FRAUD/SCAM Company Localbitcoins.com How LBC haven stolen my 1 BTC

[Son_of_Karry_Mullis]

Hi bros,

I warn you against the fraud company Localbitcoins.com. If you look around the Internet you will hear a lot of sad stories how users get stolen all their Bitcoins by Localbitcoins.

Here is what happened to me:
I deposit 1 BTC to my account, then they suddenly locked my account ask me to verify again through uploading my electricity bill.
I uploaded my utility Bill but it got rejected because they say it must be a recent one within 3 days. So I was to forced to wait more then half months. After I got my new electricity bill I uploaded it immediately, but it got rejected again, saying the full name should be on the bill, but the problem is in my country the the the middle name is * out, but LBC dont accept that. I asked my friends what to do, they told me its easy to hire somebody to rewrite my full name in the electricity bill through Photoshop.
After uploading the edited new photo my account was activated again and I leave it. Sometimes i logged in to check the Bitcoin price, but I did not do any transaction.

After a while when the Bitcoin price raised I logged in again, and found out I was put into forced holiday. I asked the chat support to unlock my account, but they said I uploaded manipulated pictures and my account is locked forever.


If there is somebody who wants to take any actions to bust these scammers feel free to contact me I will help.

[1715103878]

1715103878

[RickDeckard]

Hi bros,

I warn you against the fraud company Localbitcoins.com. If you look around the Internet you will hear a lot of sad stories how users get stolen all their Bitcoins by Localbitcoins.

Here is what happened to me:
I deposit 1 BTC to my account, then they suddenly locked my account ask me to verify again through uploading my electricity bill.

Altough it's not an ideal situation, if we look into their support page[1] we find the section that states that they may occasionally lock accounts based on some assumptions:

That means your account has been suspended. You won’t be able to make trades and use your wallet. Account can get suspended automatically, if our system notices any unusual activities from the profile, or LocalBitcoin support team manually flags it in case they have a good reason to suspect fraud or account hack.

This is not a system only implemented on this service - Services like Coinbase or Kraken also suspend your account if they notice something unsusual is going on. Here's the information regarding Coinbase for example[2]:

This restriction may be applied for several reasons

• Our security team suspected that your account was being targeted by a malicious user
• We detected a security issue with your information when processing an account recovery
• You requested this by selecting a link in an email from Coinbase because you didn't recognize a recent action on your account

I asked my friends what to do, they told me its easy to hire somebody to rewrite my full name in the electricity bill through Photoshop.
After uploading the edited new photo my account was activated again and I leave it.

This, for me, was the part that you acted wrongfully - albeit it is not something "illegal" per se since you basically added information - I believe that you could have passed on that information to the team over at localbitcoins, so that they could ask you another kind of documentation (for example, as they state, either a photo of your ID or you holding it). By making a Photoshop change may trigger their alarms because for all they know they could be dealing with someone shady since what they got was a document that had been tampered with.

Have you tried to reason with them telling your story and the problems you've faced? I think that at this moment they will be with their guard up due to your recent actions, but perhaps by explaining in detail your situation they could, perhaps, let you show them another document in order to whitelist your account ...

[1] https://localbitcoins.com/support/request/?indicator=3-2v
[2] https://help.coinbase.com/en/coinbase/privacy-and-security/other/i-see-the-error-account-temporarily-disabled-what-should-i-do

[Son_of_Karry_Mullis]

No, I tried 1 year to talk to them, but they keep stubborn.
And yes they also ask for a selfie holding ID.
After 1 year without result I asked my friend to help me out then we tried upload the picture. And then they locked my account forever. Aldo dont reply my support messages. Before they answered about 1 month.

LBC have stolen all my savings, and because of the lockdowns I go through very hard times. But the people of LBC are psychopaths, I saw on social media that they also scam single mothers.

And also its not my fault. LBC is scam and they trick you. And if you do some research about LBC you will see they have not much followers, comments on their social media, because they scam their own users and if they make bad comments they just delete it.

[noorman0]

I asked my friends what to do, they told me its easy to hire somebody to rewrite my full name in the electricity bill through Photoshop.
After uploading the edited new photo my account was activated again and I leave it.

That makes your situation worse, obviously they will notice your uploaded document is suspicious. The only way (in my opinion) is to involve a lawyer to get your btc back, you better do it immediately if the case is still warm. Even if they close your account, it doesn't mean the case has been closed. By law, LBC has no authority to expropriate user funds.

[Son_of_Karry_Mullis]

I asked my friends what to do, they told me its easy to hire somebody to rewrite my full name in the electricity bill through Photoshop.
After uploading the edited new photo my account was activated again and I leave it.

That makes your situation worse, obviously they will notice your uploaded document is suspicious. The only way (in my opinion) is to involve a lawyer to get your btc back, you better do it immediately if the case is still warm. Even if they close your account, it doesn't mean the case has been closed. By law, LBC has no authority to expropriate user funds.

What can I do in specific, and how do i proof, my balance of my account?

[bL4nkcode]

If I'm on your place I already withdraw my funds after they active your account after you uploaded the edited/photoshoped utility bill of yours, since you knew it's illegal.

And that is really the wrong move you did and there's nothing you can since it's against their TOS. Your lucky if they refunded your funds and keep the account locked due the restrictions.

And if you do some research about LBC you will see they have not much followers, comments on their social media, because they scam their own users and if they make bad comments they just delete it.

Users of LBC stay away after they required all their users for KYC verification.

[RickDeckard]

What can I do in specific, and how do i proof, my balance of my account?

I assume you have the address of your localbitcoins account where you sent your BTC to and you also have the address where you sent that BTC from right? Assuming you proof the ownership of the original address from which the BTC came, I'm sure that it will be easy to link the BTC as yours.

We can't help much other than saying that you should try to reach them in any way possible - Social Media, Reddit, E-mail, Twitter ... - and be prepared to give them a full breakdown of what happened and why you've tried to PS the documents which you have to admit to them it wasn't the most intelligent thing to do. It's sad to know that you're locked out of your BTC, but you should try your best to regain access to it... If you do need some kind of help with English or wording when getting in touch with them just let us know and I'm sure someone will help you 

[tokyohd]

First of all I think it's 3 months the utility bill should be
And it doesn't ha e to be electricity it can be a bank statement internet bill ...
Secondly you are wrong to make a fake document
Third you did make a fake document you get your account active but you didn't withdraw .  Also what's the reason of putting your coin there if you not using it for trading ? You could put it on some wallet you control the private key or exchange like binance

It's really a strange story to me but goodluck .

[stompix]

I uploaded my utility Bill but it got rejected because they say it must be a recent one within 3 days. So I was to forced to wait more then half months.

It's 3 months, not 3 days, you've must understand wrong, I've never heard of such a thing, besides, it would be insane to assume they could request since I usually get the bills two or three days after they have been issued in the mailbox.
I've just checked my ISP bill and it was marked 6th but the stamp of the post office is of the 8th.

I asked my friends what to do, they told me its easy to hire somebody to rewrite my full name in the electricity bill through Photoshop.
~
And yes they also ask for a selfie holding ID.
After 1 year without result, I asked my friend to help me out then we tried upload the picture. And then they locked my account forever. Aldo dont reply my support messages. Before they answered about 1 month.

Wait, so you photoshopped both your bill and your selfie?
When did they ask you for the utility bill, when they told you they needed another document why didn't you simply ask them to withdraw your 1 BTC because you can't comply and be done with it? Don't you think they have processed tens or hundreds of those from your country and they could easily spot the differences?

But the people of LBC are psychopaths, I saw on social media that they also scam single mothers.

Yeah sure, they ask all females if they have kids and are divorced and when they say so they instantly scam them, you just had to add something completely unbelievable to make your case rather than focusing on the stuff you have done from the first step.

Anyhow, assuming at least half of the story is true, contact a lawyer, tell him the story (everything), and let him deal with LB in order to recover the funds. If they keep holding your money then have him file a complaint with the Finnish financial ombudsman since LB is registered with the FFSA, they will address your case even if you're a foreign citizen.

[hugeblack]

To be honest, you are mistaken by tampering with a personal document. You could have contacted the support team and then told them your story. If they do not respond, there are many alternatives. The site itself acts as an escrow between the seller and the buyer, and therefore you will find many buyers.

Secondly, when there is a problem with the site, it may ask you to re-send the data again? How do you plan to solve the problem?

In general, contact the support team and tell them the truth. If you live in the European Union, contacting a lawyer will be appropriate, but I am afraid that you will be exposed to a legal issue because of tampering with the electricity bill.

[Son_of_Karry_Mullis]

If I'm on your place I already withdraw my funds after they active your account after you uploaded the edited/photoshoped utility bill of yours, since you knew it's illegal.

And that is really the wrong move you did and there's nothing you can since it's against their TOS. Your lucky if they refunded your funds and keep the account locked due the restrictions.

And if you do some research about LBC you will see they have not much followers, comments on their social media, because they scam their own users and if they make bad comments they just delete it.

Users of LBC stay away after they required all their users for KYC verification.

Yes I am stupid. I never thought that LBC is such a scam company!

[Son_of_Karry_Mullis]

I uploaded my utility Bill but it got rejected because they say it must be a recent one within 3 days. So I was to forced to wait more then half months.

It's 3 months, not 3 days, you've must understand wrong, I've never heard of such a thing, besides, it would be insane to assume they could request since I usually get the bills two or three days after they have been issued in the mailbox.
I've just checked my ISP bill and it was marked 6th but the stamp of the post office is of the 8th.

I asked my friends what to do, they told me its easy to hire somebody to rewrite my full name in the electricity bill through Photoshop.
~
And yes they also ask for a selfie holding ID.
After 1 year without result, I asked my friend to help me out then we tried upload the picture. And then they locked my account forever. Aldo dont reply my support messages. Before they answered about 1 month.

Wait, so you photoshopped both your bill and your selfie?
When did they ask you for the utility bill, when they told you they needed another document why didn't you simply ask them to withdraw your 1 BTC because you can't comply and be done with it? Don't you think they have processed tens or hundreds of those from your country and they could easily spot the differences?

It was 3 days!. Thats another thing they totally fooled me, they ask again for another picture, because they think its unclear, if you submit it then they say, but the electricity bill is already outdated(it needs to be within 3 days), then after waiting for the next month they say, you need to upload a selfie again with a paper the date today(even if there is 1 day difference). Then after resubmitting all the pictures they say the they need the full name in the utility bill. But in my country the middle name is replaced by an asterisk. And yes I can submit other utility bills, but its always the same, the middle name get * out for security purpose.

Maybe now its 3 months, due Lockdowns and so on.

> Wait, so you photoshopped both your bill and your selfie?
NO, ich just editet the Electric bill.

Where I can find a lawyer in that field?

[Son_of_Karry_Mullis]

What can I do in specific, and how do i proof, my balance of my account?

I assume you have the address of your localbitcoins account where you sent your BTC to and you also have the address where you sent that BTC from right? Assuming you proof the ownership of the original address from which the BTC came, I'm sure that it will be easy to link the BTC as yours.

We can't help much other than saying that you should try to reach them in any way possible - Social Media, Reddit, E-mail, Twitter ... - and be prepared to give them a full breakdown of what happened and why you've tried to PS the documents which you have to admit to them it wasn't the most intelligent thing to do. It's sad to know that you're locked out of your BTC, but you should try your best to regain access to it... If you do need some kind of help with English or wording when getting in touch with them just let us know and I'm sure someone will help you 

No, there is no proof, because its an internal LBC Address. I met a friend in person and give him the money in cash, and he send the btc to my lbc account(Will receive instantly) there is no entry at blockchain.info.  As you see the scammer company use all kind of tricks.

[tokyohd]

What can I do in specific, and how do i proof, my balance of my account?

I assume you have the address of your localbitcoins account where you sent your BTC to and you also have the address where you sent that BTC from right? Assuming you proof the ownership of the original address from which the BTC came, I'm sure that it will be easy to link the BTC as yours.

We can't help much other than saying that you should try to reach them in any way possible - Social Media, Reddit, E-mail, Twitter ... - and be prepared to give them a full breakdown of what happened and why you've tried to PS the documents which you have to admit to them it wasn't the most intelligent thing to do. It's sad to know that you're locked out of your BTC, but you should try your best to regain access to it... If you do need some kind of help with English or wording when getting in touch with them just let us know and I'm sure someone will help you  

No, there is no proof, because its an internal LBC Address. I met a friend in person and give him the money in cash, and he send the btc to my lbc account(Will receive instantly) there is no entry at blockchain.info.  As you see the scammer company use all kind of tricks.

i don't think localbitcoin is scam I use them since 4 years
The problem it's you who tried to scam them by forging a document. Beside don't tell me a bank statement also has no full name then it's a crazy country you live in Or a very special country
There also . Many ways to prove residence it can be getting a proof from your city office
But forging a document with photoshop is illegal in my country you might get arrested for that  
Localbitcoin is not a wallet to store your funds it's a p2p exchange.
And if they allowed you to just send fake documents they might get in trouble with the government they are licensed in if I remember it was finland.
I don't think they want to do tricks to get your 1btc as they earn more from the fees of exchange as a lot of users using them.
It's an expensive lesson to learn. You are lucky police didn't knock on your door for faking documents or money laundering or something .

NEXT TIME DON'T FAKE ANY DOCUMENT.

And what lawyer or court will help you ?
Will you go to court and say I tried to fake my identity documents and I got caught by the staff of localbitcoin and they closed my account .
Man go ask the friend who gave you the advice to fake the documents or edit it for your money as it's the most stupid advice that cost you 50000$ it could cost you your freedom too.  

[stompix]

Where I can find a lawyer in that field?

In the closes big town that has a few lawyers, the matter at hand here is not about cryptocurrencies, it's about a foreign financial regulated company holding your funds and denying releasing before verifying your identity, you simply need a lawyer who has basic experience in debt collecting, even if it's a reverse case the procedures should be familiar to him.

And what lawyer or court will help you ?
Will you go to court and say I tried to fake my identity documents and I got caught by the staff of localbitcoin and they closed my account .

That's not how things work!

Using a fake identity is a crime but LB is not the police, they can only forward this information and with it the BTC, if the authorities ask for the seized funds. They can't help themselves with some funds, especially if those are involved in a case of forged identity, they will also face a criminal charge if they do so. What OP has done is a separate case, no matter what punishment he might face if he is found guilty by a totally different court for his fake papers his possessions are still his until a judge declares otherwise, and no way in hell while those funds be awarded to LB.