Buy for another person

[ericamd]

I guy from UK (I don't know him, He is supposed to be my new boss, but I'm not sure) asked me to buy bitcoins.
He transferred money to my account, then asked me to buy localbitcoins with this money less 10%( my commission).
I did it, he told me that was a test, but now he wants me to do again and I'm not sure that it is legal.
I live in California.

[1713571836]

1713571836

[1713571836]

1713571836

[gayletot]

buy for what? btc I can only advise if you really want to invest in btc to invest you do not want to fool other people today with scammer in crypto. if i do not want you to be someone else.

[buwaytress]

Bleeding weird situation. I don't think it's illegal, but you should still be wary.

Sounds like easy money, right? Should raise red flags all over the place.

Guy is sending you money, so come tax time or even come reporting time, you're going to have to declare this income: source and purpose. Telling the banks or tax authorities you regularly get money to buy something on the person's behalf is one of the many alerts for AML in the EU (which UK is still party to, not sure if it's the same in US).

Politely decline. If you're afraid of repercussions (he's your boss?), just say LBC froze your account. Simple.

IF he really wants, and you really want, open an account under his name somewhere, an exchange maybe. You manage it for him. Easy.

[hugeblack]

Perhaps he was afraid that KYC & AML would verify his name. As most trading platforms ask for some files before making any transactions.
There are two possibilities for doing that:

 - Someone who is interested in privacy does not want to be verified by these platforms.
 - Someone who does illegal transactions and intends to use Bitcoin as a money laundering tool.

Ask him why he can not do and therefore decided to continue these transactions or not.

[gentlemand]

There are no shortage of UK options these days and none of them have a 10% premium. Since it doesn't make any sense then it's safe to assume something a bit weird's going on even if you can't figure out what.

If he's in America too then that's even less logical. Tell him to sort it out himself in the future.

[stompix]

(I don't know him, He is supposed to be my new boss, but I'm not sure)

How the hell can't you be sure he is your new boss?  Ask your current boss!!!

He transferred money to my account, then asked me to buy localbitcoins with this money less 10%( my commission).

How did he transfer that money to your account, it's obvious you have discussed things with him, people don't just send money.

I did it, he told me that was a test, but now he wants me to do again and I'm not sure that it is legal.
I live in California.

You don't sound that Californian to me, and all the story is pretty weird.
Why would somebody try to get bitcoins anonymously and at the same time pay via money transfers?

- Someone who is interested in privacy does not want to be verified by these platforms.
 - Someone who does illegal transactions and intends to use Bitcoin as a money laundering tool.

First is possible but still not quite right, he could buy via an ATMs or Paypoints (there are still some that don't require ID) and he needs a lot of it there is a slight problem which raises questions about the second possibility also.
If he is trying to buy some 10-20 BTC, he is still sending fiat via transfers to a personal account which would immediately raise some questions with his bank.

My bet would be on hacked bank accounts, I've heard some cases before, it's nothing new.

[ericamd]

Stompix,

Sorry that you did't understand me.
We discussed about transfer money to my account, of course!!! But he did it using another person's account, so his name doesn't appear in my bank account.
And I never said that I'm Californian. I said that I live in California.

[gentlemand]

Stompix,

Sorry that you did't understand me.
We discussed about transfer money to my account, of course!!! But he did it using another person's account, so his name doesn't appear in my bank account.
And I never said that I'm Californian. I said that I live in California.

Then that's even worse that the first picture you painted. If I was in America I'd be so paranoid about the FBI drilling me with guns with torches on the end of them I wouldn't take a transfer from my own grandmother for buying BTC, let alone a quasi stranger using someone else's account.

I'd cease immediately. And even then your card might already be marked if there's money laundering involved which there probably is.

[jseverson]

I'd cease immediately. And even then your card might already be marked if there's money laundering involved which there probably is.

Lol the only element missing for him to be committing actual money laundering is illegal activities from the 2nd person's end. A case could be made that the person simply don't want anything to be traced back to him, anonymity yada yada, but a 10% commission? Ridiculously fishy.

OP, if you don't mind, how much money is involved here? I'm guessing the first transaction is fairly low because it ended up being a test?

[KrishaBitcoin]

I guy from UK (I don't know him, He is supposed to be my new boss, but I'm not sure) asked me to buy bitcoins.
He transferred money to my account, then asked me to buy localbitcoins with this money less 10%( my commission).
I did it, he told me that was a test, but now he wants me to do again and I'm not sure that it is legal.
I live in California.

This is an insane idea for that strangers that it will easy to trust a person that he did not meet that what if after sending the money then the receiver will just run away with the money. Good thing that you are a good person but anyway you did not tell how much money the guy sent to you therefore as long as the transactions are below the regulation amount limit and you will passed the KYC process then everything is legal.

[Aikidoka]

Go ahead and do business joor!

The guy is afraid and is suspecting things and you are telling him to do the business? Give me a break. Anyways, OP, the guy wants to outsmart you because he is supposed to be your boss. And you know bosses like to be bossy. It is time that you outsmart him. First ask a specialist if what you are doing is legal or not. If it is legal, then you are okay with it. If it is not, then you might come up with a another good strategy. But be careful, no one wants to be in jail. So, they give the job to others. He said it was a test. I think he wanted to see how it went. If it were a success, he would do it again.

[buwaytress]

The more information OP seems to be giving, the fishier everything seems to be. My main concern here is, if OP himself can't seem to see how much trouble this will likely get him into, then either he's not revealing everything or he's just making this up.

As most users here have said, the highly unclear nature of this complex transfer of funds opens up so many possibilities. If the account sending money to you isn't even in his name, then that's already the first red flag.

And as we've all said, there's no reason NOT to buy Bitcoin from the UK. Use localbitcoins, use BISQ, and choose the anonymous options like cash transfer if your "boss" is so afraid of revealing his identity. He'll save the hassle of going through so many layers, save that 10% commission... it's just too suspicious for anything I'd even want to touch with a 10-ft stick.

[Thekool1s]

but a 10% commission? Ridiculously fishy.

Do you know how much extra people can pay for getting their hands on virgin coins? On average it's around 10% above the market price. And to OP, no one here is a lawyer. If that 10% you will be making is worth $$$$ then you should go get some legal advice from a proper lawyer. You don't want to end up in a money laundering effort or something even worse. Good Luck!

[CoinEraser]

Stompix,

Sorry that you did't understand me.
We discussed about transfer money to my account, of course!!! But he did it using another person's account, so his name doesn't appear in my bank account.
And I never said that I'm Californian. I said that I live in California.

This is a big red flag!! This is only a scam and you should not do that again. For me, it sounds like you're acting as a middleman who's supposed to wash money from a scam. I've read something about that before. The fraudster sells something as an example on eBay, receives money for the sale on your account and sends no article. You trade the money for Bitcoin and the fraudster remains anonymous in the background. Only your name appears at this scam. Think about it, if you really want to join in something like that.   

[Gozie51]

I believe there is nothing wrong if you are sure you are free to transact such in your country. You have nothing to lose, he is the one sending cash to you and you buy bitcoin for him. Except you know he is defrauding his country, then the law can be against you.

Ask him why he can not do and therefore decided to continue these transactions or not.

I'm thinking maybe he is in a place where they forbid the transaction of cryptocurrency and he could be doing illicit business with it too.

[Thirdspace]

We discussed about transfer money to my account, of course!!! But he did it using another person's account, so his name doesn't appear in my bank account.

you should be careful when accepting money from someone using different account's name 
what CoinEraser said is one of many possible scam methods
another possibility is you're involved in money laundry or stolen/hacked bank account

[Capt00]

We discussed about transfer money to my account, of course!!! But he did it using another person's account, so his name doesn't appear in my bank account.

you should be careful when accepting money from someone using different account's name 
what CoinEraser said is one of many possible scam methods
another possibility is you're involved in money laundry or stolen/hacked bank account

Probably you are right, both of these two people may be afraid on KYC implemented because they have an outside transaction which not easy to deal with. You should know better who is that man, verify his identity through social media account much better if you talk this guy as your boss I don't why you called him a boss maybe you know him already.
So, be careful, always take advantage than him. Make it sure every transaction he do first after you.

[Kemarit]

We discussed about transfer money to my account, of course!!! But he did it using another person's account, so his name doesn't appear in my bank account.

you should be careful when accepting money from someone using different account's name 
what CoinEraser said is one of many possible scam methods
another possibility is you're involved in money laundry or stolen/hacked bank account

Most likely this is the case. I still remember like 15 years ago someone approaches me to wait a ATM withdrawal (Canada). Very suspicious and I said no because common sense will dictate that something bad is going to happen to me, and I don't care how much money he is offering.

@Capt00, I don't think that those people are simply afraid of KYC, what they are afraid of is that they can be track and caught by authorities.

@OP, yeah is was a test and very easy money, but again, your putting yourself in a difficult situation. Don't be the fall guy here.

[LimeFeline]

Don't ever use anyones money. It can cause some huge problems. This person can sue you for anything if he is a crazy dude and he is crazy if he's sending you his money.

[LimePleasant]

Did he even tell you or did you ask him why doesn't he buy those bitcins by hiself? As far as I'm informed there is no problem with buying Bitcoins in UK so he should be able to do it by himself.