Big Trouble with TradeOgre (Money confiscation)

[GLR4444]

Hello!

TradeOgre demanded first 0.01 BTC, then 0.01 BTC, then 0.02 BTC (in total 0.04 BTC) from me to solve a 2FA issue which I had (could not log in again). Now, at last, they demanded the private key of my bitcoin wallet, allegedly to solve the problem.

Here is my story. I would be very interested to get opinions.

I established an TradeOgre account at my second home (I call the computer PC2). 2FA was requested, because my mail address is listed on haveibeenpwned.com. I installed Authy Desktop and logged in. I sent the equivalent of 50 TUBEs (Bittube crypto) to the new account and bought Electroneums for this.

Coming to my first home (PC1) I  also installed Authy Desktop. I saw the TradeOgre token and the 2 PCs listed. But I could not login with the 2FA codes shown. I erased the TradeOgre token (which was a fault), established another one, but this also did'nt work. Because I supposed that all tokens were deleted now (also on PC2), I sent a mail to the TradeOgre (TO) support and asked for help.

The answer: "We see that you have the username, email, and password but not the 2FA key.
Please send 0.01 BTC to the address .... We will then reset the 2 factor authentication code for you to set-up again."

This I did. The answer was: "Upon further investigation, we have decided that another 0.01 must be deposited to ... in order to keep a 1:1 correlation with the assets stored in the TradeOgre account. Please send another deposit to ..... The Bitcoin will be refunded after the reset."

My reply: "Sorry, but this is a lot of money! I hope very much that I don't lose it." But I sent the money. (Now everybody would say this was utterly stupid, and I know this now. I should have forgotten the account with about 2.5 US-$. But still I trusted the exchange, and I have to admit that I am a perfectionist, so I wanted to have the matter cleared.)

Now the answer by TO was that there would have been an "evidence of abuse on our systems". They gave me the address https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/financial-services/assets/pwc-kyc-anti-money-laundering-guide-2013.pdf to read, which is of no use to me at all.

Most suspicious was the allegation by TO that there were three (!) accounts under my name (all with identical mail adress and password), with 0.64 BTC (!) on it.
I answered that this money is not from me and they can keep it, but I want my 0.02 BTC back.

With the repetitive justification of "our 1:1 correlation policy" now I should send "an additional 0.02 BTC (1:1)" to ... in order to claim the BTC back.
"Therefore, please send 0.02 BTC to ... and 0.04 BTC will be sent back."

I have to admit that I felt caught. Either I stopped this now and lost 0.02 BTC, or I doubled down, got the money back - or lost even double. I sent the 0.02 BTC.

But I did not get anything back. Now the demand came to send them the private key of my wallet, supposedly to do a "taint analysis". I should not change my wallet. But as I had heard everywhere not to give away this key, I emptied the wallet and sent the key. No, they (= B.) wrote, I should put my whole money (which is not little) back on the wallet, otherwise I could not get the 0.04 BTC back. In addition they "flagged" me under "NON-COMPLIANT".

A week afterwards I came back to my second home. On PC2 I expected to find a deleted (empty) Authy Account. To my surprise there still was the original TO token, and I was able to log in without problems. The Electroneums are still there, but not more. The 0.04 BTC are swallowed by TO.
I contacted B. at TO again because I was so naive to think that everything was cleared now. The 2FA problem had only been with the Authy account on two PCs.

The reply:
"Thank you for admitting that there were several logins under your account. We have already confiscated the suspicious Bitcoins deposited. Unfortunately, we still need a taint analysis done to make sure we are sending the 0.04 BTC to the rightful owner."

I find the word "admit" insulting. There was nothing to "admit". I will never hand them a wallet full of a lot of money, to get back the 0.04 BTC as had been promised.

-----

I'm very much interested in your opinions or recommendations about this whole matter!

GLR

[1715380889]

1715380889

[1715380889]

1715380889

[SFR10]

TradeOgre demanded first 0.01 BTC, then 0.01 BTC, then 0.02 BTC (in total 0.04 BTC) from me to solve an 2FA issue which I had (could not log in again). Now, at last, they demanded my private key, allegedly to solve the problem.

Here is my story. I would be very interested to get opinions.

I never used their services but based on your story, it appears they're just making excuses (a lot of red flags on that exchange [this might just be the beginning]).
- You should include screenshots of your conversation (as a proof) + move your thread to "Scam Accusations" board (use "move topic" button from the bottom left corner of this page).
They didn't even bother to create an official announcement on this forum (there's only an "unofficial thread").

[indysbhogal]

Hi GLR4444,

Hope this message finds you well.

I read the following thread created by you 'Big Trouble with TradeOgre (Money confiscation)', and i have encountered similar problems.

I recently lost my phone and therefore my 2FA codes. I contacted Tradeogre via their twitter page, and they gave me the email address of their technical team to contact.

They initially asked for 0.025btc, then 0.05 , then 0.075 and now 0.1.

I stupidly and reluctantly transferred the first three sets of btc as I believed the account may have contained amounts greater than that. They've now asked for another 0.1, which would take total transfers to over 2k dollars.

Wondered if i could get your opinion on this, as they've seemingly already stolen over 1k dollars from me.

[JeromeTash]

They initially asked for 0.025btc, then 0.05 , then 0.075 and now 0.1.

I stupidly and reluctantly transferred the first three sets of btc as I believed the account may have contained amounts greater than that. They've now asked for another 0.1, which would take total transfers to over 2k dollars.

Wondered if i could get your opinion on this, as they've seemingly already stolen over 1k dollars from me.

GLR4444 has been offline for over a year and basing on the past accusations around the forum, I believe they are scammers.
When they asked you for 0.025btc, that should have been a red flag right there.

[lnb48seol]

I contacted tradeogre on twitter for the same reason, no problem, an e-mail was sent few minutes after, I could access my account.
Good guys at Tradeogre

[logfiles]

I contacted tradeogre on twitter for the same reason, no problem, an e-mail was sent few minutes after, I could access my account.
Good guys at Tradeogre

So you had to register an account and came to this 4-year-old thread accusing tradeogre of scamming some Bitcoins, trying to tell as that the exchange worked on you perfectly?

So if I am being mean to you, but I find this hard to believe.