EASTHAMPTON — As seniors and other vulnerable residents lose thousands of dollars to cryptocurrency scams, Easthampton has joined a growing list of Massachusetts communities fighting back — voting unanimously to ban the machines scammers use to steal from victims.
The City Council unanimously passed an ordinance at its Sept. 16 meeting officially barring cryptocurrency ATMs — also known as kiosks — from operating anywhere in the city. The request was submitted by City Council President Koni Denham and Vice President Felicia Jadczak.
“It [the request] creates essentially an ordinance that would help address the rise in crypto fraud that targets seniors and other vulnerable populations in the city,” said Councilor Kiam Jamrog-McQuaid, who chairs the ordinance subcommittee.
Cryptocurrency kiosks look like traditional ATMs and have become notorious for scamming people. They can be set up anywhere, and are commonly found in businesses like convenience stores.
Just last year, the FBI reported a loss of $389 million to such scams, including nearly $7 million in Massachusetts alone, according to The Boston Globe. The Globe also reported that a total of 20 communities in the state had banned cryptocurrency kiosks by the end of August.
In Hampshire County, only South Hadley, and now Easthampton, have done so. Westfield and Longmeadow have banned the kiosks in their communities, and Agawam is also close to following suit.
Right now the state has no specific rules regulating the kiosks, one of the main drivers for Easthampton and other communities to take action locally.
There are multiple kinds of cryptocurrency kiosks, which operate in different ways. Many are used by scammers who call or contact people urging them to use the kiosks to deposit, withdraw or convert their money into cryptocurrency.
Easthampton Police Lt. Eric Alexander and Detective Michael Briggs spoke at the meeting, saying such scams have taken place in Easthampton.
“We know of specifically one at a convenience store that nothing positive has ever come out of it,” Alexander said. “We’ve always tried to intercept potential victims from depositing cash into it for ultimate fraudulent activity.”
Briggs estimates that there are four cryptocurrency kiosks in Easthampton, saying they are hard to track since they are not regulated and don’t need to be registered. The ordinance change will be enforced by Easthampton Police and any current cryptocurrency ATMs will have to be removed.
“We just started off with one, but they’ve been growing,” Briggs said.
Cryptocurrency or crypto is an umbrella term for non-government-issued digital currency that represents money or some kind of value, such as Bitcoin. Cryptocurrency has been around for more than a decade, rapidly gaining prominence as a digital investment. Federal lawmakers are currently hashing out cryptocurrency regulations, and President Donald Trump has drawn pushback from critics for his personal investments into the currency.
Alexander said scams are not very common in Easthampton, but the department has gotten reports from residents that it has happened. The scams are similar to any other, Alexander said: Someone is called, texted or emailed, and the scammer urges the recipient to deposit money into one of the cryptocurrency kiosks.
“It could be … any type of scam, and they just are so relentless and keep them on the phone and urge them to take cash out and to deposit it into the ATM,” Alexander said.
Many scammers use social engineering, a method that aims to trick people by impersonating someone such as a banker or even a family member. These scams aim to trick people into mistakes, with data from 2025 showing 60% of cybersecurity breaches involve human error.
Once the money is deposited, Alexander said it is “nearly impossible” to get it back. Additionally, Briggs said that the ATMs charge “significant” user fees, sometimes as high as 50% of the deposit or withdrawal.
In one case in Easthampton that Briggs described, a resident was contacted and told that his bank account had been hacked. The caller convinced him to deposit $80,000 into one of the city’s cryptocurrency kiosks — money that was then lost.
The Massachusetts Sheriffs Association wrote a letter to state lawmakers in July urging them to pass legislation banning cryptocurrency kiosks, which is currently being negotiated by the House and the Senate.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this article.
