Coins disappeared

[cboy10]

Hi guys,

Ok I am not a professional by any means with bitcoin but at the same time I wouldn't class myself as a noob.

This is the first time this has happened so hence why I'm unsure of what is exactly going on.

I sent bitcoins to a company from localbitcoin directly I have sent around 10+ transactions in the past from localbitcoin and coinbase to this company and all have went through fine. I recently stepped up the deposits to the companies wallet so this would be my second transfer of $825 USD to them first one went through fine.

So generally I get an email saying bitcoins are on the way to this company I mentions wallet, in this case I didn't get the notification. I also noticed on blockcypher.com there was seven inputs when with previous transactions there was only one. I contacted the company and they said they apologize but have switched to bitgo integration so basically this is why the error was. So after 6+ confirmations and 2 hours they said this should be with me in a couple of hours and this is a rare case but if it's their responsibility they will credit my account if not (generally as far as I was aware it is their wallet I sent to so should be their responsibility no matter what as long as everything is confirmed on block chain and from localbitcoins side which appears to be) and they did basically state straight away as if it could be their fault without saying it could be a localbitcoin error or something else.

I don't want to jump the gun here as the company has been reliable up until now but it is very odd. Any ideas what could be going on and do you think they have just taken my coins and ran to the hills with them and are using this as an excuse?

Cheers

[franky1]

doesnt matter if they use a new service, they still have the private keys for the old deposit addresses and as such the funds are in your hands. yes they may need to re-import the privkeys into another thing they own and move the funds from the old keys to their new keys. but basically they cannot say that they wont accept the coins knowing they have the privkeys for that deposit address somewhere.

[cjmoles]

You know....over the past week or so there have been several of these disappearing bitcoin complaints.  There was one where the guy witnessed the bitcoin just disappear from his wallet.  He seen it with his own eyes but there was nothing on the ledger.  There was another instance where somebody sent his transaction to one address and it was split into two addresses on the blockchain and he only received credit for some of what he sent (sounds like it was received thru a mixing service....dunno).  Anyway....sounds peculiar!  Problem with mixing services on the receiver's side?

[cboy10]

The guy am dealing with has seemed quite genuine and is still responding to my queries so it's not as if hes ignoring me whatsoever he did say that the guy dealing with it (I believe with the new service they are with) is in a different timezone so he is likely sleeping but he has kept saying it will be resolved and not to worry about it. Truth is I am pretty worried about it as first time its happened.

Btw I mentioned to him about the private keys thing cheers for that. They are reputable so hopefully this is just a simple error or delay because they have moved to new service..

[cboy10]

By the way just while we're on the topic is there much I can about it if I found they did scam and had proof? I'm guessing not much 

[cjmoles]

By the way just while we're on the topic is there much I can about it if I found they did scam and had proof? I'm guessing not much 

Not much you can do accept publish a scam report to question their legitimacy....scammers don't really care about that though once their scam is complete.  If you could get their real names then it would follow them.  You could try to file a law suit with the evidence but....that's pretty hard.

[jak1]

You know....over the past week or so there have been several of these disappearing uᴉoɔʇᴉq complaints.  There was one where the guy witnessed the uᴉoɔʇᴉq just disappear from his wallet.  He seen it with his own eyes but there was nothing on the ledger.  There was another instance where somebody sent his transaction to one address and it was split into two addresses on the blockchain and he only received credit for some of what he sent (sounds like it was received thru a mixing service....dunno).  Anyway....sounds peculiar!  Problem with mixing services on the receiver's side?

I must say now is the time we start using Desktop Wallets or Hardware wallets.
You cant just give your savings to web wallets and let them steal if they want.
 

[CiaraB]

You know....over the past week or so there have been several of these disappearing uᴉoɔʇᴉq complaints.  There was one where the guy witnessed the uᴉoɔʇᴉq just disappear from his wallet.  He seen it with his own eyes but there was nothing on the ledger.  There was another instance where somebody sent his transaction to one address and it was split into two addresses on the blockchain and he only received credit for some of what he sent (sounds like it was received thru a mixing service....dunno).  Anyway....sounds peculiar!  Problem with mixing services on the receiver's side?

I've noticed a lot of complaints myself to the same tune. When I was researching whether to buy bitcoin or not it seemed one of the most common caveats.

[cboy10]

By the way just while we're on the topic is there much I can about it if I found they did scam and had proof? I'm guessing not much 

Not much you can do accept publish a scam report to question their legitimacy....scammers don't really care about that though once their scam is complete.  If you could get their real names then it would follow them.  You could try to file a law suit with the evidence but....that's pretty hard.

I think I have the guys real name as its in his company email address so dont think it's fake but as said dont want to jump the gun yet. He did say hes waiting on other guy waking up as they are in different time zone so does this mean if they are going to credit my account it will be done manually or some other way?

[CiaraB]

By the way just while we're on the topic is there much I can about it if I found they did scam and had proof? I'm guessing not much 

I find this to be one of the main problems of BTC. If this happens in a bank you can at least get some retribution and reimbursement of funds to your account.

I hope someday soon this will be the same story with bitcoin.

[cboy10]

Yes same would be good. I've purposely not given their company name to give time to resolve issue but dont worry if they dont will let all you guys know and show evidence

[Snorek]

Op, what is this company name? Maybe some other people has similar experience with them.
And how exactly bitcoin can be lost in transfer even though transaction is valid and confirmed?
At least they said they will credit the money, so you won't lose anything.

[cboy10]

Op, what is this company name? Maybe some other people has similar experience with them.
And how exactly bitcoin can be lost in transfer even though transaction is valid and confirmed?
At least they said they will credit the money, so you won't lose anything.

To be honest I don't want to put their company name in a bad light just yet although know you may be itching to know as they have been pretty helpful up until this point I'm guessing I will find out for definite pretty much tomorrow.

Well yeah they did say a lot of times dont worry we will resolve this, last message they said "Hello, i was busy here. Your problem will be fixed, please, be patient, as i told you the guy who take care of this kind of problem is in a different time zone so they must be sleeping now. Sorry for this again and you will have your problem fixed." But one of the earlier messages they said if its the companies fault they will credit the account (which to me sounded like if they tried to pass the blame on to the new company they might not credit it)

I hope so as I'm not made of money that was the largest transfer I've ever made with bitcoin to be honest.. well largest including previous one that went through. It's now had 33 confirmations on the blockchain and shown as "spent" for the wallet address I sent it to and sent previous ones to..

But I am not sure what "spent" means and I'm guessing in this case as they are having an issue it doesn't matter how many confirmations it receives it will need to be manually fixed..

[CiaraB]

Op, what is this company name? Maybe some other people has similar experience with them.
And how exactly bitcoin can be lost in transfer even though transaction is valid and confirmed?
At least they said they will credit the money, so you won't lose anything.

To be honest I don't want to put their company name in a bad light just yet although know you may be itching to know as they have been pretty helpful up until this point I'm guessing I will find out for definite pretty much tomorrow.

Well yeah they did say a lot of times dont worry we will resolve this, last message they said "Hello, i was busy here. Your problem will be fixed, please, be patient, as i told you the guy who take care of this kind of problem is in a different time zone so they must be sleeping now. Sorry for this again and you will have your problem fixed." But one of the earlier messages they said if its the companies fault they will credit the account (which to me sounded like if they tried to pass the blame on to the new company they might not credit it)

I hope so as I'm not made of money that was the largest transfer I've ever made with bitcoin to be honest.. well largest including previous one that went through. It's now had 33 confirmations on the blockchain and shown as "spent" for the wallet address I sent it to and sent previous ones to..

But I am not sure what "spent" means and I'm guessing in this case as they are having an issue it doesn't matter how many confirmations it receives it will need to be manually fixed..

I would say withhold until you know if they send it.. Also, before you name them warn them that you're going to as BTC has a fairly tight nit community so they might concede and send it back after all with fear of losing business.

If they don't send the bitcoin back, name them and boycott.

[ranochigo]

The inputs has nothing to do with the problem. It is just localbitcoins using more inputs for this transaction, nothing out of the ordinary.

-snip-
But one of the earlier messages they said if its the companies fault they will credit the account (which to me sounded like if they tried to pass the blame on to the new company they might not credit it)

I hope so as I'm not made of money that was the largest transfer I've ever made with bitcoin to be honest.. well largest including previous one that went through. It's now had 33 confirmations on the blockchain and shown as "spent" for the wallet address I sent it to and sent previous ones to..

But I am not sure what "spent" means and I'm guessing in this case as they are having an issue it doesn't matter how many confirmations it receives it will need to be manually fixed..

If you have sent to the correct address and it got confirmed, it is not your fault and they should credit it. It is possible that their system did not credit this transaction for some reason.

The spent means that the Bitcoins you sent to the address was transferred to another address.

[Denker]

You know....over the past week or so there have been several of these disappearing uᴉoɔʇᴉq complaints.  There was one where the guy witnessed the uᴉoɔʇᴉq just disappear from his wallet.  He seen it with his own eyes but there was nothing on the ledger.  There was another instance where somebody sent his transaction to one address and it was split into two addresses on the blockchain and he only received credit for some of what he sent (sounds like it was received thru a mixing service....dunno).  Anyway....sounds peculiar!  Problem with mixing services on the receiver's side?

I must say now is the time we start using Desktop Wallets or Hardware wallets.
You cant just give your savings to web wallets and let them steal if they want.
 

That is the most important rule everyone should follow!
Hold the coins in wallets on devices you own!! And always be sure that you're the only to have the private keys!
Furthermore store the biggest chunk in cold storage.
I mean it's the same as with physical cash. Do you have 5k in your purse and walk down the city center streets and malls? Probabaly not!

[CiaraB]

You know....over the past week or so there have been several of these disappearing uᴉoɔʇᴉq complaints.  There was one where the guy witnessed the uᴉoɔʇᴉq just disappear from his wallet.  He seen it with his own eyes but there was nothing on the ledger.  There was another instance where somebody sent his transaction to one address and it was split into two addresses on the blockchain and he only received credit for some of what he sent (sounds like it was received thru a mixing service....dunno).  Anyway....sounds peculiar!  Problem with mixing services on the receiver's side?

I must say now is the time we start using Desktop Wallets or Hardware wallets.
You cant just give your savings to web wallets and let them steal if they want.
 

That is the most important rule everyone should follow!
Hold the coins in wallets on devices you own!! And always be sure that you're the only to have the private keys!
Furthermore store the biggest chunk in cold storage.
I mean it's the same as with physical cash. Do you have 5k in your purse and walk down the city center streets and malls? Probabaly not!

I don't think holding bitcoin in cold storage is a lesson we have to take from this event. Cold wallets should be a given.

The point we should take from this is the insecurity of the transaction process and how it is irreversible, mainly because it is decentralized. Furthermore, holding your BTC in cold storage will not stop this vulnerability because in essence, it's based on trust.

[cboy10]

Yes as much as bitcoins are good for things and make some purchases feasible (your going to hate me for saying this) but there is a good bit more security with bank transactions as you can mostly claim it as unauthorized and there is a chance you will get it back or something will be done about it.

By the way I got the coins credited and they couldn't apologize enough for the error! Another guy got in touch (the guy who was in the different timezone and was sleeping at the time) Here is the message he gave kind of lost me half way through but I'm sure you more experienced guys will know what he means..

"Hello, you are now credited. I am very very sorry that this happened, we have found issue. After we have migrated to bitgo deposit addresses if incoming transaction batch comes with multiple "company" receivers and if one of them is the old non-multisig address in that batch, then the bitgo multisig address is not credited. Since you sent to multisig address and part of that transaction was another "company" user, that scenario happened. But we have already found a solution and will fix it within 24 hours so it won't ever happen again."

[Slowturtleinc]

So end of the day this was a wallet issue right? Just to clarify for people lacking understanding. Was holding off posting till this was figured out
because it felt so strange and did not want to sway the discussion. Glad you got this figured out and its not actually bitcoin.

[cboy10]

Yeah basically i think it was an issue with their wallet because they integrated with a new service, but as someone else said I can see how a lot of peoples bitcoins can go missing..