Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway is suing GPD Holdings LLC, also known as CoinFlip. She accuses the cryptocurrency ATM company of allowing scammers to use its machines and charging excessive fees.
During a news conference Wednesday in Kansas City, Hanaway called the machines one of the biggest scams of all time in Missouri history in terms of total dollars lost.
She said the fees are poorly disclosed, non-refundable, and difficult to trace. According to Hanaway, the kiosks are becoming a growing tool for fraud targeting Missourians.
Why did CoinFlip become the focus?
“Because it had the most victims and we had victims that were reaching out to our office,” she said. “And that’s really how our consumer fraud investigations develop.”
She cited Newton County, which she said has lost between $1 million and $1.5 million. In that county alone, she said there are 90 to 100 victims.
“That’s what the Highway Patrol is estimating. And frankly, that’s a tiny county. We think the average loss in an ATM machine of this kind is $2,000 on each loss, but total dollars because they make deposits over time on average is about $20,000. And we think just from what’s been reported to us statewide, the losses could total more than $7 million,” said Hanaway.
Hanaway is targeting CoinFlip as part of a broader crackdown on cryptocurrency scams tied to ATM transactions. She launched a statewide investigation late last year into crypto ATM companies and their role in fraud cases.
“We’re also going to take down anybody who’s in this business. We started our investigation in late 2025. CoinFlip is just the first company we’re going after,” Hanaway said.
Who are scammers targeting?
“It’s not necessarily age, although there certainly is concern that it’s sort of a form of elder abuse, but it’s kind of anybody who has some vulnerability. So, they’re looking for people who might have missed jury duty, or somebody who might have a warrant out, or somebody who’s got some custody dispute,” she said.
Hanaway has a piece of advice for citizens who might get these scam calls.
“If you get a call, particularly if they claim to be from the IRS, the best thing you can do is say to that person, ‘You know what, I’m going to have my lawyer and call you right back.’ And that will be the end of it,” she said. “If we can get the word out to people not to be duped by these calls, hopefully we are going to save a lot of victims.”
The machines can be found at 140 locations across the state, in convenience stores, gas stations, liquor stores, and vape shops.
“It isn’t crypto that’s inherently bad,” said Hanaway. “It’s these ATM scams and all the fraudsters who use them as the mechanism to transmit your money that they’ve called you about, emailed you about, texted you about.”
The lawsuit asks a Missouri court to shut down CoinFlip’s operations in the state and force the company to pay $1.83 million in penalties and restitution to impacted customers.
CoinFlip says its Bitcoin ATMs are safe and have fraud-prevention mechanisms.
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