Bitcoin and it's holders in our society

[Jawhead999]

Hiding crypto related apps aren't enough, you need to make sure you didn't leave any trace e.g. delete your browsing history, image related to crypto etc. Just think your cellphone must not have any trace with crypto.

I don't think that's something that anyone should be experiencing because that's crime no matter how you look at it, they did some illegal searches on your phone which is considered a personal stuff so even if they're a police, there's no way that they're allowed to do that without a warrant. This kind of thing just makes me hate even more the profession of a police, there's no way that you'll have to overexert your power to the people that you're supposed to be protecting, makes me respect them less when they do this kind of thing.

Many people call it a bad apple, the problem is there are too many bad apples and we don't even know which one is bad apple and which one is not, so we judge every of them are bad apples.

Privacy is nothing in developing country, even a teacher or employer did that.

[Lida93]

Along the way going a black cap men stopped us and wanting to search us after which they asked to unlock our device and so luckily I already hide my important app as my instinct leads me, but people around me that entered same vehicle(taxi) with me didn't do that and I noticed they have similar app on their iPhone so the policemen called to asked them about the Binance and other apps in their phone when they opened it they started questioning them about the funds inside and how did they manage to raise those funds although those young men weren't able to speak boldly and to defend themselves correctly and that was how they asked us to leave took them to station for further questioning.

Nigeria police and their misdirected search. They won't go after the big politicians who launder money by pretending they're trading these cryptos or who've boys who trade them on their behalf and leave helpless and unconnected youths alone. Wasn't it during the #endears protest that we saw Kucoin app on the PC of a minister in Nigeria and he was even on VPN at a time Twitter and cryptos were banned in the country. What came out of that exposure, nothing. It was swept under the carpet. Anyway, my advice to the youth is for them to know how not to expose their trading apps. If they've more than a phone, they can convert one to crypto phone and kept at home.

I have not seen a situation whereby government attack traders in nigeria, theirs one popular Nigerian bitcoin trader called blord,  government have tried to severally to arrest B.lord and they could not arrest him,even when economic financial crimes commission  [Efcc] filed case against b.lord, the b.lord won them in court of law, nigeria government is not against whosoever that is into cryptocurrency trading, even some of the politicians is even saving their funds with cryptocurrency especially bitcoin

At this moment the Nigerian government are not against bitcoin or cryptocurrency as the ban against crypto in 2021 by the former administration has been lifted by this current administration, the problem is just with those corrupt law enforcement officers (the police) that are using their uniform to intimidate, harass and extort crypto hodlers and traders of their assets if they notice you are  dealing in the currency or peradventure they do an illegal stop and search and finds a crypto related app on your gadget then you're screwed as they will coerce and intimidate you into releasing your coins to them. And  they make sure all evidence to their trace are whipped off.

As crypto users finding yourself in this milieu it's imperative you take your privacy to any trace of cryptocurrency seriously, if it's by freezing your phone when going out or having a different gadget that's not about your crypto business/trading/holding etc. I am sure with time the government will take cases like this seriously so as to fish out such corrupt officers from the streets.

[sokani]

As trader or holder is bitcoin legal in your country how environmental friendly bitcoin is over there, this is for those country that are facing difficulty with bitcoin and cryptocurrency at large. While leaving at home it's advisable to set an important app hidden if you think trading bitcoin or having them will lead you to great danger especially within my country where they suspect lots of boys to be internet fraudster.

What i experience last night made me to raised this topic so we can learn to secure our investment or be very mindful while moving with our smartphone at night it's very risky to lose one valuable asset at this point.

The antifreeze app is good. It can help hide apps you don't want people to see on your screen, but if a policeman sees it and knows how it works, he can launch the app, force you to do it or force stop and wipe the data, thus revealing your crypto apps.  

A more cooler feature to protect you from police or law enforcement agencies is second space. It's like using a phone on an existing phone or should I say using 2 phones in 1 phone. It's password protected and can found in high end android phones like Samsung, Xaomi, Oppo, Miui etc.

To know about second space and how it works.

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

As trader or holder is bitcoin legal in your country how environmental friendly bitcoin is over there, this is for those country that are facing difficulty with bitcoin and cryptocurrency at large. While leaving at home it's advisable to set an important app hidden if you think trading bitcoin or having them will lead you to great danger especially within my country where they suspect lots of boys to be internet fraudster.

What i experience last night made me to raised this topic so we can learn to secure our investment or be very mindful while moving with our smartphone at night it's very risky to lose one valuable asset at this point.

Well, OP, I have just a few questions to ask if you'd mind. In your country, if there are situations like the one you just described, and upon the police investigations, they discovered that the convicts, through illegal means, had acquired the coins they had in their wallets. What do they (the policemen) do with the funds?

From my experience so far with such incident were policemen keep harassing people when they see such money and they want to take you to the station what they could do is to ask you to move those fund and convert them to Nigerian Naira and then send to them, with this if you don't know your right you will just be fooled and they can share your hard earned money with you.

Just like a case of police people invading into yahoo boys compound and when they entered inside his house they found about 100m stocked inside his waldrop and some inside ceiling it was during the interrogation he then opened up where he stocked those money.

But what happened is that he knows his right whereby he took the case to court claiming that the money was a contract money that he wants to use for a project that was awarded to him, after which those people men was asked to refund those money and there sack from being a NPF if I could recall correctly.

I thought as much, but that's bull shit. How on earth can the police even harass people publicly in such manners? First, they do an open search, like you said, and if the person is caught with some crypto in their wallet, they will be taken to the police station, and lastly, they will have to convert the individual's assets into theirs without any proper investigation to confirm that an individual is a scammer. The police are not supposed to convert the person's asset into theirs; the right thing to do is cease the individual's asset and properly investigate the matter, and once the person is found guilty, he should be handed over to the fraudulent department. 

[Dailyscript]

OP, this is very relatable and comes from the same country where cryptocurrency traders and investors are being suspected of doing some kind of online scam. Not just that, since the government is still having some issues with Binance and other CEX, it is not safe outside for us.

Although the problem we face is not just outside,. Even in my compound, where I stay, the looks from people show that they do not know the type of job i do, and they tell their kids to stay away from me. People ignore me like i am a terrorist, robber, or someone who is involved in one or more illegal activities. I do not care anymore so i just neglect whatever they think about me. This is why I will not teach anyone about bitcoin or how to invest in it.

[oktana]

But it doesn’t sound illegal in your country because if it was, they should arrest you immediately they figure you have crypto assets. But from what I understand, they were asking about the source of the money just to confirm that it isn’t money laundering, etc. Also, you said they suspect a lot of boys to be fraudsters. They are also checking if many the fund’s source is fraudulent. Correct me if I am wrong.

[Darker45]

My country isn't that friendly toward Bitcoin either, but it isn't that antagonistic. Although statements were previously made by the central bank governor, for example, that Bitcoin doesn't have intrinsic value or that it is generally based on the greater fool theory, on the ground, it is quite different. There's no active crackdown on Bitcoin. People don't really care. You can talk about it openly, even to law enforcers, although it might be a different story when it comes to the banks.

Just recently, Binance was also banned from my country for operating without permission, but until now people are still using the platform. If they leave Binance, other centralized exchanges are openly operating so they can just jump to another exchange.

In general, the environment here is lenient with those who want to study, discuss, or even transact with Bitcoin. Our country has a Bitcoin island even.

[Cryptomultiplier]

But it doesn’t sound illegal in your country because if it was, they should arrest you immediately they figure you have crypto assets. But from what I understand, they were asking about the source of the money just to confirm that it isn’t money laundering, etc. Also, you said they suspect a lot of boys to be fraudsters. They are also checking if many the fund’s source is fraudulent. Correct me if I am wrong.

You are on point with your assertion and I am sure this post is meant to be a reminder for us to be more vigilant in handling our crypto assets both in your country where BTC is legal tender or being regulated and not a crime versus mine where an incident like this may just yet become a daily occurrence for young boys without any legal means of earning but live lavish.
Also even those who earn legally from BTC investments and trades and don't depend on the government for wages or aid are a target by not only the government police or policies but by kidnappers and thieves. Hence why this post is insightful and very valuable.

[SatoPrincess]

I have not seen a situation whereby government attack traders in nigeria, theirs one popular Nigerian bitcoin trader called blord,  government have tried to severally to arrest B.lord and they could not arrest him,even when economic financial crimes commission  [Efcc] filed case against b.lord, the b.lord won them in court of law, nigeria government is not against whosoever that is into cryptocurrency trading, even some of the politicians is even saving their funds with cryptocurrency especially bitcoin

A person who does not have any illegal dealings will not be afraid to defend himself against allegations leveled against him by individuals or government. I followed the Blord trial closely, it took about four years for the trial to reach a verdict, the courted ruled that the crypto traded be compensated with a certain amount of money and all his properties returned to him.

The men in the vehicle with OP were too scared to defend themselves, their inability to speak coherently gave the police the impression that they had something to hide. Nigeria can be a tough place especially for men, I never  had to worry about police searches or anything like that.

[Darker45]

I have not seen a situation whereby government attack traders in nigeria, theirs one popular Nigerian bitcoin trader called blord,  government have tried to severally to arrest B.lord and they could not arrest him,even when economic financial crimes commission  [Efcc] filed case against b.lord, the b.lord won them in court of law, nigeria government is not against whosoever that is into cryptocurrency trading, even some of the politicians is even saving their funds with cryptocurrency especially bitcoin

A person who does not have any illegal dealings will not be afraid to defend himself against allegations leveled against him by individuals or government. I followed the Blord trial closely, it took about four years for the trial to reach a verdict, the courted ruled that the crypto traded be compensated with a certain amount of money and all his properties returned to him.

The men in the vehicle with OP were too scared to defend themselves, their inability to speak coherently gave the police the impression that they had something to hide. Nigeria can be a tough place especially for men, I never  had to worry about police searches or anything like that.

Other than the fact the Blord has won a case against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of Nigeria, I'm not really familiar with it. But I suppose this man isn't small that he can easily be harassed by law enforcers. This is the big difference.

Here in my country, people are saying that if you're not involved in illegal transactions and isn't hiding anything you shouldn't be worried, but the truth is that if you're an ordinary person, you can easily be harassed, deprived of your rights and due process. And even if you aren't involved in illegal transactions, your funds could be easily and arbitrarily seized, accounts locked, and so on.

If you're an ordinary person and has Bitcoin and is confident about it because it didn't come from illegal transactions, the banks can still easily freeze your account and seize your money. But if you're a rich and respected individual who's involved in illegal businesses and mentioned Bitcoin in front of no less than the bank manager, there won't be any problem. You'll remain a valued client, with all the perks and privileges.

[Oasisman]

But it doesn’t sound illegal in your country because if it was, they should arrest you immediately they figure you have crypto assets. But from what I understand, they were asking about the source of the money just to confirm that it isn’t money laundering, etc. Also, you said they suspect a lot of boys to be fraudsters. They are also checking if many the fund’s source is fraudulent. Correct me if I am wrong.

I'm also not sure if it was really illegal in their country or not, because to me its sounds like their country imposed a strict implementations of rules regarding the use and trade of cryptocurrency. There might be no arrest made on the spot maybe because that is part of the police officer's SOP. Them being taken into the police station might be good indicator that they'd most likely going to spend a jailtime for  breaking the laws.
Nevertheless, this is a good reminder for those country who has strict rules against cryptocurrency. Governments are getting wiser now in terms of seizing all crypto assets as they are fully aware that nothing could stop someone from accessing their crypto assets even if they put a ban locally on all of the exchanges and crypto related websites.

[Fuso.hp]

All these things are possible in Nigerian countries. Anyone from Nigeria who wants to protest against injustice is killed by the administration or disappeared. Where the police and administration of other countries are recruited to cooperate with people, Nigerian policemen directly extort money from their own citizens. I see many videos where many helpers go to African countries to help and they also have to pay African policemen and then help. Seeing the suffering of African people, many people may go to those countries to help but where the police instead of providing security take bribes or extortion money from them which is really a very bad thing.  This issue has been going on for a long time so it is not usually possible to solve it very easily.

[sekalitas]

As trader or holder is bitcoin legal in your country how environmental friendly bitcoin is over there, this is for those country that are facing difficulty with bitcoin and cryptocurrency at large. While leaving at home it's advisable to set an important app hidden if you think trading bitcoin or having them will lead you to great danger especially within my country where they suspect lots of boys to be internet fraudster.

In my country, trading and investing in Bitcoin is legal, but it's not accepted as a direct form of payment. We have legal platforms for cryptocurrency trading, and generally,  police won't stop us to check if we hold crypto assets. However, we cannot currently use crypto for direct purchases.

What i experience last night made me to raised this topic so we can learn to secure our investment or be very mindful while moving with our smartphone at night it's very risky to lose one valuable asset at this point.

You're absolutely right, we need to prioritize securing our investments. Based on your experience, I think it's wise to either avoid installing crypto-related apps on your main phone or have a separate phone dedicated to cryptocurrency management. Minimizing carrying your crypto-holding phone when unnecessary, especially at night, is also a smart move. Honestly, I'm not sure I could stay calm and avoid looking suspicious if stopped and searched either hehe.

[Maus0728]

I don't think that's something that anyone should be experiencing because that's crime no matter how you look at it, they did some illegal searches on your phone which is considered a personal stuff so even if they're a police, there's no way that they're allowed to do that without a warrant. This kind of thing just makes me hate even more the profession of a police, there's no way that you'll have to overexert your power to the people that you're supposed to be protecting, makes me respect them less when they do this kind of thing.

Many people call it a bad apple, the problem is there are too many bad apples and we don't even know which one is bad apple and which one is not, so we judge every of them are bad apples.

Privacy is nothing in developing country, even a teacher or employer did that.

Regards to bad apples, if you put it with good apples, it will almost always infect the good ones so one bad cop will almost always influence or corrupt a good cop no matter how you look at it, that's going to be the case, unless they do some real consequences to these abusive cops that literally don't have any kind of importance to the society besides using their power to harass the people that they're supposed to protect with impunity, not to mention that these tradition of buddy buddy within the cops circle is contributing to the ongoing corruption of these groups, a good cop would cover for their bad colleagues and they end up with a corrupt hierarchy.

[AVE5]

I don't know what country you're coming from but I needed to ask if bitcoin is legal in your 'place at the first place because I don't understand it why the police would mount a road block just in checkmating peoples devices.
But anyhow let's not undermine any form of security measures either on our homes or outside jour homes becasue the anti Cryptos and the crypto thefts would always linger to hunt us.
Hence keeping your seed phrase private isn't enough security actions for you as a bitcoin but also how to stay an unknown from your holdings.
Stay off from any ways that is possible to indict you such as make encrypting your wallets to be unidentifiable even if someone else gets to your phone just as the Op did here. Keep earlier safe and save yourself from doubts and dangers.

[bitterguy28]

This is such an unfortunate news. Is this even legal? while reading through it i thought it was gonna turn out that those “cops” were actually just scammers but they are really part of the police force. i did not know how bad it was there wherever you are. in my country, the general opinion is rather neutral which is relieving. it’s not banned but it’s also not advertised. for now, that’s enough for me.

[Pi-network314159]

Along the way going a black cap men stopped us and wanting to search us after which they asked to unlock our device and so luckily I already hide my important app as my instinct leads me, but people around me that entered same vehicle(taxi) with me didn't do that and I noticed they have similar app on their iPhone so the policemen called to asked them about the Binance and other apps in their phone when they opened it they started questioning them about the funds inside and how did they manage to raise those funds although those young men weren't able to speak boldly and to defend themselves correctly and that was how they asked us to leave took them to station for further questioning.

That is the problem we face in our society today, the police leave to do there jobs and search for inrelivant things. The funny part is that the people in question being the internet fraudsters can navigate the axis of the country without no distruption but they always chanel there energy to the innocent bitcoin holder or traders. The society where cryptocurrency is prohibited is always in the veture of having similar issues. I myself has face Same issue but not exactly like yours. Mine was having power bank and a portable WiFi in my travelling Bag when I was travelling. and do to this epileptic power supply of my country I always go out with my power bank and my wifi to enhance quick network in other to access the internet at any given time. So the cap men caught up with me and ask me about the power bank. I said I used it as a backup to my mobile phone because the power system is poor and also the wifi device is for network booster. They told me, somebody who does no do online work does not take this two thing serious, meaning I am an inter fraudster. I told them that what do they think online work is? Or do they think anyone that is into online business is a fraud? I started educating them on what is online business and the types of online business and there functions. so they where excited to listen until I changed the narrative of what they knew about online business and cryptocurrency. What I see is that some cap men need re-orientation because their mind has been currupted with negativity due to speculation .

[AirtelBuzz]

Along the way going a black cap men stopped us and wanting to search us after which they asked to unlock our device and so luckily I already hide my important app as my instinct leads me, but people around me that entered same vehicle(taxi) with me didn't do that and I noticed they have similar app on their iPhone so the policemen called to asked them about the Binance and other apps in their phone when they opened it they started questioning them about the funds inside and how did they manage to raise those funds although those young men weren't able to speak boldly and to defend themselves correctly and that was how they asked us to leave took them to station for further questioning.

Such untoward incidents have happened in our country too, I am not mentioning the name of our country. In our country such search was going on before our government elections were held. The main problem is that Bitcoin is not legal in our country due to which the police check people's phones if they feel suspicious. Even from our country every year almost many people are arrested by the police in various ways due to Bitcoin related problems and even under punishment.

People in countries where Bitcoin is not legal should carefully manage or keep on their phone apps related to Bitcoin transactions such as Binance and KuCoin and other wallets or exchanges.If the police find these apps by searching or checking the phone, you may also face punishment.

[Fiatless]

Well, OP, I have just a few questions to ask if you'd mind. In your country, if there are situations like the one you just described, and upon the police investigations, they discovered that the convicts, through illegal means, had acquired the coins they had in their wallets. What do they (the policemen) do with the funds? 

If you are unjustly harassed or detained by a security operative, you can always seek redress in court. There are cases where individuals sue the police force and these corrupt security operatives are punished severely for such misdoings. The court sometimes compensates the sufferer for this injustice.

Most of these security personnel who harass people are just corrupt and want to steal from the people. The police don't have the right to seize or forcefully access citizens' phones without going through due process. In most cases when they discover that the funds a legitimate they still force citizens to give them bribes before they are released or set free.

What i experience last night made me to raised this topic so we can learn to secure our investment or be very mindful while moving with our smartphone at night it's very risky to lose one valuable asset at this point.

As much as possible I maintain privacy. I don't want people to know that I own crypto because it can be misconceived. Unenlightened security agents see crypto owners as criminals, to avoid unwanted questioning, my phones are void of anything which will link me to crypto. My crypto activities are limited to my room because it saves me from unnecessary attacks and embarrassment.

[|MINER|]

These incidents are really very scary. Because many of us are deeply involved with crypto currency.And this related information is very sensitive. We should keep the devices used in these activities with a lot of security. Use separate devices and keep that separate laptop or mobile somewhere safe.Because they can be seized by robbers or police in countries where cryptocurrency is banned.This can lead to loss of invested money and account and jail time.