Coinme Inc -Coinstar’s Cryptocurrency Transactor - SCAM

[ChiBitCTy]

I cringe every time I see someone using a Coinstar machine (they charge a high fee to turn fiat coins to cash/gift cards/etc when your bank will cash your coins for free). I remember seeing them start to add bitcoin purchase options at most locations. I never looked in to it because I already knew it wasn’t a smart way to purchase btc.

I was researching another topic and ran in to Coinme ( https://coinme.com/ ) info and learned a bit about this company, who claims to have had the first btc ATMs, now partnering with (or owned by, need to do more research here) Coinstar.

First off, the Coinstar machines simply print a voucher receipt showing your btc was sent to your Coinme account (the only place they’ll send it…meaning you are forced to download and establish an account with them ..RED FLAG).

So who’s apparently been scammed? .(just a few examples here. Countless others can be easily found via the Web at sites like Reddit, for ex).

Trust Pilot- https://www.trustpilot.com/review/coinme.com

BBB (non-accredited/ F rating issued) - https://www.bbb.org/us/wa/seattle/profile/virtual-currency/coinme-inc-1296-1000053729/customer-reviews

BBB complaints - https://www.bbb.org/us/wa/seattle/profile/virtual-currency/coinme-inc-1296-1000053729/complaints?page=1 (notice how the company no longer responds to customer complaints like they use to back in 2020/2021. But , this is the type of response you see a lot of ..
 
(Sure looks like a great way to skim /scam off price movements).

ScamAdvisor Review- https://www.scamadviser.com/check-website/coinme.com

I’ve read their Customer Service is nonexistent (sure does remind me of another crypto scam company ..Conbase, err Coinbase).

Has anyone ever used Coinme in conjunction w Coinstar and can share their experience?

I will be providing more info and doing more research over the coming days when I find the time. I was shocked to see this topic not having been posted on here yet (my bad if it has and I missed it somehow Cyrus)


Edit: SEC hits Coinme with 4 million dollar fine for promoting a misleading shitcoin UpToken- https://dailyhodl.com/2023/05/02/sec-hits-crypto-exchange-coinme-with-4000000-in-fines-for-alleged-securities-fraud/ - Btalk ANN https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2199751.0

It’s amazing there’s no SEC case/violation for their shady and fraudulent Coinstar CoinMe practices. But To be fair, Coinbase has been scamming members since day 1 and they still operate just fine despite their continuous fraudulent ways.

[1714320197]

1714320197

[1714320197]

1714320197

[Get-Paid.com]

Tried them several times and it worked flawlessly.
Their fees are not that high, if you are US based then buying crypto with Zelle from sellers on Paxful / LocalCoinSwap has its own 8% - 9% by most trusted sellers.

They charge something similar, it's quite convenient doing it with cash without having to speak to anyone. The app works fine, you get the crypto in the app the moment you get that "receipt 🧾" you were referring to.

Then when you send the crypto to another wallet it is sent instantly. At least from our experience we had 0 troubles with them.

[ChiBitCTy]

Tried them several times and it worked flawlessly.
Their fees are not that high, if you are US based then buying crypto with Zelle from sellers on Paxful / LocalCoinSwap has its own 8% - 9% by most trusted sellers.

They charge something similar, it's quite convenient doing it with cash without having to speak to anyone. The app works fine, you get the crypto in the app the moment you get that "receipt 🧾" you were referring to.

Then when you send the crypto to another wallet it is sent instantly. At least from our experience we had 0 troubles with them.

I appreciate you sharing your story/knowledge!  Crypto ATMs are NEVER the right place to buy bitcoin however.  Always more expensive.  There is hardly ever a good reason to use a Coinstar, esp for buying crypto.  It's clear this company is fraudulent as all fuck. The evidence I've provided is just the tip of it all.  There's so much more shady stuff going on I just haven't got to yet. An F grade from BBB says it all. 

Honestly shocked to see this thread being the first to call out these scamming fucks.  SEC also not doing their job, per usual SMH.

[Get-Paid.com]

A scam would be you depositing cash in the machine and you don't get your crypto.
Their limit is $1,000/day without hard verification, you can't put more unless you verify yourself.

Normally, good companies demand verification first and only then take your money, and that's what they do.
Without the hard verification you can still buy up to $1,000/day, and it works as well.

The price is shown on the screen, so why are you so upset with them? Have they cheated you or caused you a loss?

[ChiBitCTy]

A scam would be you depositing cash in the machine and you don't get your crypto.
Their limit is $1,000/day without hard verification, you can't put more unless you verify yourself.

Normally, good companies demand verification first and only then take your money, and that's what they do.
Without the hard verification you can still buy up to $1,000/day, and it works as well.

The price is shown on the screen, so why are you so upset with them? Have they cheated you or caused you a loss?

Did you even read everything I wrote ? Doesn’t seem like it.

[Get-Paid.com]

Did you even read everything I wrote ? Doesn’t seem like it.

Yes, definitely. You said:

Crypto ATMs are NEVER the right place to buy bitcoin however.  Always more expensive. 

To which you didn't seem to read this above:

Their fees are not that high, if you are US based then buying crypto with Zelle from sellers on Paxful / LocalCoinSwap has its own 8% - 9% by most trusted sellers.

In addition:

An F grade from BBB says it all.

It's true, the BBB ratings are bad, but there are car dealerships with similar ratings which are still functioning normally and selling cars etc. and yet despite the poor ratings they are not short of customers ... also many complaints came from a while ago, they seem to work quite okay right now, that's an observation though.

Honestly shocked to see this thread being the first to call out these scamming fucks.

Again, not everyone has issues with them, really got nothing personal against you but they are allowed to charge a "proper" fee they see fit for their service, bookies offer 1.70 on O/U in soccer/basketball sometimes, cutting a huge profit of 30% of the bet, and users are taking it ... is it unscrupulous? no, because it's shown to you before you make that decision. Here's a proof:

https://prnt.sc/JnzWEEZJDmDZ

[ChiBitCTy]

Did you even read everything I wrote ? Doesn’t seem like it.

Yes, definitely. You said:

Crypto ATMs are NEVER the right place to buy bitcoin however.  Always more expensive. 

To which you didn't seem to read this above:

Their fees are not that high, if you are US based then buying crypto with Zelle from sellers on Paxful / LocalCoinSwap has its own 8% - 9% by most trusted sellers.

In addition:

An F grade from BBB says it all.

It's true, the BBB ratings are bad, but there are car dealerships with similar ratings which are still functioning normally and selling cars etc. and yet despite the poor ratings they are not short of customers ... also many complaints came from a while ago, they seem to work quite okay right now, that's an observation though.

Honestly shocked to see this thread being the first to call out these scamming fucks.

Again, not everyone has issues with them, really got nothing personal against you but they are allowed to charge a "proper" fee they see fit for their service, bookies offer 1.70 on O/U in soccer/basketball sometimes, cutting a huge profit of 30% of the bet, and users are taking it ... is it unscrupulous? no, because it's shown to you before you make that decision. Here's a proof:

https://prnt.sc/JnzWEEZJDmDZ

Let me ask, do you think Coinbase is a legitimate company? The answer is fuck no. These companies aren’t going to scam everyone, otherwise the scam doesn’t last very long.  Same thing with banks like Chase. Plenty of people don’t get scammed.. and they are the world’s 2nd largest bank. Does that mean they aren’t scammers? Again, f no. They are corrupt as all hell ( https://violationtracker.goodjobsfirst.org/parent/jpmorgan-chase ).  The problem is the fed gov and SEC are paid off and or don’t do their jobs properly, so these scams live on as “legitimate companies” since they’ve not been shut down. As an FA I’m governed by the SEC and I can promise you they are corrupt themselves and do not regulate even remotely as they should be. It’s really fd up.

[Get-Paid.com]

Let me ask, do you think Coinbase is a legitimate company? The answer is fuck no. These companies aren’t going to scam everyone, otherwise the scam doesn’t last very long.  Same thing with banks like Chase. Plenty of people don’t get scammed.. and they are the world’s 2nd largest bank. Does that mean they aren’t scammers? Again, f no. They are corrupt as all hell ( https://violationtracker.goodjobsfirst.org/parent/jpmorgan-chase ).  The problem is the fed gov and SEC are paid off and or don’t do their jobs properly, so these scams live on as “legitimate companies” since they’ve not been shut down. As an FA I’m governed by the SEC and I can promise you they are corrupt themselves and do not regulate even remotely as they should be. It’s really fd up.

That's indeed well said.
Never used Coinbase, never will.
Coinbase is for suckers, literally.

[yahoo62278]

Tried them several times and it worked flawlessly.
Their fees are not that high, if you are US based then buying crypto with Zelle from sellers on Paxful / LocalCoinSwap has its own 8% - 9% by most trusted sellers.

They charge something similar, it's quite convenient doing it with cash without having to speak to anyone. The app works fine, you get the crypto in the app the moment you get that "receipt 🧾" you were referring to.

Then when you send the crypto to another wallet it is sent instantly. At least from our experience we had 0 troubles with them.

I appreciate you sharing your story/knowledge!  Crypto ATMs are NEVER the right place to buy bitcoin however.  Always more expensive.  There is hardly ever a good reason to use a Coinstar, esp for buying crypto.  It's clear this company is fraudulent as all fuck. The evidence I've provided is just the tip of it all.  There's so much more shady stuff going on I just haven't got to yet. An F grade from BBB says it all. 

Honestly shocked to see this thread being the first to call out these scamming fucks.  SEC also not doing their job, per usual SMH.

I've used some btc ATMs a couple times. Not sure who the company that owned them was, but I know I paid roughly a 20% markup for the btc. I didn't pay attention to the fee the 1st time or I wouldn't have used it a 2nd time.

[tread93]

One thing I will say right off the bat is that I think it is extremely cool that anyone in the proximity of a coinstar can go and scrounge up their change head to a walmart (assuming they already made their account and everything) throw the change in the bin and get a ticket voucher for redemption in bitcoin! I mean on a granular and microscopic level how much more incrememtelly can you buy BTC than that? While at the same time making it it the MOST accessible means for the average "no-coiner" to start out with their very first SATs.

Perhaps more so this is a better learning lesson for your children in new age money managment, account creation, and crypto in general. Perhaps starting maybe make them set up the account with your guidance, then have them check the couch cushions and cars and the whole house for coins get them their first BTC hardware wallet and redeem their coins to send them to their wallet (of course with a little allowance on top maybe to cover the fees lol). Just as an excercise alone I see this being a very educational opportunity right there.

Now lets get more into the technical side of things here. CoinStar and Coinme are two completely different entities that have been able to come together and partner up on this so seamlessly because CoinStar already had the infractrure of 30 thousand coin conversion machines globally with kiosks that had the ability (probably with some serious hardware upgrades) to install new software for them to be able to allow the use of this service.

Coinme started off as a regular Bitcoin ATM company that used a Genmega Satoshi One Machine and would deploy usually in gas stations or other high traffic areas, but that became very cumbersome and financially depleting so their IT team decided that it would be much easier to just implement new software on existing kiosks and find someone to partner up with because it would be much quicker and much more cost efficient to scale. I want to say Coinstar and Coinme have been partnered since 2019? Maybe 2018. Can't remember.

Once Coinme is fully deployed on all of Coinstar's machines Coinme should have the largest amount of "Bitcoin ATMs" I want to say across the entire globe. I'll check coinatmradar.com and coinmap.org for a more exact number on on which operator has the most amount of machines currently. But all in all you try managing 30k customer support machines for a not so seamless bitcoin sale for the coins lmao those customer service reps are probably at wits end! If they are getting huge fines for pumping shitcoins i'd say it was a failed money grab but hey at least they are testing some stuff out and shaking things up a bit. Of course their customer service team is going to be useless and they are going to try and have the upper hand on every transaction to maximize profit.

If only their transactions were locked in and real time and one single process, this is the difference between Coinme BTM and traditional Bitcoin ATMs. I would stand by my statement that I think its very cool that they have made this a reality and I think its a huge success on their end for being able to take probably super outdated machines and add Bitcoin to them and make them availible for the general public. At the time their partnership was annouced it was a very great day for the adoption and awareness of Bitcoin. 

On another note I sure do love stopping by one of those CoinStar machines to check the reject bin and search for all kinds of coin treasures! Sometimes you might even get lucky and find yourself a silver coin, heck it is possible to even find a gold coin in one!!!!  

[ChiBitCTy]

One thing I will say right off the bat is that I think it is extremely cool that anyone in the proximity of a coinstar can go and scrounge up their change head to a walmart (assuming they already made their account and everything) throw the change in the bin and get a ticket voucher for redemption in bitcoin! I mean on a granular and microscopic level how much more incrememtelly can you buy BTC than that? While at the same time making it it the MOST accessible means for the average "no-coiner" to start out with their very first SATs.

Perhaps more so this is a better learning lesson for your children in new age money managment, account creation, and crypto in general. Perhaps starting maybe make them set up the account with your guidance, then have them check the couch cushions and cars and the whole house for coins get them their first BTC hardware wallet and redeem their coins to send them to their wallet (of course with a little allowance on top maybe to cover the fees lol). Just as an excercise alone I see this being a very educational opportunity right there.

Now lets get more into the technical side of things here. CoinStar and Coinme are two completely different entities that have been able to come together and partner up on this so seamlessly because CoinStar already had the infractrure of 30 thousand coin conversion machines globally with kiosks that had the ability (probably with some serious hardware upgrades) to install new software for them to be able to allow the use of this service.

Coinme started off as a regular Bitcoin ATM company that used a Genmega Satoshi One Machine and would deploy usually in gas stations or other high traffic areas, but that became very cumbersome and financially depleting so their IT team decided that it would be much easier to just implement new software on existing kiosks and find someone to partner up with because it would be much quicker and much more cost efficient to scale. I want to say Coinstar and Coinme have been partnered since 2019? Maybe 2018. Can't remember.

Once Coinme is fully deployed on all of Coinstar's machines Coinme should have the largest amount of "Bitcoin ATMs" I want to say across the entire globe. I'll check coinatmradar.com and coinmap.org for a more exact number on on which operator has the most amount of machines currently. But all in all you try managing 30k customer support machines for a not so seamless bitcoin sale for the coins lmao those customer service reps are probably at wits end! If they are getting huge fines for pumping shitcoins i'd say it was a failed money grab but hey at least they are testing some stuff out and shaking things up a bit. Of course their customer service team is going to be useless and they are going to try and have the upper hand on every transaction to maximize profit.

If only their transactions were locked in and real time and one single process, this is the difference between Coinme BTM and traditional Bitcoin ATMs. I would stand by my statement that I think its very cool that they have made this a reality and I think its a huge success on their end for being able to take probably super outdated machines and add Bitcoin to them and make them availible for the general public. At the time their partnership was annouced it was a very great day for the adoption and awareness of Bitcoin. 

On another note I sure do love stopping by one of those CoinStar machines to check the reject bin and search for all kinds of coin treasures! Sometimes you might even get lucky and find yourself a silver coin, heck it is possible to even find a gold coin in one!!!!  

It would be cool, if both companies weren’t a rip off, and if CoinMe weren’t a bunch of scamming scumbags. They are no different than big banks, PayPal, Coinbase, phone and internet providers and on and on that are operating a corrupt system nearly unchecked. I’ll never forgot when Coinbase had its IPO, not Fuckn once did any news outlet mention the insane amount of customer fraud complaints. I of course knew they were scammers and they’ve scammed a multitude of my friends over the years. Not to mention nearly zero customer support within any reasonable time manner. I don’t think they even have phone support still, despite being worth billions. Same thing with CoinMe. They say they have customer phone support, but it appears to be a facad.  I read countless complaints on multiple outlets and it’s clear they are operating a shady and corrupt business.

While I agree the idea of BTC ATMs is nice, I could never suggest using one. No different than using Coinstar..absolute rip-off.  (Let me ask you, do most BTC ATMs force you to download their app and force you to send coins to their provided addresses?)

Moral of the story is the U.S. government is utterly corrupted, the SEC is a joke and doesn’t properly do their jobs (I’ve known this for the nearly 20 years of being an advisor).  It sickens me these companies aren’t held accountable to any sort of real degree.

[tread93]

It would be cool, if both companies weren’t a rip off, and if CoinMe weren’t a bunch of scamming scumbags. They are no different than big banks, PayPal, Coinbase, phone and internet providers and on and on that are operating a corrupt system nearly unchecked. I’ll never forgot when Coinbase had its IPO, not Fuckn once did any news outlet mention the insane amount of customer fraud complaints. I of course knew they were scammers and they’ve scammed a multitude of my friends over the years. Not to mention nearly zero customer support within any reasonable time manner. I don’t think they even have phone support still, despite being worth billions. Same thing with CoinMe. They say they have customer phone support, but it appears to be a facad.  I read countless complaints on multiple outlets and it’s clear they are operating a shady and corrupt business.

While I agree the idea of BTC ATMs is nice, I could never suggest using one. No different than using Coinstar..absolute rip-off.  (Let me ask you, do most BTC ATMs force you to download their app and force you to send coins to their provided addresses?)

Moral of the story is the U.S. government is utterly corrupted, the SEC is a joke and doesn’t properly do their jobs (I’ve known this for the nearly 20 years of being an advisor).  It sickens me these companies aren’t held accountable to any sort of real degree.
[/quote]

It definitely would be cool if they were more customer facing/ helpful idk what that is about. I just know that when I was trying to sell into that account that all my effort was a waste because they stopped needing internet integrating to Coinstar who was already my old company's customer and that didn't help me out one bit lol.

Most BTMs do make you either sign up and use their wallet app and use that to get the KYC and license info and what not but some of them don't. A lot of them have promptings on their touchscreen ATMs to fill all that info in if the transactions are over the 5k limit until they need to be reported.

Yeah it is a real shame how corrupt this government has become. If only they would have been pumping all this relief funding into the american people for a change and not letting all of these foreigners in unchecked. I could go on and on but it would just piss me off just thinking about it lol