--- title: "Coral Springs Bans Bitcoin ATMs After $350K in Scam Losses" published: 2026-11-13T00:09:16.518Z updated: 2026-11-13T00:09:16.612Z author: "Trust Onion Editorial Team" canonical: https://trustonion.io/blog/coral-springs-bans-bitcoin-atms-after-350k-scam-losses --- # Coral Springs Bans Bitcoin ATMs After $350K in Scam Losses **Cite as:** Coral Springs Bans Bitcoin ATMs After $350K in Scam Losses, Trust Onion, 2026-11-13. https://trustonion.io/blog/coral-springs-bans-bitcoin-atms-after-350k-scam-losses Over two years, 26 people in Coral Springs lost nearly $350,000 to scammers who directed them to Bitcoin ATM kiosks, and more than half of those victims were over age 60. Coral Springs, Florida, became the first city in the state to ban cryptocurrency kiosks after local officials documented what those machines cost residents: nearly $350,000 across 26 reported cases, with 44 percent of victims instructed to make multiple separate deposits. The scam follows a pattern law enforcement across the country knows well. Someone calls claiming to be a government official, a police officer, or a bank representative. The story varies, but the urgency doesn't. The caller says the target's account has been compromised, that they owe a fine, or that a family member is in trouble. Then comes the instruction: withdraw cash and deposit it at a Bitcoin ATM. Once the cash converts to cryptocurrency, it is nearly impossible to trace or recover. The people most likely to receive that call, and least likely to hang up, are older adults. In Coral Springs, more than half of the documented victims were over 60. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center reports the same pattern nationally: older Americans file a disproportionate share of fraud complaints each year, and their losses per incident tend to run higher. ## How the Pressure Works These calls are designed to override judgment. The caller manufactures a deadline, invokes authority, and cuts the target off from anyone who might talk them out of it. Victims described being told to stay on the phone while they drove to the kiosk and fed in their money. By the time the call ended, the funds were gone. The Coral Springs ban removes one piece of the infrastructure these scams depend on. But the calls will keep coming, and the people making them will simply point victims toward a different payment method: gift cards, wire transfers, or peer-to-peer apps. --- When the caller claims to be a relative in trouble, there is a simple way to pause before doing anything. A grandparent can say, "What are the words?" If the family shares three rotating codewords through Trust Onion, a cloned voice is not enough to get through. The words change every 60 seconds, so anyone who wasn't part of that original conversation can't answer. ## What to Do If the Call Comes If someone calls claiming to be from a government agency, a bank, or law enforcement and asks for cash or crypto, hang up and call back on a number you found independently, from an official website, a card, or a statement. A successful callback does not prove the original caller was legitimate, so always use a number from the organization's official site or your account paperwork, never one the caller provides. For calls that claim a family member is in danger, the same rule applies: hang up, then call that family member directly on a number you already have. If you share codewords and the caller can't produce them, you have your answer before you've taken a single step toward any ATM. Coral Springs removed the kiosks. What it couldn't remove is the voice on the other end of the line. ## A controlled voice-cloning safety demonstration [Try our tool to see just how easy voice cloning is](/clone-my-voice). This controlled safety demonstration exists only to show how easy voice cloning is and to make the risk tangible. It is not a real incident or proof of anyone's identity. Your submitted sample is handled transiently to generate the fixed demonstration audio. Trust Onion does not identify you or the person from the sample, and does not keep the submitted recording or generated audio. The temporary voice clone is deleted from our voice provider as soon as the demo finishes; if that deletion fails, it is retried automatically until the provider confirms it. ## Key takeaways - Coral Springs became the first Florida city to ban Bitcoin ATMs after 26 residents lost nearly $350,000, with more than half of victims over age 60. - Scammers posed as government officials or police and kept victims on the phone while directing them to deposit cash at crypto kiosks. - If a caller claims to be a family member in trouble, ask for the family's three rotating codewords before taking any action. ## Frequently asked questions ### How did the Coral Springs Bitcoin ATM scam work? Scammers called residents by phone, impersonating government officials, police, or bank representatives. They convinced victims to withdraw cash and deposit it at Bitcoin kiosks, where it converted to cryptocurrency that is very difficult to trace or recover. ### Why are older adults targeted in these phone scams? Scammers use urgency and authority to pressure targets into acting before they can think or ask for help. In Coral Springs, more than half of the 26 documented victims were over age 60, consistent with national patterns showing older adults file a higher share of fraud complaints. ### What should I do if someone calls claiming a family member is in danger? Hang up and call that family member directly on a number you already have. If your family shares Trust Onion codewords, ask the caller for them. A cloned voice cannot produce words it never heard, and the words rotate every 60 seconds. ### Does banning Bitcoin ATMs stop these scams? It removes one payment method scammers rely on, but callers can redirect victims to gift cards, wire transfers, or other methods. The underlying phone call and social pressure remain, so recognizing the pattern is still the most important protection. ### How can I verify a caller who claims to be from a bank or government agency? Hang up and call back using a number from the organization's official website, a card, or a statement. Do not use a number the caller provides. A successful callback does not prove the original caller was legitimate, so always use an independently sourced contact method. ## More from Trust Onion Help a parent or grandparent verify unexpected calls with three rotating codewords. Trust Onion is free at trustonion.io. **Safety note:** If you cannot reach the person or organization when you call back, do not assume the original caller was really them. For someone in your trusted group, ask them to give all three current words first and check privately in your app; never reveal your words to an unverified caller. For a bank or other organization outside your group, verify through the official app or a number from a card or statement. Use your best judgment, and alert the authorities if you believe someone is in danger.