Intersango Exchange

[subpardave]

I'm not saying its a solution or even going to help - its just what MtGox do to put at least one impediment in the way to help the most brainless of the scammers - like the folks on Topix - have a hard time.

[repentance]

I wonder if this recent event had anything to do with what assumingly is currently going on with their Metro Bank account: http://www.topix.com/forum/drug/valium/TDB3N8TVV6R8HJ3KH/p2 (only need to scroll down a tad)

~Bruno~

Good find Phin.  It may or may not have anything to do with the current review of Intersango's account, but it proves beyond doubt that people are stupid enough to publicly post stuff which links exchanges to money laundering.  Looks like the guy might have been using the ID of his "customers" to open bank/exchange accounts. (who in the hell would be stupid enough to send a scan of their ID to someone purporting to be an online drug dealer?).

True - but if the scammed folks then complain to the bank - makes sense why suddenly they'd want to take a look at what Intersango is doing and cause this review.

Hi Metro Bank.  I ordered drugs from some guy on the internet and he hasn't sent them.  I paid the money into one of your accounts.  Please help me get my money  back.  kthnxbye.

[AndyRossy]

They'll need to have account-verification if they're going to be able to resurrect their MetroBank account (*if*), I suspect this will take longer than a few days.

[CoinCidental]

I wonder if this recent event had anything to do with what assumingly is currently going on with their Metro Bank account: http://www.topix.com/forum/drug/valium/TDB3N8TVV6R8HJ3KH/p2 (only need to scroll down a tad)

~Bruno~

(who in the hell would be stupid enough to send a scan of their ID to someone purporting to be an online drug dealer?).

You dont need any ID to pay into an intersango account ,they dont even ask ........

But thats the british norm ,you dont need ID to pay into ANY UK bank account (only ID required to withdraw)

by the way ,this might take way longer than  a week ,metro bank my be legally forced to close them down because you can not process the transactions from drug deals (cocaine was it ?) and expect the regulators to ignore that

 

[repentance]

You dont need any ID to pay into an intersango account ,they dont even ask ........

But thats the british norm ,you dont need ID to pay into ANY UK bank account (only ID required to withdraw)

by the way ,this might take way longer than  a week ,metro bank my be legally forced to close them down because you can not process the transactions from drug deals (cocaine was it ?) and expect the regulators to ignore that

Same here.  You only need to identify yourself for threshold deposits (ie, those over $10k) and that's a recent requirement.

I was thinking more along the lines of the guy who wanted the scanned ID using it to open accounts with other exchanges and/or bank accounts.

At this point we don't know what has led to the bank reviewing activity on Intersango's account.  Could be related to this.  Could be something totally separate.  It's inevitable that sooner or later one of the exchanges is going to get caught up in a serious money laundering investigation.  The question is which one and when.  Anyone who has an axe to grind against Bitcoin or a particular exchange can make an an anonymous report accusing exchanges of money laundering and it's going to get followed up just like anonymous tip-offs about tax evasion get followed up.

[CoinCidental]

You dont need any ID to pay into an intersango account ,they dont even ask ........

But thats the british norm ,you dont need ID to pay into ANY UK bank account (only ID required to withdraw)

by the way ,this might take way longer than  a week ,metro bank my be legally forced to close them down because you can not process the transactions from drug deals (cocaine was it ?) and expect the regulators to ignore that

Same here.  You only need to identify yourself for threshold deposits (ie, those over $10k) and that's a recent requirement.

I was thinking more along the lines of the guy who wanted the scanned ID using it to open accounts with other exchanges and/or bank accounts.

At this point we don't know what has led to the bank reviewing activity on Intersango's account.  Could be related to this.  Could be something totally separate.  It's inevitable that sooner or later one of the exchanges is going to get caught up in a serious money laundering investigation.  The question is which one and when.  Anyone who has an axe to grind against Bitcoin or a particular exchange can make an an anonymous report accusing exchanges of money laundering and it's going to get followed up just like anonymous tip-offs about tax evasion get followed up.

if people have been selling drugs (even alledged to have been ) and using intersango to launder the proceeeds into untraceable BTC  they may be in deep sh1t and all the transactions might have to be audited to see if any accounts have been funded from multiple differnt accounts or even people walking in off the street and dumping wads of cash into the metro account

Legally ,it wasnt them who sold the drugs/ but they allowed themselves to used as a vehicle to launder the proceeds and this is taken seriously in the UK  and most of europe thesedays

[scribe]

Legally ,it wasnt them who sold the drugs/ but they allowed themselves to used as a vehicle to launder the proceeds and this is taken seriously in the UK  and most of europe thesedays

Cf. The Mexican HSBC situation recently. Bitcoin will get this more and more as it gets bigger. Growing pains as it starts to *really* piss people (companies) off.

[cst]

Any news from Metro? It's been over a week.

[CoinCidental]

Any news from Metro? It's been over a week.

its been two weeks if you check the other thread.........someone has a  withdrawl marked as "sent" 2 weeks ago and hes still not got his money back out .........

[guruvan]

And gee, look, no further info from Intersango. I've seen this movie before.

[phantomcircuit]

This is all really bad timing.

The payments blackout (which has been scheduled for a long time) right after the metro bank issue and my mistake of accidentally marking payments as sent all came together to make what would have individually been a nuisance into a real problem.

If you have a withdrawal request marked as sent which you have not received (and it has been more than 48 hours) open a ticket clearly indicating the withdrawal request is marked as sent.

If you have a withdrawal request marked as requested do not open a ticket it will just be closed.

[Bitcoin Oz]

Legally ,it wasnt them who sold the drugs/ but they allowed themselves to used as a vehicle to launder the proceeds and this is taken seriously in the UK  and most of europe thesedays

Cf. The Mexican HSBC situation recently. Bitcoin will get this more and more as it gets bigger. Growing pains as it starts to *really* piss people (companies) off.

If you piss off the wrong customers they can make anonymous tips to the authorities causing them to investigate.

[myprecious]

This is all really bad timing.

The payments blackout (which has been scheduled for a long time) right after the metro bank issue and my mistake of accidentally marking payments as sent all came together to make what would have individually been a nuisance into a real problem.

If you have a withdrawal request marked as sent which you have not received (and it has been more than 48 hours) open a ticket clearly indicating the withdrawal request is marked as sent.

If you have a withdrawal request marked as requested do not open a ticket it will just be closed.

What about deposits that haven't shown up?

[Jason Ling]

This is all really bad timing.

The payments blackout (which has been scheduled for a long time) right after the metro bank issue and my mistake of accidentally marking payments as sent all came together to make what would have individually been a nuisance into a real problem.

If you have a withdrawal request marked as sent which you have not received (and it has been more than 48 hours) open a ticket clearly indicating the withdrawal request is marked as sent.

If you have a withdrawal request marked as requested do not open a ticket it will just be closed.

So what is the status of this situation now? When will we be able to withdraw GBP again?

[subpardave]

This is all really bad timing.

The payments blackout (which has been scheduled for a long time) right after the metro bank issue and my mistake of accidentally marking payments as sent all came together to make what would have individually been a nuisance into a real problem.

If you have a withdrawal request marked as sent which you have not received (and it has been more than 48 hours) open a ticket clearly indicating the withdrawal request is marked as sent.

If you have a withdrawal request marked as requested do not open a ticket it will just be closed.

What about deposits that haven't shown up?

Agreed! Still no sign of my deposit from the 19th.

[EskimoBob]

WTF is going on with BTC transfers now? I have waited over 3 hours for may transfer from Intersango. NOTHING!   

[EskimoBob]

Let me add few more question to my previous post.

1) Intersango, are you experimenting with fractional-reserve banking?
2) Intersango, do you have liquidity problems?

(if answer to 1. or 2. was "no", then explain why you cant complete BTC transfers from Intersango)
 

[Herodes]

WTF is going on with BTC transfers now? I have waited over 3 hours for may transfer from Intersango. NOTHING!   

Not affiliated with Intersango, but:

- Did you check the status of the transaction with blockexplorer.org or blockchain.info ?

- A slow withdrawal may also mean manual intervention is necessary, for instance if they have coins in cold storage.

[EskimoBob]

WTF is going on with BTC transfers now? I have waited over 3 hours for may transfer from Intersango. NOTHING!   

Not affiliated with Intersango, but:

- Did you check the status of the transaction with blockexplorer.org or blockchain.info ?

- A slow withdrawal may also mean manual intervention is necessary, for instance if they have coins in cold storage.

Yes I did.
Is this is how you jokers run a 24/7 international business? Open a up a fkn candy shop and practice for few years.

[eliale]

I transferred one block a couple of hours ago and it went through fine.

Also, their Dwolla in & out service works fine as well.

Therefore, I assume, their present problems are limited to Metro and, as per their announcement, with SEPA till the 30th.