[What happened:]

What happened:
- Someone or something (support reps blamed the system) at kucoin froze my account demanding ID documents to withdraw without any prior notice after I discovered this when I attempted to sell my XMR for BTC on Aug. 28th 2020 and contacted them for support via livechat

- First support rep named "winnie" via live chat lied to me and claimed it was a technical issue, it was discovered during second live chat that it was not a technical issue but in fact "mandatory kyc for me" all of a sudden after being a customer since Aug. 3rd, 2020

- Withdrawal restriction was not known until I attempted to withdraw and 4 hours passed (now 18hours) with withdraws never showing up, this restriction is not stated anywhere in any policy, in fact their very own moderator clearly states kyc is not mandatory in the first sentence of the first reply to someone else experiencing this issue with them -> "https://old.reddit.com/r/kucoin/comments/hk3ecg/kucoin_is_not_letting_my_friend_withdraw_and_is/fwqfm5f/" screenshot -> https://imgur.com/WrO4khK

- Spoke to support rep "winnie" a second time, who eventually admitted my account was frozen and while talking with "winnie" an email arrived demanding ID documents, the same support rep who initially lied and claimed that I was experiencing a technical issue.  Then also admitted multiple times, 3 to be exact that kyc is not required to withdraw
screenshots:
https://imgur.com/mQd6QV7
https://imgur.com/TFi9Pso
https://imgur.com/GqQPppw

- Third livechat and second support rep named "snow" who also sent the email shown in the reddit link ("https://old.reddit.com/r/kucoin/comments/hk3ecg/kucoin_is_not_letting_my_friend_withdraw_and_is/") also repeated the non-existent policy of demanding my ID documents to allow my withdrawal, did not respond to any direct questions about this non-existent wording or non-existent policy, also wasting more time pretending to not know anything, another tactic witnessed at scam exchanges
screenshots:
https://imgur.com/B4Zdxmj
https://imgur.com/JweJUzO

- Third support rep named "flower" like the others admitted "kyc is not mandatory" then back tracks and claims that it is for me and I must do so or they will not "help" me with the problem they caused, in these screenshots they have increased my limits but I have no actual ability to do anything, I guess this is something they forced after emails to try and make it match against their invalid policy demands for ID documents, regardless there is no policy they have written for public viewing that states kyc is required to withdraw.
screenshots:
https://imgur.com/yuP17Sy
https://imgur.com/MLs3CvJ
https://imgur.com/2OcWH0
https://imgur.com/mfKaciY
https://imgur.com/px3408f
https://imgur.com/oOgC0Am

- in the links they sent me there is no such thing that says kyc is required to withdraw, those links are:
   "https://support.kucoin.plus/hc/en-us/articles/360025469474-How-to-Finish-the-KYC-Verification-Process-" and the text within towards the bottom "Please rest assured that functionality such as deposits, withdrawal, and trading will remain accessible in accordance with non-KYC verified account rules." screenshot: https://imgur.com/Kk1QbEg

   "https://support.kucoin.plus/hc/en-us/articles/360015102254-About-KYC-Verification" and the relevant text directly underneath a chart that shows the transaction abilities of non-kyc accounts, kyc1 and kyc2 accounts clearly within states "We do strongly suggest our clients complete the KYC verification." screenshot: https://imgur.com/p51Y2B8

   "ECDD.pdf - https://support.kucoin.plus/attachments/token/60oANFuSbNP065TL3En5kN0l2/?name=ECDD.pdf" which in turn takes you to "https://www.kucoin.com/account/kyc" after signing in.  So not an actual legitimate document that actually contains any kyc questionnaire, just force redirecting back to their kyc forms.

    "https://www.kucoin.com/news/en-kyc-user-identity-authentication-statement" This link clearly states that identity collection is to be done before a business relationship is created, see for yourself: "it is mandatory for KuCoin to establish and maintain the records of the identity proof and fund source of all our clients before creating a business relationship."  Doing so after the fact nullifies this policy immediately in any contract law.  Considering that not only is there evidence I have deposited but, withdrawn as the current evidence shows I am attempting to currently do that cannot be done without first depositing. screenshot: https://imgur.com/ocq64z9

- there is no policy that explicitly states in any clear terms or statements that kyc is required for withdrawals, in fact quite the opposite and when I requested any of the support reps for this policy they did not provide any link only continued the demand for ID documents

- they ignored the link I discovered on reddit where their own moderator states "kyc is not mandatory on kucoin" (see above)

- they ignored the wording of their own links sent to me in email about their own policies in which I highlight and point out there is no requirement of their own in their own wording on their own policy for what they are demanding

- In the emails to me all they do is repeat this same or similar line while claiming the links they sent state this being necessary

- I have recorded all the live conversations with support, when I ask them direct questions about the situation they do not answer or they give me the same answer about a non-existent policy demanding ID documents to withdraw in which there exists no such policies available publicly even by the very links they have sent in which they did not seem to read themselves

Scammers Profile Link: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2592830

Reference Link:
http://kucoin.com

Amount Scammed:
121.51173607 XMR and 0.01572919 BTC  screenshot -> https://imgur.com/Ier51u0

Payment Method:
Direct deposit to kucoin's XMR and BTC wallet please see proof of payment below.

Proof of Payments:
https://imgur.com/a9Nxv7D

PM/Chat Logs:
Screenshots of the 3 different reps admitting kyc not mandatory then contradicting themselves within the same conversation (please see above for screen shots of the chats).

Additional Notes:
- I had only 9 deposits and 4 actual withdrawals, one failed due to hitting the submit button twice on accident because the website was not responding, and the two "In progress" are being held up by this non-existent unpublished anywhere kyc policy on withdrawals, my withdrawal history is very boring see for yourself. screenshot: https://imgur.com/N19JHwN

- They appear to be using similar if not identical tactics like hitbtc, changelly and others, allowing you to use the service then immediately freezing and demanding info you never agreed to divulge based upon the advertising and policies of it stating that is not mandatory in the first place then stealing your funds

- If this is something new as it appears to me to be, it will not be long before others encounter the same issue and most likely I am the first because kucoin has not really appeared to be scammy even by my own research and the little things that do arise such as the reddit link above from a month ago appear to get resolved but, this may be one of those scams where they build things up and disappear like others have.

- I have never exceeded my withdrawal limit, I have only ever reached the half amount of 2 BTC my withdrawals show this without issue

- also I have been logging in from the exact same IP address the whole time, since day one

full screenshot album https://imgur.com/a/luCy1q4

UPDATE: Within about 20-30 mins of posting my conversations with them they have now blocked me from livechat and are no longer responding to my emails with the same links from above that do not support any of the statements they are making.

2ND UPDATE: Aug. 31 2020 I have received an email in which kucoin is making some claims that will be known to be true or not within the next day or so.  I will post the contents of that email here if it is true because I have learnt that there are many others going through this right now and they all appear to be users of XMR in one form or another.

3rd update: Sept. 5, 2020 (funds still not released despite this email from them) The email I mentioned above which was communicated to me by "winnie" (this is the 4th communication from this person the same 1st one I spoke to claiming it was a technical issue then changed the reason to this kyc thing) stated this:

Winnie, Aug 31, 2020, 12:40 AM GMT+8

Dear KuCoin User,

Hope you are doing well receiving this email. First of all, thank you very much for your kind patience and cooperation. We fully understand your feelings and situation and we are earnestly to step forwards with you and resolve all the problems and difficulties in-between. However, KuCoin Support would like to emphasize some points again regarding to your case:

1.   KuCoin Digital Asset Exchange, similar as all other virtual assets service providers, is having its own risk control mechanism in accordance with the requirements of the Proceeds of Crime Act, Anti Money Laundering and Counter Terrorist Financing legislations.

2.   KuCoin has the ongoing obligation of monitoring every account activity, no matter with KYC verified or not. However, all information is within KuCoin only and there should be no concern of any information leaking or for any other illegitimate usages.

3.   KuCoin has standardized customer due diligence procedures to follow in case of any suspicious transactions or behaviors observed.

What you are facing recently is only temporary frozen, which is quite normal. Your account, just like all other KuCoin accounts, has been filtered by our risk control system automatically based on a variety of elements combined. The system alerted us with your case and we are just following our Enhance Customer Due Diligence process to ask you to provide more information about the ultimate beneficiary owner of the alerted account and the legitimacy of the source of the wealth. Therefore, we sent you the email previously about the KYC verification and ECDD document filing.

Besides, we would like to point out again, that your funds are ABSOLUTE SAFE with KuCoin, no matter your funds are acceptable to us or not. If there really does exist some risky part of your wealth that KuCoin deemed as unacceptable and decided to terminate business relationship with you, your funds would still be ABSOLUTELY SAFE and would be released to you within 5 working days since the termination decision been made. Normally, we would wait for our customers to submit their KYC, ECDD and other supplementary documents for 15 working days. If customer still refuse to provide any information we required, a decision of terminating business relationship would be put forward.

Thank you again for your understanding and we sincerely apologize if KuCoin’s risk control procedure cause you any worries and inconveniences. If there is further question, feel free to contact KuCoin Support Team.

Kind regards

KuCoin Customer Care and Support Team

So I responded and I think this is the 8th or 10th time I told them same thing:

bitcoinjesus, Sep 1, 2020, 6:04 AM GMT+8

Fine and like I keep telling you I want to no longer do business with kucoin so you may as well prepare to release my funds or simply let the deposit go.

I do not feel comfortable with this behavior from kucoin which is why I do not want to be involved with kucoin ever again for the rest of my life.

Their response:

Danae, Sep 2, 2020, 5:44 PM GMT+8

Dear Valued KuCoin User,

Thank you for contacting KuCoin customer support.

We have received your request, we will submit to our legal team to review and will get back to you when we get updates, thanks for your support.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this process, please don't hesitate to let us know.

Kind regards,

Danae
KuCoin Customer Care and Support Team

I am under the impression that I would have received or had my funds released by now according to these communication because the 5 working days has passed and it may seem they have not made an internal decision to terminate the business relation because I can still login.  I have blatantly refused the kyc obviously here and I specifically stated so in multiple emails.  I am unsure of the wording because it seems to say to me that I should see the funds by 5 working days and in 15 days they may make a decision, again really unsure so I would like thoughts on this please.  Considering the last response and it's implied actions I do not think they are being honest yet and my funds are absolutely NOT "safe".  Thoughts?

4th update Sept 6, 2020
Like many if not identical now, other threads that have kyc scams of other exchanges kucoin now appears to be passing this to another "department" that like many other kyc scams they have to wait on for an "update":

Your request (312408) has been updated. If you need to add additional comments, reply to this email.
----------------------------------------------

Sukey, Sep 6, 2020, 11:06 GMT+8

Dear Valued KuCoin User,

Thanks for contacting KuCoin customer support.

We do value your experience on KuCoin and really sorry for the inconvenience caused to you. We have passed your information to relative department.

Kindly wait patiently and we will reply you once getting updates.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this process, please don't hesitate to let us know.

Best regards,
Sukey

KuCoin Customer Care and Support Team

FINAL UPDATE: Sept. 13 2020  They have allowed me to withdraw my funds however have frozen my account. Here is the email about this last action:

Dear Valued KuCoin User,

Thanks for contacting KuCoin customer support.

We regret to notify you that the service and support for you will be terminated by KuCoin unilaterally due to compliance policy.

Please note that your account will be frozen on 16/09/2020.

**About your withdraw, we will unfreeze it, then please withdraw all your assets before 16/09/2020, and we will freeze your account on 16/09/2020.**

Thank you for your understanding.

KuCoin Team

Please exercise extreme caution as they are still holding the funds of another user -> kaefergeneral <- even though this user DID submit kyc documents as detailed in this thread!!