Poloniex verification my account is locked. Now found my coins have been stolen.

[Welshmaiden]

Hi everyone. I am having problems with poloniex. A week ago I accidentally activated 2fa on my account. My iPad ran out of charge and I had to start using my mobile phone. As I am new to crypto I didn't even know that I had activated the 2fa or what it was. I have had to research it to learn what it is. So I didn't save any of the information. As it was hard to see things from my mobile phone.  I sent in a support ticket asking them to disable 2fa. They answered and asked for details about my account which I gave them.
Since giving them information they asked for they have been ignoring my ticket. Yesterday they answered back telling me that they have disabled the 2fa. But that they have locked my account to the verification page. They asked me to complete level 2 verification which I did immediately. After that they have ignored me yet again. When I told them that I have completed the information requested.
My account is locked on the verification page and I still cannot get into my account. Can anyone help or give me advice on this. It took me weeks to save up enough bitcoin to start trading. I sold things from my house to raise the money and I had a balance of about six hundred dollars worth of coins.which may not sound a lot. But for me it took considerable amount of effort to raise.  Some is in alt coins and some is in bitcoin.. All the alt coins I've brought have increased significantly in price and I cannot get into my account to sell them. How long can I expect the level two verification to take.

[bL4nkcode]

There are so many complaints against polo this days, many people posting here and there with different issues, only polo can solve this that's why you have to contact them frequently from their site and also from their social media accounts. If I were you, once this issue is solve try to change polo to other exchange since issues will come up once you're using them.

[Welshmaiden]

That's what I intend to do. It just all seams very convenient that these problems are happening just before August the first. It is looking like they are trying to find any way possible to prevent people from having access to there money. I have opened an account with bittrex. I just need access to my funds. So that I can transfer them. At the moment my account is only accessible to the verification page. The rest of the site and my funds are locked. I can't even see my balances. Only page I can see is the verification page. If I try to go to balances or exchange or anywhere else then it won't let me.

[Welshmaiden]

They have now given me access to my account. I have gone into my account and found that all my coins have been sold to bitcoin and withdrawn. I am so upset about this. This is poloniex fault as I never recieved an email saying that a withdrawal was made from my account. Also I reported it before the withdrawal was made and had recieved a reply from them. It must have been someone else who had activated 2fa on my account. I had informed poloniex and they just allowed this to happen. What do I do now. I've opened another support ticket. But not had any joy from them.

[Welshmaiden]

I have copied and pasted the reply that poloniex just sent me. Down below. It is there fault that this has happened. They could have prevented this from happening. But they didn't. They answered first before the money was withdrawn. Then ignored me after. I was given no advice on what to do. And now they are trying to deny responsibility for it.
I am very sorry but in this case the attacker managed to withdraw your funds and confirm the withdrawal from your email account, which they have also had access to. This occurred around 2 hours prior to this ticket being created. Unfortunately due to the nature of blockchain technology this is now irretrievable.


Sincerely,
Poloniex Support Team

Ticket: https://poloniex.freshdesk.com/helpdesk/tickets/321800

[Welshmaiden]

They gave the attacker plenty of time to withdraw my money. This is negligence on security on poloniex part I am so upset about all of this. I just don't know what to do. Im actually wondering if this is an side job.
Due to the fact that they where aware of the problem and had given me my first answer before the withdrawal was made. How can just deny responsibility for this.

[K~Ehleyr]

It sounds like you need to run some virus scans on your computer.  If you can, move any coins on your computer or other devices to offline storage.  I'd also ask Polo for any information they can give you on the withdrawals, IP addresses etc.  But if somebody gained access to your account the attack vector is probably still there.  I recommend installing Google Authenticator or Authy on your phone and securing all your online accounts with 2FA as quickly as possible, following the instructions within the app to back up your data so you don't risk locking yourself out.  Unfortunately, Poloniex are unlikely to accept any responsibility for breaches on accounts that aren't secured by 2FA or where they can argue that the attack vector is on the customer side, which they usually will.

And virus-check everything.

Edit: from Polo's reply your email account is compromised as well, so be sure to change your password and take any other steps to secure it.

[TryNinja]

I'm not here to defend Poloniex but just think a bit about what happened first.

First, how can you not know if you activated 2FA or not? First you said:

A week ago I accidentally activated 2fa on my account. My iPad ran out of charge and I had to start using my mobile phone.

p.s: can't you just charge your IPad?

And now this:

It must have been someone else who had activated 2fa on my account.

I believe that the step by step to activate the 2FA on your account is pretty self explanatory. You must click on the big "Enable 2FA" button and check the "I have backed up my 16-digit key" checkbox.

Now imagine if you really activated 2FA and someone sends a email to Poloniex pretending to be you and asking them to desactivate your 2FA. Would you be happy with them just disabling it and letting anyone log in immediately and withdraw your coins?

[Welshmaiden]

The reason I did not know was that I am completely new to cryptocurrency. I had never heard of 2fa until I was asked for my 2fa code.when I logged into poloniex. This was my first time logging in and being asked for 2fa.  I had only been with them about three or four days at that point. So I was just finding my feet.  I had switched from my iPad to my mobile phone. I had assumed that I must have done it by mistake and not saved any seeds. I have just enabled 2fa on my account. So if you have never done it before. And you don't know it exists. Then you would not know before hand what it is and what it should look like. It was only after some research that I knew what it was. But as I had just switched to my mobile When I discovered there was a problem. My iPad has a weak battery so when I plug it in it still drains slowely whilst and needs to be left for an extended time to recharge. So until it's been left long enough plugged in it can't be used.
When I first contacted support they answered quickly and asked me for details of my last three deposits. And withdrawals. I told them that I have never made any withdrawals and gave him details of all deposits.
He did not offer any other advice and totally ignored me after that. I heard no more from them. The withdrawal was made after I had my first contact with him. No email verification message to alert me of a withdrawal. They gave no advice at all just ignored me after for almost a week.
I actually thought that 2fa was where they send you a text message to your Mobile  phone. With a code. I also stated that in my first contact message to them. As that is what coinbase do. I actually said to them that I hadn't recieved any texts. I also gave them my phone number and asked them to resend it.coinbase send you a text with a code. I know that was naive. But poloniex knew that was what I thought it was and still did not put I. Steps to protect my coins. They would have known it was genuinely me or I would not have been able to give them exact amounts of my deposits.
They did not offer any advice. I had contacted them in time. They could have advised me to freeze my account or frozen it themselves. But they just ignored me after. They knew I was new to crypto. As that was also stated in the message.

[negancoin]

I'm sorry, but your money's gone, Polo is a piece of crap I think there is no way you can get it back and no one here can help you.
take it as a lesson learned and move on

[Welshmaiden]

Well one things for sure I will never trust poloniex again. They could have taken steps to protect my account but they didn't. There would have been no doubt in there minds when I made the first contact that it was definitely me. As I was able to tell them exact amounts of three deposits I had made. What coins they where and on what dates. But one things for sure I now know that polo cannot be trusted. I had made a trade just moments before my iPad battery died. And had messaged them within minutes.

[amaral1977]

I had the same issue with 2FA (stolen phone and no backup). They locked my account at verification phase, but in the end all went well. Although it took several days at the end i got my account back, untouched. Hope in the end it goes well for you as well.

[Welshmaiden]

I doubt I will get it back. Just can't believe they didn't lock the account and prevent the hacker from trying to make the withdrawal. I know one thing. I can't trust poloniex. Will use bittrex from now on. X

[thewealthunit]

my LTC. has been awaiting approval since 7/21/17 contact support they read no respond what is going on over there exit scam?I hope not

[Welshmaiden]

Something is definitely not right. Think about it. With all these withdrawals not being approved. I know that the withdrawal was taken after I spoke to an agent. Yet still a withdrawal was able to be made. Things just don't add up. X

[thewealthunit]

be careful I don't know what going on but my withdrawal been stuck for a while now



Awaiting Approval   LTC   14.27407411
2017-07-21 13:56:58
Address: LaSFzjL8FwBka95GLC41XrvaLYJxH9ibcq

[amaral1977]

be careful I don't know what going on but my withdrawal been stuck for a while now



Awaiting Approval   LTC   14.27407411
2017-07-21 13:56:58
Address: LaSFzjL8FwBka95GLC41XrvaLYJxH9ibcq

I have a BTC withdrawal since 21/7 at 10 o´clock. No response from support. Is this an exit scam on polo? Hope not, but something smells very fishy!!
Is there any other channel to talk to them besides support?

[thewealthunit]

be careful I don't know what going on but my withdrawal been stuck for a while now



Awaiting Approval   LTC   14.27407411
2017-07-21 13:56:58
Address: LaSFzjL8FwBka95GLC41XrvaLYJxH9ibcq

I have a BTC withdrawal since 21/7 at 10 o´clock. No response from support. Is this an exit scam on polo? Hope not, but something smells very fishy!!
Is there any other channel to talk to them besides support?

idk but something is going on, i just changed my password and got a response in email about my verification center

[amaral1977]

I received an automatic response stating that the withdrawal aproval is a security measure... but i didnt get a response for a security agent on there behalfe.. Its a small ammount. I´m more concern with the rest of what i have trading on polo...

[Welshmaiden]

yes i think something is wrong. it is definately very dodgy whats happened to me. what with everyones withdrawals getting stuck. yet my withdrawal that was apparently made from the outside was allowed to go through. seams like everyones having a problem of one sort or another.