BTC-E SCAM victims meeting point!

[Betthisnow]

WHAT WE CAN DO

As they claim the operator of the btc-e.com website is Always Efficient LLP and this company is incorporated in England and Wales, everyone can file a complaint online at www.actionfraud.police.uk/

[Nagadota]

They claim that the operator of the btc-e.com website is Always Efficient LLP and this company is incorporated in England and Wales.

Oh crap, that's a really bad sign.  In the UK it's insanely easy to register a company, you can just sign up for about £12 and you get a nice little certificate if you want.  All the Bitcoin related Ponzi schemes boast about being a "UK registered company", but how they're regulated exactly is another matter altogether.

I thought BTC-E was based in Russia.  If so, being a UK registered company is really bad unless they're openly subject to specific regulations.

[TravisH]

I just filed my report.

[ntn9hmcr]

If you signed up before Sep 10, 2015 (or possibly as late as Dec 3, 2015) you DID NOT AGREE to an INACTIVITY PERIOD

If you signed up between Dec 3, 2015 to Apr 21, 2017 you agreed to a 2 CALENDAR YEAR inactivity period NOT 1 CALENDAR YEAR

No one who agreed to an inactivity period can have reached the inactivity period yet (2 calendar years)

Date	Inactivity Period in Terms	Link
Sep 10, 2015	Not present	https://web.archive.org/web/20150910111027/https://btc-e.com/page/1
Dec 3, 2015	2 calendar years	https://web.archive.org/web/20151203223020/https://btc-e.com/page/1
Jul 8, 2016	2 calendar years	https://web.archive.org/web/20160708084642/https://btc-e.com/page/1
Dec 29, 2016	2 calendar years	https://web.archive.org/web/20161229045520/https://btc-e.com/page/1
Apr 21, 2017	2 calendar years	https://web.archive.org/web/20170421225554/https://btc-e.com/page/1
Apr 28, 2017	1 calendar year	https://web.archive.org/web/20170428230651/https://btc-e.com/page/1

Exact text (stress added to words is mine):
If your account has been inactive for 2 calendar years, its status will be changed to “locked”. Please contact Support to unlock your account https://support.btc-e.com/

A "calendar year" does not mean 365 days. It means a calendar year: 2015 or 2016, from Jan 1 to Dec 31 (sources: [1] [2] [3]). This means if you signed up or logged in after Jan 1, 2015 then your account was active in 2015. If you did not log in during 2016 then your account was inactive for that calendar year. 2017 is not finished so it is not applicable yet . This means if you agreed to inactivity period the most your account could have been inactive is 1 calendar year. It is truly impossible for any account that agreed to an inactivity period to have reached the inactivity period yet. Possibles:

Account Active Last	Inactivity Period in terms then	Possible Inactive Years	Result
Before Sep 10, 2015	Not present	N/A	Inactivity Period does not apply to account
Sep 10 - Dec 31, 2015	2 calendar years	2016	Inactivity Period impossible to have been reached
2016	2 calendar years	None	Inactivity Period impossible to have been reached
Jan 1 - Apr 21, 2017	2 calendar years	None	Inactivity Period impossible to have been reached
After Apr 21, 2017	1 calendar year	None	Inactivity Period impossible to have been reached

Terms changes:

By opening an account at BTC-e you agree to the Terms of Use stated in this page. BTC-e reserves the right, at its discretion, to add, remove, or modify portions of these Terms of Agreement at any time. Your continued use of BTC-e following the implementation of changes to these Terms of Agreement implies that you accept such changes.

Due to we have not been able to use our accounts we have not had "continued use of BTC-e" and have not agreed to any changes in terms. The terms that apply to our accounts are when the account was active last. If BTC-e says "you reset your password recently so you are subject to new terms" then that means our account was last active in 2017. BTC-e can not say we agreed to new terms while saying also our account was inactive at the time we agreed to new terms.


Conclusion

The inactivity period does not apply to any account yet and we have very firm legal ground to sue them on. Every day they withhold our funds causes further damages to us and can be added to the damages award at court.

Taking action

Spreading the word that BTC-e is refusing to release funds, for arbitrary reason not supported by their terms of service, will have more effect probably in the near term than a lawsuit. Every one is scared about exchanges becoming bankrupt and keeping every one's funds and refusing to release funds for arbitrary reason is usually the start sign of problems. If we tell people the truth about BTC-e and show them the indisputable evidence we can convince them hopefully to take their business to a trustworthy exchange. BTC-e must unlock our accounts to remain credible in the community (and avoid a lawsuit).

Please save copies of the archive.org pages in case BTC-e removes them.

Sources:
1: http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/calendar+year
2: https://www.oregonlaws.org/glossary/definition/calendar_year
3: http://www.duhaime.org/LegalDictionary/C/CalendarYear.aspx

Thanks to IRC for the proof read and English correction.

[Steven009]

Filling my report now.

[Vishnu.Reang]

Quite sad to hear about it. I thought that BTC-e was one of the most reliable exchanges out there. I opened an account with them a few weeks back (just for ETH/BTC trading), and till now I haven't faced any issues. Also, I was quite happy that they didn't asked for any ID proof.

[greengsxr]

I'm another 13 days ago transferred 1600 dollars nothing landed, support ignored and tickets deleted,tweets blocked

not happy filing report with bank and internet fraud police here in Australia today

[hello_good_sir]

Btc-e has notorious customer service that is comparable to Yobit which is absolutely crazy. I can't believe that there are so many people using them still when so many things could go wrong when they deposit, trade and withdraw on that site.

Quite sad to hear about it. I thought that BTC-e was one of the most reliable exchanges out there. I opened an account with them a few weeks back (just for ETH/BTC trading), and till now I haven't faced any issues. Also, I was quite happy that they didn't asked for any ID proof.

Reliable? No. Trustworthy? No. But long running? Yes.

Good luck with filing a complaint. I don't think personally that it's going to make any difference to the way they handle things. They don't even have a physical address for you to visit.

[Spoetnik]

Quite sad to hear about it. I thought that BTC-e was one of the most reliable exchanges out there. I opened an account with them a few weeks back (just for ETH/BTC trading), and till now I haven't faced any issues. Also, I was quite happy that they didn't asked for any ID proof.

That's funny i quit using them ..because they removed shit like Prime coin and added 20 markets for ETH the ICO scam coin scheme.

I will 99.99% never use them ever again.

[mindrust]

Quite sad to hear about it. I thought that BTC-e was one of the most reliable exchanges out there. I opened an account with them a few weeks back (just for ETH/BTC trading), and till now I haven't faced any issues. Also, I was quite happy that they didn't asked for any ID proof.

Same here.

I never ever had any problems with them and to me, they are the only legit exchange whos running an honest business. It pains me to see so many scam accusations for btc-e lately. I never liked buggy polo, finex is dead man walking, coinbase is cancer and only stamp is left to try.

But they should have asked your passport/id/bills scan etc, can't you just upload those and transfer your money? Shouldn't be too hard.

More to add: This recent ToS change might have something to do with their legal problems. If the government of Poland (they were located in Poland right?) interfered too much and were asking questions about their income/users etc, they may be trying to get every user verified in someway without scaring them. If that's the case, i can understand them. They even lowered the trollbox fee to 1$ for verified users while it is 1k$ for non-verified people.

[mindrust]

But they should have asked your passport/id/bills scan etc, can't you just upload those and transfer your money? Shouldn't be too hard.

They state on their website that verification is optional and my account is not verified since years.

More to add: This recent ToS change might have something to do with their legal problems.

How is one calendar year account inactive related to legal problems?

If the government of Poland (they were located in Poland right?) interfered too much and were asking questions about their income/users etc, they may be trying to get every user verified in someway without scaring them. If that's the case, i can understand them. They even lowered the trollbox fee to 1$ for verified users while it is 1k$ for non-verified people.

Operator is allegedly in England and Wales and I sent money to a bank account in Czech Republic. No one reported anything about Poland so far.

To blatant lie the account is inactive since one calendar year is someway to verify accounts without scaring them?

If they want to verify accounts in general, why do they post in their news from June 30, 2017 that account verification is optional?

Actually today i read an article on zerohedge that btc-e's owners are still unknown to the public since the day it was created. I was shocked.

Nobody even knows where their servers are located in. Nobody knows the owners' name. Shady.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-06-11/bitcoin-surges-above-3000-asian-premium-collapses

[TravisH]

170 euros is fucking nothing compared to what they have stolen from myself and others. I'm out $25,000. Another person here is out 100,000 usd. I'm filing a lawsuit against my ISP so they ban the site for use in the USA.

[Steven009]

Another person here is out 100,000 usd

A bit more than that worth of BTC. They offered an alternative solution to verify my account (which I already did anyway). So lets see if they finally are up to solve this.

[onlyforthisaccount]

My none 2FA email got hacked and my BTC-e account was blocked.  No coins were taken but after 3 weeks and tons of information provided ID, utility, bank statements, transaction history, IP's, and deposit history they just stopped responding.  They probably assumed that I would not be able to get all that info and when I did they completely ignored me.  I believe the hack originated from BTC-e as well because nobody knew I had bitcoins and I used only 1 other exchange.

[Midas111]

satans last ride.    btc-e is goxed as of this moment...      the geometry of the btc-e site was almost identical to this very forum.  veddy veddddddd inderesding

[mammabitcoin2u]

Scammers won't file. All that extra$ for the State. Including widening the web to users of it.

Expect Foxbit think that's the name and Coinmal? To face the same fate.

If you're legit no need to worry.

[TravisH]

Fuck the scammers. I bought $25,000 in LTC at an expo in NYC 2and a half years ago right before the crash. I patiently waited for the market to go back up just for these asshole to lock me out. Fuck that scamming piece of shit. You better believe I filed with action fraud and FinCEN. Now that this asshole is coming to the US my attorney has someone to subpoena. I only used this market because it had a good online reputation at the time and their prices and rates were the best. I guess you get what u pay for 

[JamesNoJosh]

Fuck the scammers. I bought $25,000 in LTC at an expo in NYC 2and a half years ago right before the crash. I patiently waited for the market to go back up just for these asshole to lock me out. Fuck that scamming piece of shit. You better believe I filed with action fraud and FinCEN. Now that this asshole is coming to the US my attorney has someone to subpoena. I only used this market because it had a good online reputation at the time and their prices and rates were the best. I guess you get what u pay for 

I'm pretty much screwed to. If we can do something together I am willing to put some efforts in to.

[Patatas]

Fuck the scammers. I bought $25,000 in LTC at an expo in NYC 2and a half years ago right before the crash. I patiently waited for the market to go back up just for these asshole to lock me out. Fuck that scamming piece of shit. You better believe I filed with action fraud and FinCEN. Now that this asshole is coming to the US my attorney has someone to subpoena. I only used this market because it had a good online reputation at the time and their prices and rates were the best. I guess you get what u pay for 

He's already been charged with number of offences which may land him to prison for 55 years.You think you filling a subpoena will make any difference ? They authorities already know about the company's fraudulent ways,your $25k is a small amount compared to the numbers they're subjected with.Even if you do,there is no chance you'll get anything back if he pleads guilty.

[TravisH]

What are you guys talking about. I can file a lawsuit and subpoena him. We all know where his jail cell is gonna be and where to send the  subpoenas. It's a guarantee he has assets world wide that the us government will Take and auction off. And I'm know there is a fraud victims fund. Where do you think that fine BTC-e and the owners personal fine goes? Do you think that money just goes into the pockets of politicians. That's just stupid. If you think think victims of fairs are shit outa luck once the perpetrator is caught your stupid. There are billions in BTC that have been confiscated!!! Do you really think the US government can legally take that money for themselves hahah. Your pretty stupid and a hopeless loser if u think that