Bitcoin Forum

I withdrew about 21 btc from my Mt. Gox account on April 20th.  I did everything the same as always and sent the coins to my wallet on my desk top.

Well the coins never showed.  I definitely waited long enough for the block chain to download and after a few emails back and forth with Mt. Gox they have basically said the coins were transferred and I need to figure it out.  They said I should talk to my wallet provider but that makes no sense to me since I have it on my desk top.  If this sounds stupid it's because I'm not what you call tech savvy, but I've done transfers to this wallet before and had no problems.  There is also no record on my wallet of any coins coming or going for this time period.

Someone please point me in the right direction.  I like bitcoin but not if I am going to get burned by it.

If you got burned, it wasn't by bitcoin. 

First, go here...

http://blockexplorer.com/

and input the address that you sent the coins to.  Make sure that it's correct via the MtGox history page. Type that into that search box, and you should be able to find the transaction if it has been included into a block. 

Second, don't trust websites ran by people that you have never met to be honest with your money; if they screwed you, you have no recourse, but I doubt that is what has happened.  MtGox has a fair reputation, even after the flash crash & hack debacle.

I just looked it up and it has a sent notice about 8 hours later.

The address has a couple small received amounts shown and that's it.

So I guess somehow, someone ripped me, but I don't know how they got me.  Can anyone tell me how to be safer with my coin and if this btc is gone forever?  I assume it is.  I just want to know if I bother to continue with btc since there seems to be no recourse if your money disappears.

not enough information.  what do you mean by a sent notice?

If you'd rather have a big iron fist above you dictating to whom you may or may not send money to, you obviously aren't ready for Bitcoin yet.

So you are sayiing that when looking at the blockchain (e.g., using http://Blockchain.info ) you can see the transaction from Mt. Gox (based on the date and the amount) to your address, but then there is another transaction that occurred after where the funds have since been spent?


Which client?  Are you using passphrase encryption?


Bitcoin transactions are nonreversible so if the above scenario is what occurred (a transaction spent your coins and it wasn't you that spent them) then yes, the funds are gone.
 

Nobody can spend your coins unless they have access to your private keys stored in your wallet.  There are differing levels of protection, suitable for different requirements.  Of course, a paper wallet created offline using a bootable CD and an "air gap" to the network is one of the most secure methods, but that isn't convenient.    Adding passphrase encryption to your wallet is going to protect your wallet from the risk where your wallet.dat somehow gets into the wrong hands.    It won't protect you though if your system is compromised with spyware that contains keylogging software, for instance.  Running the Bitcoin client locally does have the dependency that your system is kept secure.

There are protections that will protect even against that risk, to some degree.  Mt. Gox, for instance, offers a Yubikey hardware device that is needed in order to login and withdraw from your account with them.  There are other solutions from other exchanges as well.  Even Blockchain offers an optional two-factor authentication method.

But if your coins were spent and you didn't do it, then the prudent course of action is to assume your system is compromised and proceed with an appropriate course of action from there.  If you still have other bitcoins stored, then backup the wallet and recover the funds elsewhere first.