BTC-e - £1500 Stolen

[GodfatherBond]

When requesting a chargeback with my bank is it a good idea to mention the payment was for cryptocurrency? I ask because most banks have a very negative attitude towards Bitcoin.

EDIT: Looks like chargebacks are not possible from the UK for bank transfers, only credit cards.

Yes, wires / IBANs can not reversed in any country after the payment sent by the orginating bank.

[blofeld69]

When requesting a chargeback with my bank is it a good idea to mention the payment was for cryptocurrency? I ask because most banks have a very negative attitude towards Bitcoin.

EDIT: Looks like chargebacks are not possible from the UK for bank transfers, only credit cards.

Yes, wires / IBANs can not reversed in any country after the payment sent by the orginating bank.

Yes but what you can do is victims can group up and hit the UK company with a court order and get a UK judge to freeze the assets (including bank account of Mayzus Financial Services Ltd, in any EU country)

Mayzus Financial Services Ltd are enabling them to perpetuate this fraud, BTC-E.COM state on their website that its their bank account, therefore they are legally representing themselves as Mayzus Financial Services Ltd and without any information to the contrary you must treat Mayzus Financial Services Ltd and BTC-E.COM one and the same, simply a trading style.

[spqrusa]

Wow I didn't realise so many people were in the same situation as me. Does anyone have a phone number for BTC-e or any other contact details?

BTC-e is run by known scammers. There are no phone numbers, bogus WHOIS entries, and the only way to BTC-e is through their bank. I will not be surprised if BTC-e goes down when Mayzus or BTC-e accounts at Mayzus are siezed by EU/US regulators.

Hopefully, we get some percent of our money back.

[blofeld69]

known scammers? or unknown scammers? we want some names...company registration number even...

This is an important situation for all BTC holders as if and when a major exchange goes down it will crash the price

[stevel2000]

Just wanted to add my 2 cents with about my experience with BTC-e.

One fine morning about a month and half ago I tried to log into BTC-e and was told that my account was banned. Since then I have been doing the back-and-forth with them with a support ticket. It takes on average about 7 days for them to respond to anything I raise. So it's like this.

me: why was I banned?
them (7 days later): money trouble with you account.

me: what money trouble?!
them (another 7 days later): our bank says a wire to your account seems fishy, please provide ID, until bill, etc.

me: here they are, what next?
them (5 days later): oh we don't accept electronic copies, do you have scanned copies?

me: here's the scanned copy
(email from them: 72 hours no activity, we are about to close the ticket!)

me: hello?
me: hello hello?
them: no response so far...

Yesterday I finally took some advice from the websphere and added another comment in Russian, crossing my fingers to get a good response soon.

[blofeld69]

how much they stolen from you?

let me tell you something, if their bank said they suspect a transaction was "fishy" they would have immediately returned it or not even accepted it. how are they supposed to determine if an incomming bank payment is "fishy"? its a bank transfer, it either comes or it doesn't, what's fishy about it? this is total bullshit

They are selectively scamming people and when they are finally brought to book just watch the shit storm it will create for bitcoin and the resulting crash in price.

[stevel2000]

Not a huge amount, slightly more than $400. But still this is just ridiculous.

Now I did write them back (in Russian, no less!) yesterday that I want them to return the money and unblock my account. We'll see what happens. If history is any indication, I should be able to report back here in 5-7 days. :-(

[Lizard]

So Mayzus Financial Services Ltd is a UK based company, the address listed on their website is: 869 High Road, London, N12 8QA, UK. It's about a 30 min drive from my house so once I return to the UK I will pay them a visit and see what they have to say - hopefully it's not just a mailing address.

[stevel2000]

That's a great idea, but I have a feeling that it will indeed be just a mailing address. The company, if I read it correctly, is based in Bulgaria.

Another 24 hours have passed, and there no response for my ticket (as expected actually). I was wondering if writing them in Russian was really such a good idea, perhaps in stead of making things easier, I might have offended the folks where.

Right now I'm just counting my blessings, things could have be much worse if I had tens of thousands stuck...

[blofeld69]

http://www.eaassociates.co.uk/about-us/legal

869 High Road London is Chartered Accountants & Tax Advisers, they probably set up this Mayzus Financial on behalf of a client....

you can see it on google street view...but definately worth a visit to find out more info, if you go in heavy they will probably give up some info on their client

[Cefalu]

That's a great idea, but I have a feeling that it will indeed be just a mailing address. The company, if I read it correctly, is based in Bulgaria.

Another 24 hours have passed, and there no response for my ticket (as expected actually). I was wondering if writing them in Russian was really such a good idea, perhaps in stead of making things easier, I might have offended the folks where.

Right now I'm just counting my blessings, things could have be much worse if I had tens of thousands stuck...

stevel2000 -
when/if you feel such action is warranted, help those in the same boat to lower their trust here:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=trust;u=33012

I notice their postings are marked in red now. Not much else can be done, except to also write the editors of news feeds for the
community, like coindesk, asking them to publish something about BTC-e selectively scamming

[Lizard]

Just sent an email to Coindesk, tempted to report them to Action Fraud.

[edgar]

PM Sent;

hello btc-e.com

i am having difficulty withdrawing from your site.

zero emails sent to me despite 'resending'   

zero confirmations on the blockchain

i am unable to provide a support ticket due to 'wrong email/password' (which is actually not wrong)

received 2 replies from non-receiving sites' ticket support within 15 minutes...

please forward any information that will solve this issue.

regards,

Ed

[stevel2000]

Another peculiarity of the BTC-e ticketing system, if they don't respond to you in 72 hours, and that you don't ask for help again. An automated robot will send you an email saying:

• "We have not heard back from you in 72 hours and would like to know if you consider this issue to be resolved."
  

Here's the kicker, it goes on to say:

• "Please note that the ticket will automatically be closed within 1 hours if we don't hear back."
  

What this mean is, essentially, as if BTC-e not responding to your tickets is not bad enough, the customers needs to be on stand-by, and whenever they get this email, they need to respond immediately within an hour! This sure is some set up. On the other hand, you can still go in and re-open a ticket later on, but in general there is no response any way, so perhaps there's no difference one way or another.

[findiggle]

Another peculiarity of the BTC-e ticketing system, if they don't respond to you in 72 hours, and that you don't ask for help again. An automated robot will send you an email saying:

• "We have not heard back from you in 72 hours and would like to know if you consider this issue to be resolved."
  

Here's the kicker, it goes on to say:

• "Please note that the ticket will automatically be closed within 1 hours if we don't hear back."
  

What this mean is, essentially, as if BTC-e not responding to your tickets is not bad enough, the customers needs to be on stand-by, and whenever they get this email, they need to respond immediately within an hour! This sure is some set up. On the other hand, you can still go in and re-open a ticket later on, but in general there is no response any way, so perhaps there's no difference one way or another.

This has been my experience. You can re-open the same ticket, but it does no good. You can open a new ticket with the same details, and you may get the immediate (bullshit) response:

Hello! Crediting of funds from 7 to 10 days. Please be patient.
You can send the details of the transfer of money to check + scans and screenshots.

after which they won't respond further. If they realize it's a duplicate ticket, they'll combine the two (or three or four) into one ticket.

Either way, you're simply stuck until they decide they've milked you for all you're worth.

- Findiggle.

[edgar]

Your request has been received
We have received your request and our team will get back to you shortly. You can log in to the helpdesk to review the status of your request, or check your email for further updates.

 
Ticket ID    #CTG-718-27390

Confirmed e-mail updated on 09/12/2013 - #173697270 Re-send email requested on 11/12/2013 - NO EMAIL RECEIVED!

Transaction cancelled    #173697270    -501.994 XPM    Withdrawal XPM to address AKYt8NaJ5mjipty69hSTBrqYAm23mewroa    30.11.13
20:36:17    disabled


NO EMAIL BUT COINS RETURNED 12/12/13

Second attempt at withdrawing 1.1 XPM is similarly held up with 'A letter with further instructions sent to your email'


AND NO MAIL..

...How long are we supposed to wait for these 'confirmation e-mails'?


Support tickets are now replied automatically explaining that CONFIRMED email is NOT CONFIRMED & to 'check spam folder' for non existent confirmation mail!


This is beginning to seem like a wild goose chase!



btc-e.support (thailand) on skype is more interested in gaining private email addresses and or phone numbers than getting this confirmation mail sent.


[21:08:46] b: Hi btc-e_support, I'd like to add you as a contact. b
[21:09:09] *** btc-e.support has shared contact details with b. ***
[21:09:44] b: hello. are you able to help with withdrawal issues?
[21:11:04] btc-e.support: your problem
[21:11:20] b: no confirmation email - i have tried many times
[21:11:38] btc-e.support: Send me the following information:
Your problem:
ID btc-e
email:
Email Password:
Ticket number:
Your country:
Account Transfer time:
Bank name:
Transfer amount:
Customer segment our review and resolve help you.
[21:12:27] b: no bank, only withdraw cryptocoins - why would you need my email password?
[21:13:28] btc-e.support: It is required of Direct Support.
[21:14:27] b: required for what purpose?
[21:15:18] btc-e.support: So that we can prove accurate account is yours.
[21:16:06] b: my btc-e ID is edgar. My problem is no confirmation email is arrived. all i require is an confirmation email, are you able to provide this?
[21:16:16] btc-e.support: After verifying correct. We will solve your problem.
[21:16:58] b: you do not need my email password to solve this problem. you already have my email address.
[21:17:01] btc-e.support: Please note the information we request.
[21:18:18] btc-e.support: What your email data. Can change to another email.
[21:19:27] b: why do i need to chnage email? the support mails arrive ok, why not the withdraw confirmation mail?
[21:20:58] btc-e.support: Please help us validate it. Then we can solve new problems collecting your question.
[21:21:38] b: that makes no sense. if support emails arrive, why do confirmation mails not arrive?
[21:23:09] btc-e.support: we are investigating these accounts having some doubts.
[21:23:35] b: which accounts? i have only 1 account.
[21:25:09] btc-e.support: Therefore verification requests. Please provide full information if you want to solve problems early.
[21:26:33] b: my email password is not of any legitimate use to you. you have my email address, you have my account name.
[21:27:38] btc-e.support: ok you can wait if you do not wish to provide information
[21:27:48] b: wait until what?
[21:28:19] b: i have been waiting since 2nd december
[21:28:40] btc-e.support: I am solely responsible for the information requested. The certification and solve problems are caused by customer segment.
[21:29:07] b: my email is confirmed on the site
[21:29:20] b: what else could be a problem?
[21:31:04] btc-e.support: It is asking customers and department management.
[21:32:04] b: all i want is the confirmation email sent, are you able to provide this witout my private email password?
[21:32:36] btc-e.support: You could offer to resolve them or wait.
[21:32:58] b: resolve what?

wait for what?
[21:33:10] btc-e.support: I am not responsible for this problem is the customer segment
[21:33:33] b: can u provide their details that i might contact them directly
[21:34:34] btc-e.support: There is only 1 recruit support in skype
[21:35:08] btc-e.support: You can expect after your account is verified.
[21:35:27] btc-e.support: Can a few weeks
[21:36:19] b: im afraid i do not understand what you are saying. my account is confirmed since months. i have not had this problem before. and it seems i am not the only person with the same concern
[21:36:40] b: why would any email take a few weeks?
[21:37:51] btc-e.support: there are many accounts as you have a situation
[21:38:07] b: yes. but my E-Mail: (confirmed)
[21:38:16] btc-e.support: and we need time to solve it.
[21:38:19] b: so why the hold up now?
[21:38:51] btc-e.support: where you come from.
[21:39:47] b: Europe. does this help with sending a confirmation email?
[21:40:47] btc-e.support: if you want fast processor Can our headquarters in Russia
[21:41:14] b: email? telephone? visit?
[21:42:07] btc-e.support: to meet in the center and provides general information
[21:42:38] b: general information will never include private password/s
[21:43:14] b: how to contact 'head' office?
[21:43:23] btc-e.support: We ask that all information I have told you
[21:44:09] btc-e.support: wait. Give us your phone number.
[21:44:38] btc-e.support: customer segment will contact you and provide time and location
[21:44:45] b: i dont think you are the right person to help me
[21:45:35] btc-e.support: parts our customers will help you

unimpressed doesn't come close!

[edgar]

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[codegeek]

I've been using Bitcoin for several years now, I recently decided to try and invest in some Alt-Coins. I created an account with BTC-e and followed their instructions to fund my account with £1500 via SEPA transfer. The instructions requested a 'details of payment' which I assumed meant a payment reference, I could not fit this in the payment reference box with either of my bank accounts (Halifax and HSBC) using online baking. Instead I used a reference of my BTC-e username. Immediately after making the transfer I opened a support ticket explaining what I had done so they could easily trace the payment, they responded quickly stating there might be a delay.

I made the transfer on the 30th October 2013, since then I have had nothing credited to my BTC-e account. All further support tickets I have opened have either been ignored immediately or ignored after providing them with further information they requested. I have sent them a screenshot of my bank statement clearly showing £1500 leaving my account on the 30th to their account. I have even sent them notarized copies of my passport and a utility bill.

I really don't know how else to proceed, any advice would be much appreciated.

What you need to do is contact your bank. While stealing bitcoin may not yet be a crime since it doesn't have a legal classification, stealing money is and typically your bank will quickly probe in to and find out what happened.

More likely this is a mere error and when your bank starts probing the will find the administrative mistake.

[Picoloxo]

Update from my side, I've been able to contact BTC-e bank (Mayzus Financial Services Limited) from the form on their website. After a few mails (at least they respond !), my bank has sent a recall order for my SEPA payment and I had my money two days later. Apparently, SEPA orders have a 8 weeks period during which it's possible to ask for a refund. Obviously, never had any answer from BTE-e support, and they closed my ticket after 72 hours.

Good luck for those who are still in problems with BTC-e !

[KuleRucket]

Update from my side, I've been able to contact BTC-e bank (Mayzus Financial Services Limited) from the form on their website. After a few mails (at least they respond !), my bank has sent a recall order for my SEPA payment and I had my money two days later. Apparently, SEPA orders have a 8 weeks period during which it's possible to ask for a refund. Obviously, never had any answer from BTE-e support, and they closed my ticket after 72 hours.

Good luck for those who are still in problems with BTC-e !

Stupidly I have just done the same thing and forgot to include the payment details. I have raised a ticket with BTC-e and contacted Mayzus Financial Services Limited on their form. Thanks for the info. I hope I can also get this sorted!