BTC-E banned and blocked my account for inactivity?

[thomasdetlev]

Hey Bitcointalk,

Few years ago I visited this forum and read about Bitcoin.

I have an account registered with BTC-E, I left some coins on my account there. I tried to log in and it said my account had been suspended and to contact support.

The customer support told me my account was blocked due to inactivity (Hadn't logged into it in over 2 years)

They asked for some proof that I was the owner of my account so after a few emails
I provided them with my:
Username
IP address I used when making my account
My registered BTC-E Email (The one I have been contacting them from)
I know my password, and roughly how much my balance was when I last logged in, and the month and year I made my account.

This should be ample information to identify me as the accounts owner. However they still refused to unblock my account because I don't have the transaction details for when I deposited from an old wallet I used years ago.

So because I can't provide detailed information about my deposit to the exchange (it was 1 simple Bitcoin > Bitcoin deposit) They are keeping my coins to themselves.
Do they honestly expect me to remember my transaction IDs and old wallets address from 2013?!

Many emails later mostly just with 1 sentence replies I am close to giving up and thinking that with inactive accounts BTC-E are basically stealing the coins.

Has anyone else had experience with the customer support over there? Or have any advice for me on how to deal with them 

Thanks in advance,

Thomas

[interbtc]

Inactivity measures are there to protect older btce account holders that bought their bitcoins for long period from being cleaned out by
thiefs and such. If you are indeed actual owner of the account, you should have the ability to prove it in some way, but you will probably have
to give the info they are looking for in some form.

There is no chance that they are doing something like this out of greed for your few coins, just look at the profit they are turning each day just from fee's..
They are one of the oldest exchanges i know thats still running, they didnt get this far by stealing from their customers.

I once deposited a large sum into an old btc-e account address when it at one point changed,by mistake, and they were nothing but helpful and cooperative to credit it anyway.

[thomasdetlev]

Well they havent been very understanding or helpful so far

[Whosdaddy]

Hey! Welcome back to this forum! That sure was a long time of inactivity. I'm pretty sure they will help you get your account back, as long as you give them valid proof that you own the account. Risk is that, what interbtc said, you'll have to give them valuable information about yourself.

[OmegaCentauri]

Yeah, I had the same problem OP. They're asking me to find the email stating my account was blocked and reply to it, but I never received the email. Failing that they're asking me to change my IP address back to the one I had when I signed up. Are these guys jokers or what?

[unholycactus]

For people complaining in this thread, do you have any way to prove that you are without a doubt the account owner?
If you control the address that deposited the funds in the first place, you could send them a signed message.
Could also work with an old withdrawal address.

[European Central Bank]

Try it in Russian? I've heard people get better support results when they do that. It sure sucks. That's one of many places I'd never leave coins on.

[OmegaCentauri]

For people complaining in this thread, do you have any way to prove that you are without a doubt the account owner?
If you control the address that deposited the funds in the first place, you could send them a signed message.
Could also work with an old withdrawal address.

Then why aren't they asking for this instead of giving us impossible tasks? I have emails with withdrawal confirmations.. and yes my address is still the same unlike OP.

Edit: they unlocked it for me.

[JackDinn]

Hi,

Yea i just fell into this trap, i was just checking through all my old trading platforms/sites/exchanges and btc-e first forced me to change my PW (ok thats fine) then it said my account was suspended. Why are they allowed to do this its just theft, I just assumed any deposits either crypto or fiat would be safe (for however long).

They asked me to reply to their ticket notification email which i did a few days ago along with all the other info they asked for which i gave them but im still waiting.

Luckily i dont think i left anything much in btc-e because i never trusted them much in the first place but this is just ridiculous, not even sure i want my account back now as just cant trust them.



P.S. their instruction was

To unblock an inactive account, please, find an email from support in your inbox (or SPAM) and click "Reply".

So what exactly does that mean ? I just responded to the ticket email.

[jakefrey]

I had the same problem but I think they blocked my ip address, because i can even pull up their website!!
*can't

[JackDinn]

well they have given up responding to me. I dont think i'll get it back as iv changed my isp since then (so dif IP) and i dont have access to the private keys of the address i may have used to deposit to btc-e either.so cant sign anything or prove much at all except my email address.

Think they can prob just keep it.

[lusinda]

They need to be sure that you are the account owner.
Maybe you will be happy if some thief try to hack your account and should go through all that security levels...

[JackDinn]

They need to be sure that you are the account owner.
Maybe you will be happy if some thief try to hack your account and should go through all that security levels...

Why do they need to disable my account in the first place ? All very well them trying to determine i am the account holder but not by asking for things i can not provide.

They were preventing a hacker hacking into my account to empty dust from my wallet by locking up my account and taking it themselves. I suppose there is some logic to it lol.

[blytle]

I understand trying to verify identity, but this is ridiculous. They are definitely just trying to be jerks.

I have been asked for...
My Password PROVIDED
My User ID PROVIDED
My Email Address. PROVIDED
The original email verifying my deposit. That was over 4 years ago. I don't have the email but provided them with the exact amount of the deposit.
The email saying my account was suspended. I never received one.
They told me to just reply to any email that they sent me and that would be sufficient. I DID THAT.

Then they said I needed the following...
A picture of myself with my passport next to my face and a note with the current date on it. PROVIDED
A separate scan of my Passport. PROVIDED A PICTURE
A picture wasn't good enough. They insisted on a scan. PROVIDED
They said I cropped it. I DIDN"T CROP IT. IT IS A COMPLETE IMAGE OF MY PASSPORT.

They simply won't allow me access to my account. Don't tell me they aren't trying to be malicious. They certainly are!!!

[LTU_btc]

I understand trying to verify identity, but this is ridiculous. They are definitely just trying to be jerks.

I have been asked for...
My Password PROVIDED
My User ID PROVIDED
My Email Address. PROVIDED
The original email verifying my deposit. That was over 4 years ago. I don't have the email but provided them with the exact amount of the deposit.
The email saying my account was suspended. I never received one.
They told me to just reply to any email that they sent me and that would be sufficient. I DID THAT.

Then they said I needed the following...
A picture of myself with my passport next to my face and a note with the current date on it. PROVIDED
A separate scan of my Passport. PROVIDED A PICTURE
A picture wasn't good enough. They insisted on a scan. PROVIDED
They said I cropped it. I DIDN"T CROP IT. IT IS A COMPLETE IMAGE OF MY PASSPORT.

They simply won't allow me access to my account. Don't tell me they aren't trying to be malicious. They certainly are!!!

It looks that they really don't respect their users. You did everything what you had to do and it's fully enough to verify your identity. How much funds do you have on your btc-e account? Maybe I can recommend to create scam accusation against btc-e.

[blytle]

Less than $1,000

Today they got back to me and asked why I blacked out my Passport ID numbers on the scan I sent them. I told them that they don't need those numbers unless they are trying to steal my identity. No reply.

I am sure they will email me overnight and ask for something else.

[HornsterLG]

i have similar problems with btc-e. basically they do not care for anything but keeping your money as long as possible. so if u want ur money back u have to share your story with as much forums as possible and spread it all over the internet. if they find out you could harm their image they will finally give way.
with my money they actually have been even more ruthless. they just banned me from withdrawals without giving a reason and now their support is ignoring me. the scam could not be more obvious. i provided them my id and everything else over and over again. here is a link with the full e-mail traffic and the whole story: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/5zdur1/btce_keeps_my_bitcoins_does_not_let_me_withdraw/

[FedUpWithBtc-e]

Hi,
Also had my account locked because my stupidity (must admit). After initial email exchange, support stopped responding to my messages. I kept sending emails and twits everyday. Finally, after 10 days they got back to me with message "your account is unlocked", like nothing happened. Anyway, better late than never. For those waiting - there is still a hope, but I completely understand you are freaking out right now. I was just until yesterday. Good luck all.

[concavecircle]

Hi,
Also had my account locked because my stupidity (must admit). After initial email exchange, support stopped responding to my messages. I kept sending emails and twits everyday. Finally, after 10 days they got back to me with message "your account is unlocked", like nothing happened. Anyway, better late than never. For those waiting - there is still a hope, but I completely understand you are freaking out right now. I was just until yesterday. Good luck all.

Hey, at least you got yours unlocked. I got a reply after 9 days, where they asked me to take a photo with my passport, and then after I sent them that, 5 days later they close the ticket and my account is still suspended...

[Btfbiz23]

Hi,
Also had my account locked because my stupidity (must admit). After initial email exchange, support stopped responding to my messages. I kept sending emails and twits everyday. Finally, after 10 days they got back to me with message "your account is unlocked", like nothing happened. Anyway, better late than never. For those waiting - there is still a hope, but I completely understand you are freaking out right now. I was just until yesterday. Good luck all.

Hey, at least you got yours unlocked. I got a reply after 9 days, where they asked me to take a photo with my passport, and then after I sent them that, 5 days later they close the ticket and my account is still suspended...

I also have a similar issue, no response after a week. That sucks real bad.