Scammers took over $320,000 from Coral Springs victims through crypto ATMs in two years, police say. A city ban on the machines is set for a final vote Oct. 21.
Coral Springs is moving to ban cryptocurrency kiosks, the cash-to-Bitcoin machines found in gas stations and convenience stores. The city says scammers have used them to take more than $320,000 from victims in Coral Springs over the past two years.
Ordinance 2026-115 would make it unlawful to install, operate or host one of the machines anywhere in the city that is open to the public. It was on the City Commission’s Oct. 7 agenda for a first reading, presented by Police Chief Brad Mock. The agenda sets the second and final reading for the commission’s regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 21, at City Hall, 9500 W. Sample Road.
The city has not yet posted the minutes or video of the Oct. 7 meeting, so the first-reading vote could not be confirmed from the record.
Why the police want them gone
The case for the ban is set out in the ordinance itself, in the Oct. 7 agenda packet (pages 46 to 53). It cites the Coral Springs Police Department’s own analysis of local cases over the past two years:
- victims in Coral Springs lost more than $320,000 to criminals who made them pay through a kiosk
- more than half of the victims were over 60
- in 44% of the cases, victims were told to make several separate deposits
The ordinance also quotes a 2025 notice from the U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. It says the FBI received more than 10,956 complaints involving the kiosks in 2024, with reported losses of about $247.7 million.
The commission’s findings explain the concern. A kiosk payment is fast, can go to a wallet anywhere in the world and is “difficult or impossible” to reverse once it is made. Scammers “often direct victims to use a CVC kiosk to send payments under false pretenses,” the ordinance says. CVC stands for convertible virtual currency.
What the ban would cover
The ordinance defines a kiosk as any public terminal that swaps cash, a card payment or crypto for virtual currency. That includes machines branded as Bitcoin ATMs or crypto ATMs.
It would not ban:
- owning, buying or selling cryptocurrency
- crypto apps on your own phone, tablet or computer
- a store taking crypto as payment through its normal checkout
- a kiosk the government owns and runs for a government purpose
- any device the city is barred from regulating under state or federal law
Florida already regulates the businesses that run the machines. The ordinance says the Legislature set state registration and operating rules in 2026, and that the city’s rule does not replace them. It only governs where the machines can physically be.
How quickly machines would come out
The ordinance takes effect when the commission approves it. After that:
- a kiosk already in the city would have to be removed within 60 days
- a kiosk placed under a written contract signed on or before Aug. 25, 2026, could stay until that contract’s current term ends or Aug. 25, 2027, whichever comes first
- a contract renewed, extended or changed after Aug. 25, 2026, would not buy any extra time
- a machine could not be moved to another Coral Springs location in the meantime
If the commission adopts it Oct. 21, the 60-day deadline would fall Dec. 20.
Each machine would count as a separate violation. Fines would build up daily under the city’s code enforcement process. The city could cite the kiosk operator, the business hosting the machine and the property owner. It could also go to court for an injunction.
The city’s business impact form for the ordinance, signed by Mock, leaves its cost and business-count estimates blank. The agenda packet does not say how many kiosks operate in Coral Springs now.
What it means for you
The ban is about machines, not scams. Until the kiosks are gone, and after, the same rule holds: no police department, court, utility, bank or government agency asks you to pay at a Bitcoin machine.
- If a caller, text or pop-up tells you to take cash to a crypto kiosk, stop and hang up.
- Call the Coral Springs Police Department’s non-emergency line, 954-344-1800, or 911 if you are in danger.
- Talk to older relatives about it. The city’s figures show they are the people most often targeted.
If you want to speak on the ordinance, the Oct. 21 agenda will show how when the city posts it. The City Clerk’s Office is at 954-344-1065. Our Police and Fire log carries the department’s published reports, and who to call at City Hall lists the commission’s contacts.
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