Bitcoin debit card scams - viabuy.com, qck-card.com and others

[tjweb]

Here is the list:

viabuy.com
qck-card.com
PlatinumATMCard.com
Platinumbitcoincard.com
Fastbitcoincard.com
fastbankcard.com
gqcard.com
anonymousbitcoincard.com


Maybe the viabuy.com and qck-card.com are most popular, look for reviews online.

They are using almost same design (and the same backed), I suppose they are run from one group.

Some of the reviews (viabuy.com) from Trust Pilot:

I did not even received the card and I received a letter demanding to pay 132€ ! I called the customer service twice and hang me up! Why would I pay for something I did not received! FRAUD!!!

this company hides fees and they do not let you know about them until you have registered, then they send you a card over night. They are then silent for sometime and threaten you with debt collection agency without further notice, they take your money for no service provided when requesting to cancel your account " they say you have to topup your account now before you can terminate your contract extraordinary" NEVER TRY TO BE A CUSTOMER HERE !!

Do not trust, they have held my salary after receiving pay slips, passport and driving licence. Their phone number 0203 88 5 0005 states that you are calling out side of normal hours during the day and they do not respond to any communication via email. Regards how many times you email them. I wish I had read the reviews before choosing this company. I'm in limbo with no cash and no way of contacting this company...

STAY AWAY FROM VIABUY. No card delivered despite emails that claim otherwise. Nearly 90€ worth of initial "fees" that they will attempt to collect from you regardless of whether they actually deliver the card or not (these are hidden in small print in their terms and conditions and never explicitly mentioned during the signup phase).

Their customer service skirts around all questions and doesn't even attempt to solve your problems, such as the fact that they might NEVER ACTUALLY BOTHER TO SEND THE CARD TO YOU. Instead, they only parrot a clearly copy-pasted series of vague responses solely aimed to coerce you into uploading money on your Viabuy account (money that they will then happily take for "fees").

Combined with the generous "25€ per new customer" referral program, all of this raises suspicion that the whole thing may be little more than a pyramid scheme.

This is a bluffer bank!
A few month ago they asked me to send them documents to increase my IDV level,as for I've oversubscribe limit for IDV2, but I've load to card at least to 2.000€. In their T&C I can ask for IDV3 only when I load card for 10.000€!!!
Unfortunately, I 've make two bank transfer to this account and both of it were pending, when it's happened. They held my funds and always want from me new documents, because they can't accept previously one.
For one month of trying to solve this problem, I understand that this bank is a huge huge hell.. Their customer servis are sooo bad, they don't ask on emails obviously! When I try to reach them on the phone, it's like a circus, they always say and promise me solve it in a few days.
Now they held 1.350€ and 900€ of my funds!! I've asked they to send it to origin more than month ago, and still nothing. They are robbers! They stole my money!!!
Guys, never use it!

[magneto]

These cards are very shady to use even if they do ship the actual card to you, as they are situated internationally and most likely not in your country.

If something goes wrong, you can't take any legal action against them. It's especially worrying as you'll be storing money in their financial products as well, it's not just the card being shipped to you and that's all.

Most of the sites that you've listed all use the same template with generic photos that have been reused over and over. Social media follower counts are probably faked as well. They're obviously not going to be the real deal. If you're looking for bitcoin debit cards i suggest looking at bitpay/bitwala/wirex and find your best fit. But all the legit ones will ask you for verification.

[warningsigns]

At the end of the day, cards issued by traditional banks with brick and mortar branches are still the best and safest ones. If there are any issues with the card, there is always a branch to go to or a real person to talk to. Problem with these prepaid cards is they know they are an alternative for those with bad credit scores or those who want ways to pay anonymously or those who do not qualify for regular bank accounts. There are no physical offices to go to, no real person to talk to and they respond "when and if they want". That's the price to pay for these cards.

Be careful of all these new card offers. Scammers know that Wave Crest died and thousands of stranded cryptocurrency users are looking for alternatives. It's a new money making scheme. If the cards do exist, be aware of the risk of these cards being later emptied after you load them with coins or money. Another scam is card duplication or cloning before they are shipped out. Basically the scammer has a duplicate or clone of your card. When you load it with coins, he has total access to those coins too.

Hard to trust all these prepaid card offers. The less hassles in getting them, the more suspicious they are.

[tjweb]

The less hassles in getting them, the more suspicious they are.

Maybe there are scammers who are trying to look legit by doing some KYC security theatre.

So it's not a reliable indicator.