from 49% (Oct 2024) to 38% (Sept 2025), per TransNexus data the FCC cites.
- FCC: Call blocking tools and resources (updated Sept 16, 2026) · Carriers may block calls from invalid or do-not-originate numbers without asking, and may use analytics-based blocking if customers can opt out. Basic blocking under the FCC’s safe harbor comes with no line-item charge (47 CFR 64.1200(k)).
- North Carolina Attorney General: 49 attorneys general urge stronger know-your-upstream-provider rules (Sept 9, 2026) · “Some voice service providers fail to do so, allowing illegal robocalls on the U.S. communications network.”
- YouMail Robocall Index (industry estimate) · An estimated 52.5 billion robocalls to U.S. phones in 2025; in October 2026, 31% of robocalls were scams.
- FTC advance notice of proposed rulemaking on impersonation scams and platforms, Federal Register (Oct 1, 2026) · Scams are “amplified by search engine, social media, and other digital marketplace platforms that profit from optimizing online ads for third parties, regardless of whether the third parties are legitimate.” “Platforms internalize the revenue but externalize the risk.”
- FTC data spotlight: Reported losses to scams on social media eight times higher than in 2020 (Apr 27, 2026) · $2.1 billion reported lost in 2025 to scams that started on social media, about eight times the 2020 figure.
- AT&T: ActiveArmor · Free with every AT&T wireless plan: fraud and spam call blocking, or sending those calls to voicemail. “May not detect all threats.”
- Verizon: Call Filter FAQs · Free Call Filter: spam detection, spam filter, blocked-call log, report spam; Call Filter Plus is $3.99 a month.
- T-Mobile: Scam Shield · Free: Scam Likely labels, Scam Block (dial #662#), number blocking, spam to voicemail. Premium is $4 a month per line.
- Apple: Screen and block calls on iPhone (iOS 26 and later) · Call Screening answers calls from unknown numbers; once the caller shares their name and reason for calling, the iPhone rings. “Silence” sends unknown callers to voicemail.
- Google: Screen calls with Call Screen (Pixel) · Call Assist answers and asks who is calling and why; spam calls are hung up.
- Google: Caller ID and spam protection (Phone by Google) · On by default; optional “Filter spam calls.”
- FTC: National Do Not Call Registry FAQs · “It doesn’t block calls. So being on the Registry won’t stop calls from scammers making illegal calls.” Report unwanted calls at DoNotCall.gov; report losses at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
- FTC: How to recognize and report spam text messages · Forward a spam text to 7726 (SPAM) to help your wireless provider spot and block similar messages.
- FCC Consumer Complaint Center · File a complaint about unwanted, robocall and spoofed calls and texts.
- FTC: ReportFraud.ftc.gov · Report fraud; reports are shared with over 2,000 law enforcers.
- PhoneShield: How it works, pricing and FAQ · Calls are forwarded to a PhoneShield number; reported scam numbers are refused before the phone rings, favorites ring through, other callers are asked who they are; $29.99 a month, no free trial; “It cannot guarantee that every scam is detected.”
- PhoneShield: About · “PhoneShield is a sister company of Byte Federal ... and was founded by members of its team.” Operated by Who Can It Be, LLC.
- Byte Federal: The scam doesn’t start at the kiosk (2026) · Follow the money backward: phone, then bank, then kiosk. Intervene in that order: stop the call, slow the withdrawal, guard the cash-out. Footnote 7: live validation calls with flagged senior customers stop about 84% of attempted scams before the transaction completes.
- Is This Number a Scam? (isthisnumberascam.com) · A free lookup of phone numbers reported to the FTC. Made by Who Can It Be, LLC, a sister company of Byte Federal.
Every source was opened and checked on November 8, 2026. Laws and agency figures change; if you find something out of date, write to hello@cryptoatmscam.com and we will correct it.
Cite this page
Crypto ATM Scam Help. “Stop it at the phone: how to stop the scam calls that end at a crypto ATM.” Updated November 8, 2026. https://cryptoatmscam.com/stop-scam-calls/