Bitcoin Forum

Hi everyone,

I am new to this forum and in a situation where I need some advice.
A person I know, who I have been in contact with for months now (through social media), has been trading bitcoin for me and some friends. Everything seems to be fine and seems to be really trustworthy.

However.., now he is asking me to deposit 2 bitcoin on my Blockchain(.com) account, where he previously has had access to for the following reason;

He tells me he added me to bitcoin mining but there was a `server error' which he tracked down to my account and somehow all bitcoin is `encrypted in 1 block'. The result is a large amount of bitcoin in a `non-spendable/watch only' wallet that is sitting on my account.
He says he needs a minimum of 2 bitcoin to be added to my account to remotely start `decryption of the encrypted block', which he cannot deposit, since he is region locked. (We are from different regions)

So, to me this sounds like a scam.
1: I have done my research and found similar constructions related to non-spendable wallet scams.
2: Yes, he had access to the account, so could simply have added the watch only wallet..
3: I can not find anything about large amounts of bitcoin being encrypted in one block, and decryption being possible only after a deposit of x amount of bitcoin.

So the question is; what is your opinion on this topic?
I also noticed that the value (in dollars) of the non-spendable bitcoin is affected by market fluctuations. So the value shifts depending on what the coins are worth. Is this normal for a non-spendable wallet?

thx!

It is a scam, the second you send him that 2 bitcoins, he'll either stop communicating with you, or if he feels you're gullible, he could come up with a different story to get more money from you, it's in your best interest to cut that communication with that scammer. What platform are you communicating in, report his account there, he is a scammer.
Never entrust your funds to someone else to trade for you, they(scammer)would initially build trust with their victims so you do not suspect anything, then you'll think they are trustworthy and can also refer others, the moment they've done that, they would start their request(scam attempt), just as you're asked to deposit 2 BTC for shit. If you do not know how to trade, do not trade till you've learnt how to do so.

Never trust anyone who you have met online. A lot of people will promise you a lot of income in exchange for their service, and to deposit that amount to ***.  Have encountered this kind of scheme before and in all different  ways. The only pthing you need to know is to never ever let anyone handle your money online.

Definitely a scam, OP. Do not fall for this kind of trap since he has an access  to your account. 2 btc is really huge, good thing you already have not give your full trust to him and you did a research about that kind of fraudalent act.


This is absurd. For him to be able to access it, he needs huge amount of btc? That's not unbelievable.

How much Bitcoin do you deal with him before? This is an obvious scam. There is no way that if you send 2BTC in that wallet will solve the problem. First of all, why the heck it requires 2BTC to process that that queue BTC. In case there is bitcoin sitting in your wallet address. You need to contact miner to process your transaction and there is same case here with that. But putting 2BTC in your wallet will not solve anything, It will just solve the scammer needs. LMAO.

big or as small as the requested bitcoin deposit, if you don't know him well (family or good friends) please don't give it. because the world of the internet, especially bitcoin / cryptocurrency is a free world. scammers are everywhere. if you have 2BTC bitcoin, it's better to trade. if you can't then learn trade.

You need 2 BTC to solve this problem, I think this scamer you have to be logical in evaluating it, remember the people you know on the internet don't believe it 100% is not necessarily good, the scamer continues to seduce you to continue to deposit the funds needed.
Better 2 btc is used by you by investing long-term or trading without having to bother the problem, and leave friends like that.

Don't go for a second thinking, it is a pure scam. Feel happy that you haven't got trapped, because you were into some trade deals for a long time for you and your friends. Also keep your friends informed of the same, sometimes he might contact your friends and make them fall into the trap. Scammers try as many ways to get profited, and it is really hard to find it as their words will be so soft even the one who have doubt from the very beginning will believe.

1. A person you only know through social media(could be a catfish) is asking you to send funds on a wallet he previously had access to.
2. He's making up some techno mumbo jumbo in the hopes of you not knowing what they mean(nothing).
3. Region block with bitcoin, seriously? lmao

Those 3 should be enough for you to see that it's a scam, without needing to dig further.

I once also got a fraud like this so often contacted me via telegram, first he asked me to help him withdraw BTC in his account and give me account access, but suddenly I could not withdraw it because the funds were frozen and had to make a deposit of around 0.5 BTC , he asked me again to lend 0.5 BTC and I will be given 2 BTC if the funds there can be withdrawn, I know the person who contacted me is the owner of the site, so same as above, never trust people who ask you to transfer money or bitcoin, always ask people in this forum

This is a very different scam tactic. You mentioned that he traded for you and some of your friends and now he  wants 2 BTC for whatever reason he told you. Two things are involved here
1: Either he got hacked and the hacker wants to seize the opportunity but this is slightly possible, or
2. He believes he has gained your trust and wants to use that weakness against you.
Overall conclusion, don't send anything to any wallet and stop sending random stranger on the internet to do things for you.

if you've never met him, don't ever do that. many people try to commit fraud like that. sometimes they build trust first, before taking a greater advantage, moreover, you are in a different country.
just curious, whether from the trading results generated by that person ever sent to you? whatever the reason, 2 bitcoin is too big, and it's too risky for people you don't know.

Why does he have access to your own blockchain account? You must be trustworthy enough to trust your wallet to some stranger.

Did he discuss it before adding you to bitcoin mining? Did he consider your own decision or you just give him every right to take actions without your consideration.

For me it is a scam, you clearly said that "He needs a minimum of 2 bitcoin", not for you but for him. You're at a disadvantage here, he has access to your account and if he stole your funds you have nothing to do to get it back.
Don't have any second thought, you should not agree to all his terms, consider your own thinking.

It's a scam, remove all means the he can access your account, send it to other wallet he didn't know or have access with. At first he will sure really get your trust and might be doing the job properly and once you trust him already you'll notice you don't earn anymore in trading and probably you will lose all and he will ask for more. Don't trust anyone try to learn trading on your own or simply hold those potential coins.

Here's the first question you can ask yourself. Has he risked more then 2 BTC worth of his money trading with me, or could he possibly only have been trading small amounts like 0.01 every so often in order to build trust and try pull this scam with me?

This just does not work. There is no such thing as decryption of encrypted blocks and you wouldn't need 2 BTC for it. Ask him to send you 2 BTC which you can deposit in the account if you want to help him.

What he is likely going to do is find a way to access your wallet via some backdoor method and end up stealing your coins that way.

I agree.
Actually the scammer already got his trust since he has given already access to his account, and now the scammer is trying to take an action and taking advantage of the trust he had given.
He should start not to rely on anyone when it comes to his money because if he continues what he is doing, he will only lose all his hard-earned money.

I support others on the matter of not sending 2 BTC. Those things he told you about mining and watch-only address sound like jibberish that is put into smart words. And one more thing: if you have any BTC in the wallet to which that person used to have access (so, possibly, still does), GET THAT BITCOIN OUT while you still can (that is, if it is really in that wallet). Be careful doing business with this person. If someone says that more of your money is needed for whatever reason, it's a scam. I'm glad you spotted it and at least decided to ask about it here. You could have lost a lot of money.

I had an experience of being scam before so better take advise from others here of do not trust anyone online. The mere fact he had an access to your account and in a quick of time he might scam all of your money. There are many scammers doing this kind of thing, they handle your money and asking to deposit some btc. Might as well do on your own to have a return of profit to all of your funds.

You know that friend from social media only and will he send you 2 BTC? I wish I had friends like that. :)

Did you ask him? Why doesn't he create a few different blockchain wallets?

Not %99 - Definitely SCAM attemp.

Don't let his words deceive you because you can't see people's true intentions with your money, they are just probably taking advantage of you to get what they want so be cautious. Some of us are falling into some sort of scam by believing on something that is quite impossible, you can't easily say that they are being real unless they have shown you some proofs and evidences. Be careful especially on making decision with your bitcoins because one mistake can change everything and it is possible that you will lose your bitcoin for nothing.

do not easily trust anyone and do not be easily tempted, especially with friends who only you know on social media, avoid sending bitcoin to anyone especially in large numbers, in my opinion it's like fraud.

First of all, it isn't very wise for you to have someone else handle your money and trade for you. And it seems like you have little undrstanding of your crypto venture and just let this guy work with your money whichever way he likes. Most of us would recognize this instantly to be a scam. 2 btc at this point is quite a huge amount of money already so you better be careful. Question is, will heed the advice you get here?

2 Bitcoin is very much moneyand you have to think twice before depositing your money with someone else. Remember, at the moment it is very difficult to get Bitcoin and if you don't want to lose Bitcoin then you have to be careful. yes of course this is a scam. listen to the advice of good people here if you want to be saved. at this time there are so many scam now, don't believe it easily

OP seems to trust so easily that he was able to let someone handle his money.
You have a point, for us that have been here for too long will easily recognize this as a scam and will not trust someone with our own money, trust is really important and it shouldn't be given to anyone especially to a stranger.

Those people who normally promises big income or returns with a little investment is almost always a scam, and scam mostly work online because it is where they can easily get people. Before you invest to someone or on anything make sure you know everything about that person or project because scammers are all over the net now waiting for their chance to fraud people so don’t trust anyone easily.

Indeed. Scammers can easily attract or convince other people to participate and to invest in their project, if they make a platform that is too good to be true that they make a lot of promises for investors will be forced to invest their money. I also think that even you check every information in a project it could be a scam because most scam projects is unpredictable, that is why you should be careful on where you invest your money.

And that was  obviously a fraud and want   you to send btc to the address  that  you have both can access . After that the btc you send to that address will transfer to another address. If hes really miners they should show and teach you how to mine not  asking for a btc. Social media is full of scammer everything you do you should always careful and think always  before given a trust to people.

That's why we should not trust anyone here in crypto, especially in social media and in telegram, as there's a lot of strategies of scammers for them to be able to make a quick buck, so we must be very careful all the time, especially those pretending that they don't know how to trade and they want you to trade for their coins/tokens, a lot of people were victim with this strategy. 

You are right, we cannot trust anyone when it comes to money with the exception of your family. people outside of your family cannot be ascertained their honesty, and all things that are of value have a sensitive nature and therefore it would be better if managed alone

Someone you know through social media and you have been in touch for a long time. What is your level of understanding about them? Have you met him yet? What is the relationship level of the two?
If you have met him, you know his home and your feelings are deep enough, you are rich enough, then try sending him 2 Bitcoin. If he rejects your message the next time you go, bring more friends to his house and get his property back. In the case that you said above I am sure it is a scam. You don't need to learn much about him. Create in this topic a pool we will vote for you ;D

Never ever trust a stranger whom you haven't met in person and even if you met already do not ever trust someone to have an access to your account. It's like you have been giving him the key to your house and he can freely do whatever he wants on it. That being said you will most likely near to get scam the moment you start to send him 2 BTC and that's it. End of communication!

I recall the year 2016 when I was introduced to cryptocurrency and advised to invest in Bitcoin and Ethereum, while they promised a high-interest income.  It looked really strange and risky for me, while the voiced opportunities looked very unrealistic.  Nevertheless, I trusted those people who gave me this advice.  I will not say anything about the results of my investments in 2016, because everything is clear already, if I say that I was selling cryptocurrency at the end of 2017.  I earned not bad, but at the same time I am grateful to the source whom I trusted.  But I will always insist that almost all promises of big incomes and easy money from unknown sources are always a scam, although there are pleasant exceptions.

It is clearly a scam, If you really want to mine Bitcoin it is better to do it on your own so you could monitor it properly.
2 BTC is a huge amount and with that money you could already set up your own mining rig and start mining.
Always be careful on who you would trust specially on the internet we don't really know how long we could trust them because some of them are being nice to us to gain our trust and scam us.

yes that's right, at least we have to know him closely. in crypto and also the internet is full of high anonymity that we can trust are the people closest to the rest we must always question and not give more trust

Here is a golden rule which is going to keep you safe for the rest of your life:

If you cannot be sure whether if it is a scam or not, It is a scam without a doubt. Follow this rule and you'll never get scammed every again.

In this situation, since you are not sure about it, yes it is a scam.

To most people that's more than clear, but there are people who keep falling for such scams, especially those who are either greedy or just in need of a financial boost. It's very sad that it happens but it's their problem.

At the end of the day, people learn from their mistakes by losing money. It means that you did something wrong. If people were to profit from greed and stupidity they wouldn't learn anything because it allowed them to make money.

Hi,

Thanks everyone for responding. I think you have confirmed my suspicion. He also sent me the following message:

'It's blockchain mining. Your blockchain alongside with several hundreds blockchain has been connected to the mining rig. The more connected blockchains, the faster the hash rate. You'll be earning freely and continually directly into your wallet per btc block mined and distributed, could be daily or weekly depending on hashrate.'

During this connection process to the mining rig, the server error occured and the Block got encrypted. So his description of the mining process seems legid. But how the Block got encrypted during connection still riddles me.

Does anyone have any information on that, and does anyone know if the non-spendable wallet should be showing market fluctuations?

Thx again.

Money to "unlock" money is pure scam. If he gave you money, keep it or return it to the same address he send it from, that is your call. But don't give anything yours to the scammer.

There is no such thing as needing money to unlock money, that is absolute and pure lie.

Just tell him no, and if he keeps pestering, block / remove the contact from your social media. There is no need to confront him, just say no and move along. Maybe later post an "unrelated message" about how requesting money to unlock money is fraud to your social media...

Buy your own bitcoins, and keep them in your own separate wallet. Market fluctuations have nothing to do with anything, Bitcoin is another coin, its value is not locked to any other coin, or asset. It has its own value, and only the market decides what that value is at any given time, therefore it fluctuates freely.

Its time to request for your bitcoin if he can send it. Get yourself a wallet with your private keys, send the address.It might be difficult to recover but get to know him more, get friends to have access to his detail by location and on social media. You could get to know his friends or people around his location that can help you though to him.

Umm.. you really asking if this is a scam or not? Wake up man. This is a simple scam which only "stupid" people will fall for. The classic build trust and then scam game. He traded with you to build his trust. He got access to your account (I don't know why in the world would you give some random people to access your account? Probably gained your trust already and he noticed it!) and once you send those 2 btc *poof* he is no where to be found!

Yes, not the first of its kind and would never be the last of it too. Don't fall for these cheap scams in this industry. Anybody who wants your $10ks in order to make you millions is just building castles in the air as they have nothing to show off than their dubious plans. The best investment is to hold for long and buy the dip especially in these times..

One thing that is quite confusing me is "giving account access" which is actually a very prohibited basis to give to anyone who just needs to be kept secret. I agree with the opinion above that clearly this is a scam, reinforced by telling you to send bitcoin to your account address which he himself can access.
it's a shame you can do this but it has already happened.

This is the most stupid scam attempt I've ever seen.  >:(
If anyone asks you to send him bitcoins,that's a scam.It doesn't matter what's his excuse or reason.

yes it is indeed a mistake, whatever the reason is if you do not recognize the person then potentially as fraud. I hope this does not happen to people anymore, this mode is more targeting new people or those with less experience.

Well, just by reading at what you are telling I can pretty much tell it is a big scam. 2 bitcoin for decrypting? lol absurd scammer.
Just troll him, tell him to decrypt first and then let him deduct the payment from what he can get. I'm sure he'll stop talking to you right away.

People can get so creative these days just to be able to victimize people from their hard-earned Bitcoin. While they can be able to fool some newbies, never allow such a "jerk" to be able to get into you. Of course, not unless you can be happy being one of the victim statistics all around online and littering in the world of cryptocurrency. Most of these people are appealing to our greed, that small idea in our head that what if we are missing something and what if the offer can be true. Good thing that you doubt the offer, otherwise your 2 Bitcoin can be gone to air as soon as you made the transfer, no ifs no buts. The only we can effectively fight scammers is by educating ourselves and always using the power of Google to see if others had been victimized by the same scheme.

Then you already have the answer to your question.

I hope you don't follow what he wants because that will make you lose the bitcoin. 2 bitcoin equal to $14,xxx, and I don't think that you want to give that money to "your friend."

I hope that you already make a profit from him, so you don't have to do anything.  Next time, you don't have to make a deal with someone you don't know that you meet on social media. No guarantee if they can help you to make money. Be careful if that smells like money because people will do anything to get the money.

You say that you have known him for a long time but only with social media do you communicate without face-to-face that must be a great suspicion.
whatever the form, if he asks for something like bitcoin then just leave the conversation and stay away from him because it is certain he is trying to deceive you with words.

like even in description that seems to be scam I mean 'he needs a minimum of 2 bitcoin to be added to my account to remotely start `decryption of the encrypted block' that can not be deposited

The point that you will requested to deposit 2btc is obviously a scam. Much better not to easily trust anyone especially in terms of money. Think many times before doing such action since you are in doubt. Just remember there are many scammers in this crypto industry.

Viewed from any side it seems to lead to fraud. Remember buddy, do not believe in people you have just met, who promised to provide large profits after sending certain funds, I suggest to leave it immediately. You better manage the funds yourself, learn to trade, rather than just relying on others. Logically, if that person can benefit so much, why doesn't he manage it himself and instead invite those of you who only know basically through the internet? think again.

I think this is a scam 2 bitcoin is not money that is small you do not be too trusting of others you can lose a lot of money my advice you should end the relationship with your friend or better you report to the police if your friends convicted better not make a deposit to your friend's account is clearly fraud.

Definitely a scam, OP. Do not fall for this kind of trap since he has an access  to your account.

yeah he's a scam I've seen this case so many times, often started by hello and hi, my simple job in every case is to press the block button, especially don't trust anyone online , everything on the internet is hard to guess what your job is just judging properly

Never, never send your assets to non-yours wallets. Only to your address.

i tried to play along to someone who tried to scam me. when he see i'm asking many question like which job sites he had been and about the profile he had he already thought i'm already trying to learn who he is. he knows i'm not sending the amount he already cursed me.

when someone asks btc from you for nothing, its always going to be a scam. there is nowhere else the story will go but scam.

Very obvious one. Its very easy to spot scam, if you feel like its a scam, it is.
Just stop what you are doing, calm down, think about it after pause, then decide finally.
You will save a lot of money :)

It's obviously a scam attempt. Yes it is a scam and you should make it public to everyone about what address that scammer is using and any information that scammer is using so that other newbies like you should have knowledge about situation like you experienced. Anything that ask you to deposit first is a scam so don't deposit at your own risk.

I've read so many articles about such scams, people offer something like profit in the future, all you have to do it pay them in crypto and then they can simply vanish. When it comes to bigger amount of money never trust people, unless that's your family or your friends. Nowadays, when the Internet grew, you can find scams literally everywhere...