An Object Lesson
I had been happily trading on localbitcoins.com for a few weeks when I was ripped off by someone outside of the localbitcoins website. The theft cost me $1500 in cash, permanent lock-out from six family Chase accounts, and perhaps an additonal $6000 (unresolved). Here is what happened.
Between June 3 and June 6, 2013 I conducted about $6,000 worth of smooth online bitcoin trades through localbitcoins.com.
Then I received an email from someone claiming to be Wendelyn K. Brooks-Stuart, 9526 Bayou Lake Lane, Houston, TX 77040, saying that she saw my localbitcoins ad and wanted to buy 12 BTC. I agreed. Without going through the localbitcoins procedure, she directly sent me $1500 via Chase QuickPay. Without going through the localbitcoins procedure, I directly sent her the 12 BTC. She then called Chase, claiming that I had defrauded her. Chase clawed back the $1500 from my account and refunded the money to her. She also kept the 12 BTC. That was the good news.
Based on that single complaint, and without any investigation or warning, Chase then permanently locked me out of: my personal account, our company business account, and two credit card accounts. They also locked my wife out of her personal account and one credit card account, even though her name was not on any of my accounts, and my name was not on any of her accounts. They refused to tell me why we were locked out. That was the medium news.
Here is the bad news. The following day, I received an automated-alert email that someone had siphoned $6000 from my personal account. The someone was J.P. Morgan Chase Bank itself. They had decided (again without warning) that, since I was accused of fraud for the $1500 transaction (where I was ripped off), that all of the deposits to my account from 5 June on were bogus. So they confiscated all $6000 off them and began sending them all back to wherever they had come from.
My wife and I remain permanently locked out of two personal accounts, a business account, and three credit cards. Chase will not consider relenting on this. On the other hand, Chase has opened the possibility that they may perhaps consider giving us back the $6000 of unrelated deposits that they confiscated.
The moral of the story: (1) Don't trade BTC/USD outside of the localbitcoins procedures. (2) Don't put any more money into Chase than you are willing to lose without warnng.
Frank W Sweet (coqui33)
30 Medford Dr
Palm Coast FL 32137
386-316-9769
[email protected]