HitBTC scam

[Serj Nazar]

Scammers disguise themselves as a stock exchange. When you deposit your money, they block your account, ostensibly to check documents, while any documents sent are answered with "photo changed".
In the support service, there are most likely robots who always answer either "you still need to wait" or "you sent the modified photos." I believe that such an "exchange" should be blocked on all resources, such as Coinmarketcap.

[shasan]

Scammers disguise themselves as a stock exchange. When you deposit your money, they block your account, ostensibly to check documents, while any documents sent are answered with "photo changed".
In the support service, there are most likely robots who always answer either "you still need to wait" or "you sent the modified photos." I believe that such an "exchange" should be blocked on all resources, such as Coinmarketcap.

How many exchange site you will block? And if you block all the exchange site who asks to verify your identity, then how you will trade? Regarding this robotic answer, many exchange site even on facebook frequently questions answered by the robot but robot cant answer all the question. Robot can only answer those question which has been set by the site admin.

[NeuroticFish]

Scammers disguise themselves as a stock exchange. When you deposit your money, they block your account, ostensibly to check documents, while any documents sent are answered with "photo changed".
In the support service, there are most likely robots who always answer either "you still need to wait" or "you sent the modified photos." I believe that such an "exchange" should be blocked on all resources, such as Coinmarketcap.

Most platforms ask nowadays for KYC. Some are legit, some are scam. Some of the legit ones have badly configured system for handling KYC and in most cases the support answers slow (if at all).
I don't know which is the case for HitBTC. They are pretty old on the market and I don't think that they could have been surviving if would scam for so many years.

My advises would be:
1. If you indeed want to use a (any!) KYC platform, you better ensure you have passed the minimum KYC for withdrawing funds before depositing anything.
2. If you have problems with them, learn to have patience. It's nice that you've warned us (and I do appreciate that), but only their support can help you for real.

If you've used only their chat, you should try to open a ticket. If you've got automated answers on tickets ask farther until you get clear answers on what to do next. And keep in mind that unfortunately not all support employees are smart and helpful.


If indeed it's getting proven that they withhold user funds without good reason, then they'll get - sooner or later - delisted from the various platforms. But for now (and sorry if it sounds harsh) your only "proof" can be read as "your papers are not 100% right and you don't have the patience needed for this".


PS. I've had account on HitBTC many years ago, I didn't like the platform to stay, but I've withdrawn my money easily. Just it was before the KYC days.

[skarais]

I think there have been quite a number of fraud allegations for HitBTC exchange in the past and I don't think this is the first case to be found.

I don't have much experience trading with that exchange but I quite often find someone accusing them of being a scam exchange before. Maybe it's true and maybe it's not both of which really depends on the evidence and case finding. If you are willing, then it seems that the search option will help you find the many charges for them so far.

Like this: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=search

[Jawhead999]

How many exchange site you will block? And if you block all the exchange site who asks to verify your identity, then how you will trade?

That's why decentralized exchange exist e.g. bisq and hodl hodl, there's nothing to be worried when use DEX. The main problem DEX is lack of liquidity and so underrated due to less advertisement, if you search like best exchange on browser you'll find many articles only promoting CEX especially if they have paid ads.

HITBTC is shady exchanges and have fake volume trading, there's no reason why someone need to use this exchange.

[Serj Nazar]

Scammers disguise themselves as a stock exchange. When you deposit your money, they block your account, ostensibly to check documents, while any documents sent are answered with "photo changed".
In the support service, there are most likely robots who always answer either "you still need to wait" or "you sent the modified photos." I believe that such an "exchange" should be blocked on all resources, such as Coinmarketcap.

How many exchange site you will block? And if you block all the exchange site who asks to verify your identity, then how you will trade? Regarding this robotic answer, many exchange site even on facebook frequently questions answered by the robot but robot cant answer all the question. Robot can only answer those question which has been set by the site admin.

I have nothing against KYC and I pass it on all exchanges. The problem is with HitBTC. They specifically do not allow you to pass the KYC in order to prevent the withdrawal of money.

I post the correspondence with HitBTC support:

YOU DONT VERIFY MY DOCUMENTS, WHY? And my account is protected with 2fa from first day! I tried send to you my document 4 times.

Dear Trader,

​Thank you for your reply.

You can check when your account was created and when you enabled 2FA on it on the Settings page - "Security" tab - "Your recent activity" section.

Kindly note that only the original images and files can be accepted for the verification procedure, and the images that you've been uploading have been edited or manipulated in some way, so they cannot be accepted.

Please take and upload the original photo of your identity document and the original selfie, without making any changes to them.

Don't forget to click the "Request Verification" button after making necessary changes to the KYC form.

Please let us know if you have any questions.
--
Best regards,
Diana Vargas
HitBTC Support Team

I don't making any changes to photo and selfie. If you want, you can call me by Skype video calling and see my face and my documents.

I made a new scan of my passport and a new selfie. Please verify my account.

Dear Trader,

Thank you for being patient while I looked up your KYC status.

As far as I can see, our Compliance team has received your request. We are now carefully checking all the provided information & documents. This step is vital, and it can take some time.

Our Compliance Department will be in touch with you as soon as they complete the process.

We appreciate your patience and understanding, and in the meantime, we are here for you. So if you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

--
Best regards,
Domingo Herrera
HitBTC Support Team

Why you are cancelled my verification? I made selfie as well as I can with professional Canon camera. I can read every symbol on my passport on selfie. whats wrong? I spent a lot of time for selfie and mad 5 or 6 selfie for you. How long it will be going on?

I don't understand what I can do at all. I take such high-quality selfies as technically possible. In my selfies, you can see every symbol on my passport and every hair in my beard. My passport was scanned at 600 DPI and a higher quality scan cannot be made. I get the feeling that you just want to steal my funds in the account and prevent me from withdrawing them. Maybe it's because I'm Russian?

Are you ignore me?

Dear Trader,

Thank you for keep in touch with us.

As far as I can see, our Compliance team has received your request. We are now carefully checking all the provided information & documents. This step is vital, and it can take some time. We´ll come back to you as soon as possible.

Thank you for your ongoing cooperation and understanding.   
--
Best regards,
Mariana Santos
HitBTC Support Team

are you ignore me?

Dear Trader,

We appreciate your contact to us,

As mentioned on our last reply, your request is carefully being checked, and it can take some time. We will kindly ask you for your patience one more time.

Thank you for your ongoing cooperation and understanding.   

--
Best regards,
Ismael Díaz
HitBTC Support Team

why don't you answer me, a week has passed?

Dear Trader,

​Thank you for your reply.

As far as I can see, our Compliance team has already checked your verification request and provided you with an update on March 10, 2022. Please check their comments on your KYC page and update the required information accordingly.

Please let us know if you need any help with that.
--
Best regards,
Diana Vargas
HitBTC Support Team

I have told you many times that your KYC system is not working. Your robot answers the same to any photo. Now you are holding my money and not letting me withdraw it. Your KYC system is impossible to pass, although on other exchanges (Binance and Bittrex) I passed it without any problems using even a cheaper camera. Can you manually check my photos? if necessary I can record a video or hold a video meeting. I have tried many times to pass your KYC and it does not work, although the quality of my photos is the best.

Dear Trader,

​Thank you for your reply.

Please note that all of the information provided for the verification procedure is manually checked by our Compliance team. However, please let us double check everything to make sure that no mistake has been made by accident.

I'll contact you via email as soon as I have any update for you. Thank you for your patience.
--
Best regards,
Diana Vargas
HitBTC Support Team

Dear Trader,

Thank you for your patience.

Unfortunately, the photos that you've provided cannot be accepted as they have been modified. Kindly note that only the original images can be accepted for this procedure.

To continue the verification procedure, please provide us with original images.

Don't forget to click the "Request Verification" button after making necessary changes to the KYC form.

Please let us know if you have any questions.
--
Best regards,
Diana Vargas
HitBTC Support Team

You're lying, they haven't been changed. What is original photography? Do you need RAW from a camera? Negatives? Can the film be sent to you by mail? Maybe you are just scammers and want to steal my money?

Dear Trader,
​
I'm sorry to hear about this impression.

Please upload a photo that hasn't been edited or modified in any way. If you're experiencing difficulties with it, simply upload it straight to KYC form.
​
Thank you for your cooperation.
 
--
Best regards,
Alex Biescas
HitBTC Support Team

[Eternad]

I've done KYC to hitbtc without encountering this issue but I don't really like exchange especially there volume is so low and they also have a flat rate withdrawal fee. Even though they have a lot of bad reputation, There customer support keeps in touch whenever you ask an update.

In case OP, Maybe there's a difference on the details you provide on your Hitbtc account and to your passport because they will not tell you that you modify something in your picture if your passport is really authentic or match with the details you provide to them. How much money we are talking about here?

[shasan]

HITBTC is shady exchanges and have fake volume trading, there's no reason why someone need to use this exchange.

I have no idea about HITBTC as probably I have never used this exchange site. If I have done any, I cant remember that yet.

The problem is with HitBTC. They specifically do not allow you to pass the KYC in order to prevent the withdrawal of money.

I am not sure either they are legit or scammer. But I have a suggestion which you may follow. For your passport ( do not scan your passport), just take a image/picture of your passport by your mobile. And  for selfie or other matter please use your mobile phone's camera. I think it may help you.

[Serj Nazar]

I've done KYC to hitbtc without encountering this issue but I don't really like exchange especially there volume is so low and they also have a flat rate withdrawal fee. Even though they have a lot of bad reputation, There customer support keeps in touch whenever you ask an update.

In case OP, Maybe there's a difference on the details you provide on your Hitbtc account and to your passport because they will not tell you that you modify something in your picture if your passport is really authentic or match with the details you provide to them. How much money we are talking about here?

- Snip

I hide some for this link, but I send it to HitBTC without any modifications and 7-8 another selfies and scans of my passport. I never had any problem with KYC with other exchanges.
The scan or selfie not enough quality?

I use that scan for any KYC, and I have no problem with Binance, Bittrex, or other exchanges.
I tried taking photos on a phone camera (Samsung S10) and Canon camera - HitBTC canceled all my attempts.
I just want to take my coins and never work with them again, but they even blocked the withdrawal.

[Little Mouse]

HITBTC is shady exchanges and have fake volume trading, there's no reason why someone need to use this exchange.

Well, they have a good history of being shady. I haven’t checked their fake volume or not, it's something most of the exchanges practice these days. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are doing that too. It’s quite common regardless of how shady it is.
However, they have something beyond this too. We all know how Dogecoin has been pumped in last year. Sadly, hitbtc was one of them who censored the price DOGE a lot in their exchange and forced everyone to sell their coin at a lower price.
When DOGE pumped significantly, they had DOGE withdrawal off, which caused people not be able to withdraw their DOGE and sell on other exchanges.
On the other hand, the price of DOGE was half of the actual price on other exchanges. For example, when DOGE was at ATH of $0.73 on other exchanges, it was around $0.40 on hitbtc. It’s because they had off the withdrawal and censored the price of DOGE, as a result, users were forced to sell their DOGE at lower price (market price in hitbtc) which I have mentioned already, was half of the actual price.
This proves how stupid they are, how shady they are.

[Potato Chips]

its my selfie [LINK OMITED]
and its my passport [LINK OMITED]

It's bad for both of your privacy and security to share such personal information on a public community. Please remove them OP!!!

Unfortunately, it's been more than 2 hours since you posted this, it wouldn't be weird if someone has already saved them in hopes to steal your identity... If I were you I'd start reporting for a possible identity theft to relevant authorities/companies.

[Review Master]

In the support service, there are most likely robots who always answer either "you still need to wait" or "you sent the modified photos." I believe that such an "exchange" should be blocked on all resources, such as Coinmarketcap.

Well, this is not the first time of reading this type of scam report regarding Hitbtc. Even few fellow users from my community faced depositing/KYC related issues. Although i suggested them not to use that shady exchange, however he wanna sold a token which was only available on hitbtc. Talking about coinmarketcap or coingecko or other data aggregator sites, they would only lower the rank for hitbtc or giving warning, not more than this as they don't wanna lose traffic. 

[Serj Nazar]

its my selfie [LINK OMITED]
and its my passport [LINK OMITED]

It's bad for both of your privacy and security to share such personal information on a public community. Please remove them OP!!!

Unfortunately, it's been more than 2 hours since you posted this, it wouldn't be weird if someone has already saved them in hopes to steal your identity... If I were you I'd start reporting for a possible identity theft to relevant authorities/companies.

I'am from Russia. Here government sites sell our information to scammers for money. I'm not afraid of anything anymore.

[Potato Chips]

I'am from Russia. Here government sites sell our information to scammers for money. I'm not afraid of anything anymore.

Even if that's true, I wouldn't advise going out of your way to worsen your situation because the scale of how widespread such information makes a difference in terms of potential damages. It's like saying large data breach victims should stop caring about the security of their personal information because it has already spread far and wide when the situation could always get worse.

Although there is no 100% security and we're basically just minimizing threats in a manner that is comfortable for us. I think everyone who has a life on the internet should still do the bare minimum of improving their cybersecurity and one of that is to not share their selfie + passport on a public online community accessible by everyone.

As for the hitbtc case, they are famous for that. Try looking up hitbtc threads and you'll see the pattern. I've long convinced myself it's just hitbtc trying to make their users rage quit so they can bag their funds.

[Scripture]

its my selfie [LINK OMITED]
and its my passport [LINK OMITED]

It's bad for both of your privacy and security to share such personal information on a public community. Please remove them OP!!!

Unfortunately, it's been more than 2 hours since you posted this, it wouldn't be weird if someone has already saved them in hopes to steal your identity... If I were you I'd start reporting for a possible identity theft to relevant authorities/companies.

I'am from Russia. Here government sites sell our information to scammers for money. I'm not afraid of anything anymore.

Wondering why HitBtc blocked you if you already submitted the KYC, maybe since you’re a Russian they restrict users from your country. I hear a lot of allegation before about HitBtc, you might be already one of the victim of this scheme. Anyway, better to still protect your privacy, since no one really knows here if that is your real identity or not, exposing such details can be a big risk.

[ultrloa]

its my selfie [LINK OMITED]
and its my passport [LINK OMITED]

It's bad for both of your privacy and security to share such personal information on a public community. Please remove them OP!!!

Unfortunately, it's been more than 2 hours since you posted this, it wouldn't be weird if someone has already saved them in hopes to steal your identity... If I were you I'd start reporting for a possible identity theft to relevant authorities/companies.

I'am from Russia. Here government sites sell our information to scammers for money. I'm not afraid of anything anymore.

Wondering why HitBtc blocked you if you already submitted the KYC, maybe since you’re a Russian they restrict users from your country. I hear a lot of allegation before about HitBtc, you might be already one of the victim of this scheme. Anyway, better to still protect your privacy, since no one really knows here if that is your real identity or not, exposing such details can be a big risk.

Its racist action for them to block russian citizens on their platform without giving a notice since if that's the only reason on why he's been block then this is totally bullshit on their part. Hitbtc has lot of issue before so I will not surprise on this if they do this without clear reason and if they join those sanction impose to Russia maybe they should give a notice to their user for them to take action on their departure to their platform.

[Serj Nazar]

Even if it is, they could let me take my coins and not work with them. They just stole my coins.

[shasan]

Even if it is, they could let me take my coins and not work with them. They just stole my coins.

Have you tried with your phone instead of using camera as well as scanner? If you already checked then nothing to say but if you have not yet checked then better check and I think it will be helpful for you. If you cant verify by this way then I don't think they will allow you to verify your identity.

[Serj Nazar]

Even if it is, they could let me take my coins and not work with them. They just stole my coins.

Have you tried with your phone instead of using camera as well as scanner? If you already checked then nothing to say but if you have not yet checked then better check and I think it will be helpful for you. If you cant verify by this way then I don't think they will allow you to verify your identity.

I tried. If i use phone camera they send me this:

There is an issue with your proof of identity document. We cannot accept the images you have provided due to poor image quality. Please take and upload higher-quality photos of your document making sure that all the information in it is clearly visible and all the document edges are in frame. If your phone or camera can only take low quality photos, you might have to find a better camera. Note that edited images cannot be accepted.

If I use a Canon camera and scanner they say "photos were modified".

[Myleschetty]

Scammers disguise themselves as a stock exchange. When you deposit your money, they block your account, ostensibly to check documents, while any documents sent are answered with "photo changed".
In the support service, there are most likely robots who always answer either "you still need to wait" or "you sent the modified photos." I believe that such an "exchange" should be blocked on all resources, such as Coinmarketcap.

Do you know the countless number of scam exchanges that are operating in the cryptocurrency market? The fundamental advice of everything you want within the crypto investment is to always "do your own research".
If it happens that the HitBTC exchange that scammed you is delisted on CMC what guarantees that you won't be a victim of another scam exchange when you cant follow the fundamental tips that will save you from scam exchange?