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Framingham

Framingham Bans Cryptocurrency ATMs Citywide

The City Council unanimously approved the ban at its November 5 meeting after reported scam losses of $397,000 since 2023.

Updated on Nov. 9, 2026 in Financial Crime

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Framingham's City Council unanimously banned cryptocurrency ATMs on November 5 after residents reported $397,000 in scam losses since 2023. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Should your city ban cryptocurrency ATMs to protect residents from scams?

Framingham City Council unanimously approved a ban on cryptocurrency ATMs at its November 5 meeting. The city joins 22 other Massachusetts communities that have passed similar prohibitions.

Why it matters

Residents have reported $397,000 in losses to cryptocurrency ATM scams since 2023, and the Middlesex District Attorney's office has been notified of ten such cases in Framingham. The ban is intended to protect senior citizens, non-English speakers and lower-income residents from financial fraud.

Ten cryptocurrency ATM scam cases have been reported to the Middlesex District Attorney's office from Framingham since 2023. Police will notify businesses hosting the machines that they must disconnect them within a set timeframe, though that deadline is not specified.

The players

Framingham City Council

The elected legislative body of Framingham, Massachusetts, responsible for local ordinances including the new cryptocurrency ATM ban.

Mary Kate Feeney

A Framingham city councilor who first introduced the proposal to ban cryptocurrency ATMs in October 2025.

Middlesex District Attorney's Office

The prosecutorial office for Middlesex County, Massachusetts, which has been notified of ten cryptocurrency ATM scam cases in Framingham since 2023.

The details

Scammers instruct victims to withdraw cash from their bank accounts and deposit it into a cryptocurrency ATM using a QR code, after which the funds often cannot be traced to a receiving wallet, which is frequently located outside the United States. Several cryptocurrency ATMs currently operate in Framingham, and they are privately owned by companies separate from the businesses that host them.

Timeline

  1. 2023: Framingham scam losses begin being tracked, and two Southborough residents lose more than $30,000 to a scammer posing as U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.

  2. October 2025: Councilor Mary Kate Feeney first introduces the ban proposal.

  3. November 5, 2026: Full council unanimously approves the cryptocurrency ATM ban.

Legal Context

Framingham joins 22 other Massachusetts communities that have banned cryptocurrency ATMs, extending a local pattern of restricting the machines in response to fraud. The FBI investigated 296 cryptocurrency ATM cases in 2025, with reported losses totaling $6,834,561.

Police will visit businesses hosting cryptocurrency ATMs and inform owners they must disconnect the machines within a set timeframe. Residents who are approached to withdraw cash and deposit it into a crypto ATM should treat the request as a likely scam.

The takeaway

Cryptocurrency ATM scams rely on victims being directed to withdraw cash and deposit it quickly, so any unexpected request to do so from a caller claiming to be a government agency should be verified independently before acting.

Further reading

For more on how these schemes work, see the Financial Crime coverage on Wisevoter.

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Should your city ban cryptocurrency ATMs to protect residents from scams?