Bitcoin Forum

On March 20th, I had an agreement with one USA software company (web3devs.com) about developing one Cryptocurrency (Similar to Bitcoin) for me, total value is $1500. On March 23rd, I paid $1500 to them through Paypal. It was stated clearly in the agreement that the total fee including wallet with our name and logo, mining pool and block explorer, lead time: 15 days, but they delay again and again and finally sent me the system on June 20th (It costs 3months keep me waiting) and the whole system is not compliant with the agreement.

1. Lead time in the agreement stated 15 days, but they delay to take 90 days.
2. In the agreement stated it should be premined 15% and send to me, but in the beginning they said premined already done by them, but finally they said they didn't make the premine.
3. Wallets are all without our logo
4. Mining pool is not done, they just copy other coin's source code without changing anything.
5. Explorer is also not done, just other coin's source code.

Now they said everything is completed and they refused to continue the development or refund the money to me. What can I do next ? Is there any place I can claim for compensation from them ?

Below is this scammer's information:

Web:
http://web3devs.com

Tel: 3122388571
Email:
james@web3devs.com
brian@web3devs.com
jruffer@gmail.com
Paypal name:DBMigrate

Thanks!

Business disputes are a hassle. I suggest you give up and re-find a company to do it.

You need to be very careful when you are outsourcing a project remotely. This is a common Senior.

If you have contact with them then instead of pushing them, try to BE with them and agree with whatever they say. Be nice with them until you get SOMETHING back from them. Don't give them anymore money until the end product meet your desire.

PS: You should move the topic to the scam accusation section.

Side note: I see you paid with paypal and it that case you can make a dispute. Talk to paypal and see how strong your dispute will turn out. If you see you have better chance to win the dispute then ignore my first strategy. Dispute and get the money back. You can dispute a paypal transaction within 180 days, if my memory is serving right.  

Thanks! I had tried to claim with Paypal but unfortunately Paypal know nothing about Cryptocurrency. The software company show Paypal what they had delivered to me but everything they created is nothing useful and was not compliant with the agreement, Paypal was unable to determine the cryptocurrency or codes and rejected to send back the money.

Since they are based in the US i guess you could take legal action against them, but even if you win, i really doubt you get your money back, (or more than you spent on the trial).

Maybe you could bluff them in the hope that they make a move (paying you back), although that could also go sideways very quickly..

(But i don't really see what you have left to lose in this case, since i highly doubt they'll finish your project if this is how they delivered it to you in the first place, ( copy pasted wallets & blockexplorer etc..))

They know cryptocurrency but they won't involve themselves to transactions like this one and they are basing on their terms and agreement so if nothing has found wrong for the side of the receiver, they can't do anything.

What they can only see is the product was delivered to you and it's not their problem anymore even if its useless to you.

You may try what Adolfin said of taking a legal action but it will cost you time and money again.

It probably isn't a good idea to mention cryptocurrency. Maybe just call it a "project" instead. PayPal is against transfer of cryptocurrency. Yes, I know what you did wasn't a cryptocurrency transfer per se, but a service purchase that only concerns cryptocurrency. Though I would still personally wouldn't mention crypto if I were you, just to be sure. They might misunderstand what you say about crypto.

I think you will find a solution in the legal section of this poem where there are some lawyers who might give you the exact guidance to deal with this situation.

* Legal Section (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=74.0).

As you said, you have agreements with the company, there is a possibility of getting the refund if your case is strong enough.

I double the legal section. Although your answers should be in the document you've signed with the development company.

If you didn't... well, say goodbye to your funds.

I'm not sure that all the services could have been done by the US software company for only $1500 dollars. It obviously seems to be a scam.

Actually you can try FBI.
This is not a joke, there are institutions that can help foreigner when scammed by USA company/citizen.

I do not know why you paid everything upfront ? You should pay phase by phase.
You are complaining in this forum , do you got any recommendation/ contact in this forum?
Leave the -ve feedback for their work from where ever you get there recommendation.

(I do not how much will cost for this work  but little bit skeptical that a US company charged $1500 only for 15 days work)

 I hope they will honor the work after feedback but if you need to find another developer and company then make sure you pay phase by phase using some kind of escrowed payment system.

I hope you never gave them your KYC. THey could get nasty with you.

If you are right according the agreement you made with this company, you can sue them if you can't come to a reasonable conclusion by talking. That's all you can do.

I've also fallen into the same situation. And then I lost $ 1000. So sad.

I feel sympathy for your encounter with such a thing. You can now report this to the local network management agency. If you don't get a response, then you probably won't be able to recover your losses because most of these cryptocurrency frauds are not. Get legal supervision!

Condolence to you!
Can you tell us how we can share the experience?

Legal action for 1,5k USD? Give me a break. He was being cheap. Wanted a coin with a wallet, explorer and everything done for a few dollars and got his money's worth. What would you expect? That a team of programmers will develop a coin for you for a payment similar to what a person writing in a forum signature campaign is earning every month? You could charge them back when they missed the deadline, but chose to wait 90 days before deciding to take action.
Also, don't expect FBI to take action when only 1.5k is at stake.

Sorry to hear about the scam.

As you used Paypal, you can try to dispute it and get your money back: https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/security/seller-dispute-resolution

Use escrow next time. You can find escrows here or use the built-in escrow of xbtfreelancer.com (trusted bitcoin freelance website). In the case of a scam or problems, the escrow can handle the dispute and give your money back.

If you want to take legal action, contact a lawyer with knowledge about US business law. However the expenses may be too high to justify legal action for $1500.

PayPal should be safe enough to be used. What's wrong with it in comparison to Escrow?

Paypal requires personal information and bank account to withdraw funds, and can freeze your money at any time for no reason. Just search "paypal froze funds" or "paypal account limited" in google.
Bitcoin doesnt do this, as long as you hold your private keys, the money is yours.
As bitcoin doesnt have chargebacks, use trusted p2p escrow for safe purchases.