Sending money to people who don't want to be found?

[ZackP]

Hi there,
I am in Canada and have account with Virtex. Not very satisfied with them, mostly because of high trading fees so for last 2 weeks I am trying to open account with Bitstamp. They proved to be major pain in the ass. I already sent them scans of all kinds of documents proving that I am who I am and live at address I live at. In Canada there are only 2 possible photo IDs, passport and driver's license where only driver's license shows black on white correct and latest address.
Not good enough for Bitstamp. They want something else and I have impression that even they are not clear with what they want because when I send them my credit card statements, bank statements again it's not good enough. WTF?

Anyway this opens new can of worms; I want to send my hard cash to people who don't want to be found, I am stupid or what? Google searches reveal scam city practices your mom told you to avoid at all costs:

They are based in Slovenia (EU) but there is no address or phone number. Then they are based out of UK. People found address to be simple forwarding address. Phone number is nowhere on the site. You can communicate with them only through on-line forms. Of course, only clear thing posted there is where to send money to, everything else is obscured. Obviously those people don't want to be found and contacted. They are hiding something and yet handling millions of dollars of other people's money.

Reminds me of Flexcoin from Alberta, Canada that recently went belly up. Only then it was found that it's single guy running it almost literally from garage, having PO box for "company address", "exchange" running software was somebody's trial and reject ... and more. Why things like that have to surface only after people lose all their bitcoins or cash? I am sure now some people will jump to defend Bitstamp but you tell me what kind of company, even in developing world does not have physical address (that you can actually walk into), telephone number (that you can actually call and get person to answer and talk to you), published e-mail address (that actually gets monitored and answered), corporate or bank structure (that is actually present and functioning)?

Last picture that comes to mind is US Mt. Gox crook walking in Tokyo as free man, holding coffee cup and laughing at US reporters 
   

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[Dipt]

Its bad that there are still to many shady company's in the bitcoin(alt) community. This is also why a lot of people don't dive in to Bitcoin, because of the trust issue. To bad some company's are like this, hope this changes fast.

[grifferz]

I've found Kraken to be pleasantly up-front about their ID requirements. I am not sure how their USD deposit/withdrawal is faring though. I heard they had problems with their US bank, but I am dealing in EUR so I haven't followed it.

[OROBTC]

...

Another possibility is to find someone via localbitcoins.com.  I have bought some $700 worth of BTC (when it was higher, frown) from a guy I met through them.  We meet at Starbucks (of course).

And if you are reasonably aggressive about networking, you will find others who you can buy/sell Bitcoins with.

You can always buy gold with BTC as well...

[ZackP]

I buy fair amount of stuff from Internet on-line sellers. Unless seller is visibly recognizable and reputable (Staples, Amazon ...) I always look for ABOUT US or CONTACT page. If there is no one or there is no physical address shown that is a first red flag for me. Second red flag is if there is no phone number and/or no e-mail address but on-line form as only way to communicate with whoever is running it.

More checking would include WHOIS check and Google maps if there is address shown. I almost never get to that point, I am gone already. It is clear that site is set to send-us-the-money-and-go-away mode of operation. I myself is in business for last 24 years with WEB site showing: phone number, fax number, e-mail address, physical address, about company. Any call between 8:00 and 19:00 EST is answered by live person immediately. All this set to sell security products. We handle customers credit cards, provide receipt for every purchase and answer e-mails within minutes they arrive.

Now, by same token, can anybody explain why Bitcoin exchange(s) that handle millions of people's hard cash, acting and trying to pretend to be a banking operation can be in business even for one day and lack all above I just listed? How is that even possible? There is only one answer that comes to mind: they are hiding into Internet cloud and obscurity because one day everybody and money will disappear with no trace. We'll read on this forum or world news that yet another BTC exchange bit the dust and investors money is gone. Standard excuse: "Hackers did it!"

[morrex]

you can always try MORREX 

[softron]

Have u tried btc-e. 

[ZackP]

Morrex is in very beginning, looks OK but volume is at few BTC per month.

BTC-e fits profile of obscure company described in this thread, no contact data, no address, no fuck all. Even worse, search on Internet produces tons of complains where people lost their BTCs or money dealing with them. They are in Bulgaria or who knows where?

[Pentax]

no fucking way I'm sending this kind of money to these kinds of organizations.  there is no legitimate reason to hide your identity when running a business.

I don't need to factor in scam risk as part of the risk of trading.  the game is sketchy enough.

I'm waiting for Second Market, although I'd likely investigate Kraken if I was looking right now, although I've heard good and bad things about them also.

[Wbwallet]

I use https://www.quadrigacx.com/

They have 0.5% trading fees and free withdraw/founding. Its the best exchange for canadian as you can also do CND/XBT, USD/XBT and XAU/XBT. You can found your account with FAU, XBT, CND or USD and they have many founding options like INTERACT Online for instan transaction.

[devinessa]

So start an exchange then and put your address on the website and dont forget to pay $$$$$$ for the security

[Vod]

They are based in Slovenia (EU) but there is no address or phone number. Then they are based out of UK. People found address to be simple forwarding address. Phone number is nowhere on the site. You can communicate with them only through on-line forms. Of course, only clear thing posted there is where to send money to, everything else is obscured. Obviously those people don't want to be found and contacted. They are hiding something and yet handling millions of dollars of other people's money.

Aren't you worried about identity theft?

I'm from Canada and would never send my passport and drivers license to some company in Slovenia!

[LostDutchman]

Hi there,
I am in Canada and have account with Virtex. Not very satisfied with them, mostly because of high trading fees so for last 2 weeks I am trying to open account with Bitstamp. They proved to be major pain in the ass. I already sent them scans of all kinds of documents proving that I am who I am and live at address I live at. In Canada there are only 2 possible photo IDs, passport and driver's license where only driver's license shows black on white correct and latest address.
Not good enough for Bitstamp. They want something else and I have impression that even they are not clear with what they want because when I send them my credit card statements, bank statements again it's not good enough. WTF?

Anyway this opens new can of worms; I want to send my hard cash to people who don't want to be found, I am stupid or what? Google searches reveal scam city practices your mom told you to avoid at all costs:

They are based in Slovenia (EU) but there is no address or phone number. Then they are based out of UK. People found address to be simple forwarding address. Phone number is nowhere on the site. You can communicate with them only through on-line forms. Of course, only clear thing posted there is where to send money to, everything else is obscured. Obviously those people don't want to be found and contacted. They are hiding something and yet handling millions of dollars of other people's money.

Reminds me of Flexcoin from Alberta, Canada that recently went belly up. Only then it was found that it's single guy running it almost literally from garage, having PO box for "company address", "exchange" running software was somebody's trial and reject ... and more. Why things like that have to surface only after people lose all their bitcoins or cash? I am sure now some people will jump to defend Bitstamp but you tell me what kind of company, even in developing world does not have physical address (that you can actually walk into), telephone number (that you can actually call and get person to answer and talk to you), published e-mail address (that actually gets monitored and answered), corporate or bank structure (that is actually present and functioning)?

Last picture that comes to mind is US Mt. Gox crook walking in Tokyo as free man, holding coffee cup and laughing at US reporters 
   

You got no creds or rep bud but there are ways to do this.

[acoindr]

Anyway this opens new can of worms; I want to send my hard cash to people who don't want to be found, I am stupid or what? Google searches reveal scam city practices your mom told you to avoid at all costs:

They are based in Slovenia (EU) but there is no address or phone number. Then they are based out of UK. People found address to be simple forwarding address. Phone number is nowhere on the site. You can communicate with them only through on-line forms. Of course, only clear thing posted there is where to send money to, everything else is obscured. Obviously those people don't want to be found and contacted. They are hiding something and yet handling millions of dollars of other people's money. ...

There is plenty of reason to be honest yet want obscure identity. Governments like larger power and control. Bitcoin is about giving power back to the people. That means if you support Bitcoin, especially on a level like a large exchange, you are indirectly in opposition to big (powerful) governments who can make things hard for you. Charlie Shrem who operated a Bitcoin financial service, completely transparently with his identity, is now being prosecuted in the U.S. for indirect financial activities possibly tied to Silk Road. He himself was not selling any illegal drugs, and HSBC bank was found to be aiding drug cartels on a much larger scale, yet nothing happened to HSBC bank personnel, while Charlie is fighting for his freedom.

If you want to deal with any exchange there are smart ways to do it relatively safely. First, send only small amounts. For example, if you want to buy 1K worth of coins then divide that into 10 separate purchases. Never leave money on any exchange or service longer than absolutely necessary. If you follow these simple practices, even if a service vanishes unexpectedly you can never lose more than a small amount at most.

Last picture that comes to mind is US Mt. Gox crook walking in Tokyo as free man, holding coffee cup and laughing at US reporters  

Yes, and you see Mt.Gox had transparent identity, physical office address, contact and support personnel, phone numbers etc. How much did that end up helping?

[ShakyhandsBTCer]

Have u tried btc-e. 

I think the OP is referring to btc-e

BTC-e is an "active" exchange meaning that as of now they are allowing people to trade fiat for btc and to withdraw their fiat and btc.

With that being said who knows how long they will be around. This is why buying locally is so advantageous.

[joshraban76]

What about going like this

Converting to BTC to LTC, sending LTC, then buyer convert LTC to BTC ?