Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird last week announced lawsuits against two of the state’s two largest cryptocurrency ATM operators over alleged failures that allowed Iowans to transfer millions of dollars to scammers through their kiosks.
According to the attorney general’s office, an investigation found that hundreds of Iowans sent more than $20 million through Bitcoin Depot and CoinFlip ATMs in a less than three-year period, with a majority of scam victims over age 60. Bird said scammers trick older individuals — particularly women — into transferring money through the ATMs, with the companies that operate the machines keeping a large percentage of the transfers. Both companies have denied any wrongdoing.
During the announcement about the lawsuits, Iowa Bankers Association President and CEO Adam Gregg spoke about how bankers are trained to spot the signs of a scam and provided tips for consumers on how to protect themselves, according to The Gazette newspaper in Grand Rapids, Iowa.
“Do not withdraw cash in response to an unexpected call or message,” Gregg said. “That is a huge red flag, and basically only scammers do that. And similarly, don’t believe anyone who tries to tell you to use a crypto ATM to solve a problem. Real businesses don’t do that. The government doesn’t do that.”
In related news, the American Bankers Association has developed the #BanksNeverAskThat campaign, which offers banks free resources to educate consumers about phishing scams.
