Intersango scam!!

[budsen]

Hi, i will now tell you how intersango scammed me on 390 euros.
It all started with a transfer of around 390 euros to Intersangos bank account on the 6th of september, on the 14th of september my money had not arrived to my intersango account so i made a support ticket.

In that ticket i told them about my problem and they started looking in to the reference i gave them but couldn't find anything, the administrator Patrick took over the ticket on the 20th of september, he suspected that Intersangos bank had made an error and told me that he would contact them.
Meanwhile i contacted my bank and asked them if they hade made any errors with the transfer, they noticed that they had given me the wrong reference nr, they hade given me an internal reference nr, this time they gave me the right one and told me that they could confirm that the transfer hade made it to the bank in poland.
I sent the new reference to intersango on the 25th of september.

print 1-4 showing the above story.
http://imgur.com/MYYCA
http://imgur.com/JARa0
http://imgur.com/e6OhD
http://imgur.com/fpNDN

After the 25th of september intersango starts acting weird, it takes 11 days for them to answer me and tell me whats going on, they told me that they would contact the bank on the 8th of october to talk to them again!
This means that when they saw the new reference on the 25th of september it took them 13 days before contacting the bank again, isn't that a weird way to treat and arrend of 390 euros that a customer of theirs transfered to them?
Well once again i have to initiate contact, i thought they would keep me posted but they didn't, i got an answer on the 10th of october that the bank probably had made a manual error.

On the 17th of october i contacted intersango once again via the support thread, this time Patrick answered me right away and said that he would personally visit the bank and see what was going on, on the 19th of october Patrick told me that the bank would only tell the owner of the company what was going on, but he also decided that he would transfer the money to me the following day.

Print 5-7
http://imgur.com/U2hZC
http://imgur.com/oPdGc
http://imgur.com/y5GvQ

What a relief i would finally get my money i thought but apparently not!
Once again i had to contact intersango about the money, still in the same support thread as before.
So on the 22th of October i contacted them and asked them when i would get the money, but then something happened they started to ignore me.
I was feeling frustrated, how could this company lie to me?
Why would they ignore me?
I still can't answer the questions above, i tried to contact intersango in other ways i spent hours on their irc but their admin Phantomcircuit(who i later discoverd was infact Patrick) just ignored me, i added him on skype he accepted but when i typed to him he wouldn't answer me.

It took 2.5 week before they would answer me again, this time with a shitty answer "support tickets which are for more standard things comes first" - Yeah alright i can understand that if it hadn't been 2 MONTHS without a solution and 2.5 week of ignoring me, and in this time they had promised me the money!
Is this really the way that serious companys treats their customers?

print 8-11
http://imgur.com/YafyI
http://imgur.com/CHS6V
http://imgur.com/dMSTm
http://imgur.com/i2vw0

Now i will try to get a hold of their phonenr (they havn't posted any on the site) and call them to get a direct answer from the owner if anyone has their nr pls post it!

[lilgreg1]

Best of luck, I haven't heard of any issues with Intersango to this extent, though by the looks of it this is absolutely outrageous.

[Fcx35x10]

thanks for the heads up

[budsen]

Today my bank called Swedbank made an official inquiry to their bank!
The money has gone through the bank and in to Intersangos account without any problems.
I have given them a chance to give me my money, if they wont do it i have to head down to the police office and make an official report about this.

Be carefull when dealing with intersango....

[RyanRed]

Thanks for the info

[budsen]

Thanks for the info

No problem, just glad to be able to help others!


Forgot to tell you but they deleted my account : )

[urwhatuknow]

Sorry to give you bad news, but IMHO Intersango can't be trusted.
The first bitcoin trading account I opened in my life was with them, back in April this year and things seemed to go smoothly at the beginning.
But then problems started with their GBP account being frozen in the UK.
A logical solution would have been to open a GBP bank account in their Polish bank, but this seemed to be unfeasible, even after I suggested it to them.
Patrick Stratemann (one of the founders of Intersango and probably the only one left onboard) answered to my ticket saying that the GBP account couldn't be opened on the phone (as if going to Poland to put a signature was a trip to Mars!!) and that there was no possibility to solve the situation other than waiting.
No ETA was provided.
This caused two mayor effects:
1) A great increase in Bitcoin quotes expressed in GBP compared to the ones in Euros (averaging about 10-15% spread to what it should logically be, given the EUR/GBP exchange rate)
2) A collapse of the transaction volume in GBP

For instance I got stuck myself with some GBP's on my Intersango account and waited for a few days (couple of weeks or so) for the problem to be solved
I then decided to take my loss and exchange my GBP into BTC at an artificially inflated rate and move the hell out of there.
Since then problems, started also for Euros transactions ( the ones in dollars were already supended previuosly with the excuse that the volume was too little) and the volume handled by Intersango has been sinking to very low levels (a few dozens BTC's a day in GBP and a few hundreds in Euros).
(See www.bitcoincharts for reference).

To make a long story short I believe this exchange business will soon be closed and I strongly suggest anybody that still has bitcoins there
to move them away at speedlight and to the ones that have GBP's or Euros to buy bitcoins and move them out.
Any other strategy (such as waiting or trying to withdraw funds) will end up in my opinion with a total loss.
I believe Intersango will be remembered in the future as a good example of  software developers with a good business idea, but with very very very scarce business acumen and especially marketing understanding (Patrick replies to case opened should be collected in a book and sold as a perfect example of how NOT to treat your customers).

[budsen]

Sorry to give you bad news, but IMHO Intersango can't be trusted.
The first bitcoin trading account I opened in my life was with them, back in April this year and things seemed to go smoothly at the beginning.
But then problems started with their GBP account being frozen in the UK.
A logical solution would have been to open a GBP bank account in their Polish bank, but this seemed to be unfeasible, even after I suggested it to them.
Patrick Stratemann (one of the founders of Intersango and probably the only one left onboard) answered to my ticket saying that the GBP account couldn't be opened on the phone (as if going to Poland to put a signature was a trip to Mars!!) and that there was no possibility to solve the situation other than waiting.
No ETA was provided.
This caused two mayor effects:
1) A great increase in Bitcoin quotes expressed in GBP compared to the ones in Euros (averaging about 10-15% spread to what it should logically be, given the EUR/GBP exchange rate)
2) A collapse of the transaction volume in GBP

For instance I got stuck myself with some GBP's on my Intersango account and waited for a few days (couple of weeks or so) for the problem to be solved
I then decided to take my loss and exchange my GBP into BTC at an artificially inflated rate and move the hell out of there.
Since then problems, started also for Euros transactions ( the ones in dollars were already supended previuosly with the excuse that the volume was too little) and the volume handled by Intersango has been sinking to very low levels (a few dozens BTC's a day in GBP and a few hundreds in Euros).
(See www.bitcoincharts for reference).

To make a long story short I believe this exchange business will soon be closed and I strongly suggest anybody that still has bitcoins there
to move them away at speedlight and to the ones that have GBP's or Euros to buy bitcoins and move them out.
Any other strategy (such as waiting or trying to withdraw funds) will end up in my opinion with a total loss.
I believe Intersango will be remembered in the future as a good example of  software developers with a good business idea, but with very very very scarce business acumen and especially marketing understanding (Patrick replies to case opened should be collected in a book and sold as a perfect example of how NOT to treat your customers).

I agree with you and i hope everyone who lost money will report Intersango to the right authorities, this could be the only way to get some money back or atleast give other "customers" the chance to know that a scam is occurring.

[pinnpe]

Thanks for sharing

This is why I love https://bitcointalk.org whenever somebody fucks
around their story gets told

I made a link of your story to the Scam page
I find it a bit strange that Intersango would do this
but your images speak more then a 1000 words i guess

[ryu-fk]

Sorry this happens to you, It's sad to see this happen. Intersango was the perfect exchange for brits and others in the euro zone but it's all been downhill for them and their customers recently.  Would be nice if they recovered.

[Luno]

A lesson learned is that when you first suspect payment troubles, go to your bank and fill out a statement that you suspect foul play from an internet purchase, they will then reverse the transfer, often without a fee.

This has saved me twice on ebay: The fist was a seller that didn't provide me with a tracking number as promised. I cancelled the payment and informed him that this would be reported by my bank to Interpol Got my money back the next day, he was a scammer!
The second time the seller was just sloppy and didn't mail my PSP as promised. When I cancelled my payment, she pulled her act together and shipped it, and I payed with a new transfer, when i received it.

You have inform the recipient that you've cancelled the payment and are willing to try again (if you want to try again). Don't be stalled by the recipients excuses and lose your window for cancelling your payment!

[Eskimo]

Never had any issues with Intersango thus far. Hope this isn't a sign of declining service.

[davout]

A lesson learned is that when you first suspect payment troubles, go to your bank and fill out a statement that you suspect foul play from an internet purchase, they will then reverse the transfer, often without a fee.

[...]

You have inform the recipient that you've cancelled the payment and are willing to try again (if you want to try again). Don't be stalled by the recipients excuses and lose your window for cancelling your payment!

You must be new here

[Luno]

I wasn't talking about Intersango in particular, just a careful practice I have had success with in dealing with untrusted parties. I've considered making an account with them when they started business, but i didn't like their interface and their trading volume was to low at that time.

[adamstgBit]

Intersango, doesn't have the best track record

http://www.thebitcoinreview.com/site.php?site_id=737

please copy past OP as a review on thebitcoinreview.com

[budsen]

Intersango, doesn't have the best track record

http://www.thebitcoinreview.com/site.php?site_id=737

please copy past OP as a review on thebitcoinreview.com

I would but somehow i can't create an account there says something about header information error!

Now it worked
Thanks for the tip!

[phantomcircuit]

Here's How we see it:

He sent his funds to the "wrong" account.

That account bought bitcoins and transferred them off our site quickly.

I tried to help him.  It took awhile and some back-and-forth for him to give me all the information.

By then I put two-and-two together.  He accesses "his" account over clearnet (the regular internet).  The "wrong" account is always accessed over tor.  However there is a pattern – the two accounts sign in within minutes of each other regularly.  No "proof", but it appears he controls both accounts and has his bitcoins.

If you do not control both accounts, my apologies for questioning your information.  But the fact is you sent your funds to the "wrong" account (or your bank did), and that other person has already taken the coins purchased.

Please do not blame Intersango for your (or your bank's) mistake.

[alkhdaniel]

Here's How we see it:

He sent his funds to the "wrong" account.

That account bought bitcoins and transferred them off our site quickly.

I tried to help him.  It took awhile and some back-and-forth for him to give me all the information.

By then I put two-and-two together.  He accesses "his" account over clearnet (the regular internet).  The "wrong" account is always accessed over tor.  However there is a pattern – the two accounts sign in within minutes of each other regularly.  No "proof", but it appears he controls both accounts and has his bitcoins.

If you do not control both accounts, my apologies for questioning your information.  But the fact is you sent your funds to the "wrong" account (or your bank did), and that other person has already taken the coins purchased.

Please do not blame Intersango for your (or your bank's) mistake.

And you never mentioned this once in any of the emails? If it was as simple as him sending the money to another account (that he does not have control over; asked him over skype just now because i know him irl) you would have easily been able to tell him that the money has gone into another account ever since the first email.

Patrick even told him he would credit his account with the money (but couldn't do so until the following day, what a convenient way to delay) while they are investigating where the money had dissapeared, this never happened since it was just another way to delay of course.


* Your story (for almost 2 months) at first was that you have not gotten the money.
* When my friend contacted his bank who proceeded to contact your bank to find out where the money had gone, they confirmed that the money had been credited to intersango without problems.
* Now 2 months later you claim that he has already withdrawn his money from a some other second account that he logs in through with tor, this story is almost better than Twilight.

[budsen]

Here's How we see it:

He sent his funds to the "wrong" account.

That account bought bitcoins and transferred them off our site quickly.

I tried to help him.  It took awhile and some back-and-forth for him to give me all the information.

By then I put two-and-two together.  He accesses "his" account over clearnet (the regular internet).  The "wrong" account is always accessed over tor.  However there is a pattern – the two accounts sign in within minutes of each other regularly.  No "proof", but it appears he controls both accounts and has his bitcoins.

If you do not control both accounts, my apologies for questioning your information.  But the fact is you sent your funds to the "wrong" account (or your bank did), and that other person has already taken the coins purchased.

Please do not blame Intersango for your (or your bank's) mistake.

Thats not how it is.
Actually i got all some evidence for that!
Now i will give you the prints of my transfer from the bank.

https://i.imgur.com/twWEv.png

So in this picture the first line is the internalreference i gave you at first, the wrong one that i have admitted to!
The rest is the information that was supposed to be there

So today i also noticed that you deleted my support ticket, fortunately you forgot to delete the support ticket i did during the time you wouldn't answer me, you know that extra one where you just told me to not make multiple tickets
So here is the print with the same reference code as in my banktransfer, ohh and as i said earlier YOUR BANK has confirmed that it went in to the right account, if you want i can call my bank and beg them to confirm the transfer via letter or email!

http://imgur.com/lC0Xi

Nice try Patrick but please don't blame me or my bank with a scam that you committed!

[btct]

Offtopic but I was considering to use Intersango sell my bitcoins and withdraw to a Polish bank account but I see it doesn't exactly have the best reputation on this forum. Is there an alternative exchange I could use?