Was that a typo above? Did you instead mean the more you buy the more I scam, right?

You claim to have 84 BTC and you want 5500 Euros (USD 6800) for each coin when the market price stands at 11k.

Were you sober when you posted this? Or high on something? If you send your 84 BTC to a trusted escrow here, I will find the funds. Wait, before I do that, what was that? No escrow? Oh well then, your scam didn't work. Again.

It's certainly optional. Nobody should be forced to do something they don't like. But having that option mentioned was a nice gesture...

Oh wait... what did I just read there. Escrow only available until I give you the tracking number Nice fine print, that one. So buyers are only protected until that minute you give them the tracking number. What happens after they get the tracking number is anyone's guess. But let me guess what scenarios might actually transpire:

1. Rocks instead of fake phones shipped?
2. Nah, rocks would be too expensive. An empty box perhaps?
3. Nothing shipped.

What then is the purpose of using escrow if the buyer is not protected and assured of the phone's delivery?

It's a Friday and almost end of the month so you might be forgiven for admitting you're in dire need of money for the usual bills due soon.

But wait.. aren't you buying coins on the exchange section? Will that also be Escrow only available until I dispute it or was that a baseless assumption and you expect instead to get the coins first?

Edit.. uhmm, there is no such thing as authentic iPhone X's at discounted factory prices in China. It's RMB 8388 = USD 1326 per unit in mainland China. https://www.apple.com/cn/shop/buy-iphone/iphone-x

Apple's factories don't sell them underground.

PayPal to BTC from a newbie? What could possibly go wrong? Should we just ignore the risk of payment later being reversed? And he can do it anytime up to 180 days! Sweet comfort there. Might as well leave that money on your PayPal account. You don't want PayPal messing up your financial life when he later disputes the payment and charges it back!

Then of course there is no mention about escrow. No use talking about it anyway. Escrow is useless when you trade your coins for PayPal. What can that trusted escrow do when you send the coins and he later tells PayPal to reverse the payment? No wonder escrow was left out of the whole picture.

All those smiley faces make me think this is one big trap. Don't fall into it.

Anyone doing this? If so, check the cash carefully and do it in a super safe location. I suggest not doing it in Russia. If things go south, expect more trouble with the authorities. The Russian government is not exactly known for being bitcoin friendly.

Another thing.. USD 1M+. If the trade happens to be a successful one, getting that kind of money out of Russia is the next challenge. I'm fast forwarding too much.. let me slow down. Think first about the potential risks. Let's say you are handed $1M+ cash somewhere in downtown Moscow. Your bitcoin buyer knows you're all by yourself with that money and he now has the coins. Picture the next scenario. Will you see your family again? Will you be on tomorrow's headlines? "Unidentified body found..."

And how can you prove that you will not reverse the payment? PayPal payments are notoriously reversible.

Never accept PayPal from untrusted sources. Think about it, 300k USD by PayPal daily. Only mentally challenged people will take this offer seriously.

As for emailing him or her, expect fake proof.

Probably meant to entice people to send coins to their hot wallet which they need to process all these pending withdrawals.

Or simply not process the transactions and keep the entire coins.. the infamous exit strategy.

When you see the first warning signs, never ignore it. Try to withdraw all coins you own on the exchange. If it doesn't work, don't send them more coins, even if they offer twice the market price!

The scam is almost exposed. i`m usually use localbutcoins.com as escrow service but you don't know your Localbitcoins profile? It's simple proof you exist on Localbitcoins and of your claims of being a frequent trader on that platform!

When buying bitcoins, everyone, do your due diligence and be very cautious. Scammers will try to find any weakness and use it to steal coins or cash.

Approach cash deposit and bank transfer offers with extreme caution. MITM scams are rife and if you act as a receiver of scammed funds, the police WILL go after you. Don't underestimate UAE fraud laws. You will be extradited and jailed. They even hunt non-paying credit card holders via Interpol.

http://www.mynewsdesk.com/uk/stirling-och-partners/pressreleases/3rd-british-nationals-arrested-in-3-months-in-europe-on-interpol-notices-issued-by-uae-banks-for-minor-unpaid-credit-card-or-loan-payments-2170258

How much more for outright fraud?

If offered payment by cash deposit or bank transfer, very carefully check and verify account ownership if it matches the bitcoin buyer. Emirates NBD is a bank which recently did massive reversals of funds paid to the BitOasis exchange, the Middle East main cryptocurrency exchange. If at all possible, insist to trade in person in a safe public location such as a mall (Dubai Mall or Mall of the Emirates would be a good place) or a bank.

If offered cash, check your Dirhams carefully and make sure they are genuine. If offered other currencies such as Kuwaiti Dinars, check too and make sure they are not the demonetized version. There are old Kuwaiti Dinars which are worthless and scammers use them to defraud the naive and gullible. Check and verify everything before clicking on the send or pay button on your wallet.

Be on your guard when buying or selling coins.

Mistertango's accounts were probably originally meant for a local audience in Lithuania. I'm guessing the customer base ended up being too small to support the cost of operations, given the free-account-free-card price model, and they then ventured beyond Lithuania, hoping the demand for a service similar to the direct banking system (or the branchless kind of banking) might open doors to more customers.

It did, especially after the Wave Crest fiasco, but then again it also opened more doors to potential problems such as being the next Wave Crest. They do value their Lietuvos Bankas licence nr 11 to operate as an electronic payments company which is perhaps why they are being cautious and erring on the side of caution by closing accounts, instead of giving account holders a chance to explain themselves.

The problem with allowing these accounts to be freely used for receiving third party payments is it becomes a conduit for scams and fraud. Scammers will instruct their victims to wire funds into these accounts which are then withdrawn from ATMs. Difficult to investigate these crimes even if the accounts were verified with passports or ID.

I am just guessing... he probably loaned it to himself.

I know and I'm convinced that the coins are for sale. The collateral is how he wants them paid for.

It's either that or the tried and tested collateral scam.

The vouch knows he is safe. If the rest of the "loans" go south, not his problem and his account is left scratch free.

Let's see how this develops...

There are two ways:

1. VISA Personal Payments (VPP) or VISA Direct (US cards only) and

2. MasterCard Send.

These are P2P payment systems and the sending entity is usually a bank or a service with access to that service. A few banks allow their customers to use it on their online banking platform.

Cex.io is probably an approved provider of this service.

I have been using MT's account and card since August last year. No issues or complaints whatsoever. I think complications start when you receive money from third parties which you then immediately move or forward to other parties or exchanges. They are probably becoming stricter after Visa and MasterCard both started putting a lot of pressure on EEA-based card issuers, especially those which have a relationship with cryptocurrency users.

Sad to see this tightening of the noose spreading like an epidemic. Compliance is now spelled with a capital and bold C in the financial sector. To stay in business, the rule is to really know your customers and not just know them superficially.

Edit.. just checked my MT account. Still working and no restrictions. All these blocked-and-locked stories are making me nervous so I will probably load less coins from now on.

"Seriously controlling chargebacks" will be difficult because accepting credit cards as a merchant is a two way street, meaning you cannot unilaterally assume that your customers are the only potential scammers. Merchants have been known to scam too.

A system allowing a fair and unbiased examination of chargeback situations is, yes, an important element of any card-accepting business to minimize revenue losses but this must incorporate a system designed to equally protect the customer.

You must have a relationship with a bank or payment processor with a robust and established acquirer agreement with either or both Visa and MasterCard (or other brands such as AmEx, Discover, UnionPay etc). If you do not have access to a local acquiring bank, there are online services offering similar services. They process credit and debit card payments too. PayPal is one. 2Checkout is another.

No ID verification will expose you to a mountain of risks.

And it's also a channel where you are exposed to a whole new slew of risks including but not limited to escrowless trades and shady payment methods.

It's also a channel where transactions are less transparent and exposes one to deceptive and underhanded ways of trading.

Engage at your own risk.

Mistertango. It's a MasterCard too. It works just like Wave Crest. MasterCard is the brand, Wave Crest is the issuer. In the case of my card, MasterCard is the brand and MisterTango is an affiliate of the issuer, WireCard in the UK.

I just loaded it with coins last night and used it to pay for something at a shop this morning so it can't be MasterCard. Must be Wave Crest going through compliance issues.

Use a trusted escrow for this transaction and be careful when offered a reversible payment method. PayPal, Venmo and others are such risky payment methods. Never accept such payments.

If offered a SWIFT wire, do your due diligence to check originator details including confirmation of account ownership and if it nominally matches the person buying the bitcoins.

If offered cash settlement, meet in a safe public location. Avoid remote and unknown locations. Avoid invitations to be driven or taken somewhere.

And finally, be aware of something called the "increments scam". It is a scam variant which is used when a scammer fails to convince you to send the entire coins upfront. They will then try to convince you to send less "to check or verify your credibility". Don't fall for that nonsense. Use escrow even for $10.

Very difficult for the wider public audience to embrace this technology or even use it in the retail and commercial environment if the joining process alone is this complicated and difficult. Time is money. Waiting a month or longer is simply not a tenable solution. The technology itself is a near-perfect payment system (if not an already perfect one) but the way it is used and managed is far from perfect. Addressing the risks and imperfections, including the risks of fraud and scams which are the core causes of all these complicated procedures, might be an important step in changing the landscape.

The question is how to achieve real changes and manage or minimize risks. Introducing new irreversible fraud-proof payment methods? Regulating bitcoin or those entities trading it?

Curious as to how new currencies can be established, printed/minted and issued legally. Bitcoin is legal yes but buying a currency printer from a banknote printer such as for example De La Rue or Oberthur Technologies won't be easy. They will want to see official paperwork from a recognized government.

With governments having an inviolable monopoly over their banknote printing and coin minting operations, how can one legally print or mint a new currency? Privately printing or minting an existing currency is of course unlawful which would fall under counterfeiting laws. But minting a coin which doesn't exist (yet) is not illegal. Or is it?

Or are there laws making it illegal to establish or disseminate a new currency?

Helps to be transparent so people can see your intended ICO's roadmap.

It's not really about asking for money from the team involved but more about reining them in and making them part of the entire operation. After all, if you are not tech savvy as you claim, then you need people who are and who can help this project reach a wider audience. This is usually where the scam begins. It's the audience who then injects the money into the ICO which is why the contention of you "not asking money or anything from the team" might be a valid one, yes, because


is where the money will come from.

So basically and essentially, you need a team of scammers to help your ICO grow. Right?

Will reverse my opinion above and apologize if you can prove this is a legitimate operation.

That's it. They covered every loophole. The two main prepaid card brands, Visa and MasterCard, shut down their entire Wave Crest affiliation. No more Gibraltar cards for now.

Options left is WageCan. It's a Chinese card provider so they have their own rules but they still do strict KYC/AML checks. Now that MasterCard shut down their Gibraltar issuer, WageCan will make their card fee of $200+ even more non-negotiable as it is now so if you want it, be prepared to pay.

It probably has something to do with Wave Crest violating their contractual agreement with Visa and MasterCard. This is not Visa and MC being against bitcoin because my non-WaveCrest MasterCard issued by another card provider works perfectly and is still loadable and spendable. No emails or messages from them about shutting down.

Not sure what Wave Crest did. They have a copy of my passport and utility bill when I applied for the Cryptopay Visa last year. I hope all our information is safely stored or deleted and discarded in a secure and permanent manner.