Author

Topic: Cex.io voucher fraud and CEX.IO refusal to assist in recovery of stolen GH/s (Read 3610 times)

brand new
Activity: 0
Merit: 0
I’m a crypto/blockchain journalist and host of the Unchained and
Unconfirmed podcasts. I’m working on a book about the history of the
crypto yet I got scammed not knowing its very possible to recover your
stolen or lost crypto by private hackers via discuss, i’m a living
witness of this genuine recovery service. I learn a
lot from him and I’m also glad to review him right here. Freddictine At consultant dot com
newbie
Activity: 9
Merit: 0
I have amended my auctions already stating I must have proof of identity and a host of other qualifiers before I would give instant voucher codes, and any questionable activity or users with no feedback in the last week will have to wait for post. CEX did provide the IP and email address of the perps this morning which has helped me immensely in being able to pursue legal action. So I'm square with CEX at this point.

I've already been around the mountain twice with PayPal and eBay is refunding the transaction costs. PayPal refuses to accept the method of shipment as proof of shipment to the customer. There's really nothing left to do at this point other than report this and begin the process of digging to find the person(s) responsible and pursue legal action once identified.
member
Activity: 83
Merit: 10
I have been scammed on EBAY before and it was a Bitcoin related thing, I got the money back via Paypal as the transaction was between me, the Ebay lister and Paypal.

A quick search on EBAY shows lots of vouchers are being listed, CEX themselves say they do not recommend people doing this due to the high risk of fraud.

I can understand you are frustrated at being scammed, but you have transacted on EBAY with Paypal, your focus should be with them and not CEX.

Below is a copy paste from one of those EBAY sellers, note his 'scammers' comment

If you are the Winner Buyer for this Auction;

PLEASE NOTE: DUE TO NUMBER THE NUMBER OF SCAMMERS OPERATING WITH BITCOIN RELATED SERVICES ALL VOUCHER CODES WILL BE POSTED ONLY TO THE VERIFIED PAYPAL ADDRESS.
legendary
Activity: 1988
Merit: 1007
"This is just like if you buy stolen merchandise. When the police come to your door to recover it, they aren't going to offer to reimburse you for it; you're out. It was a risk you took, not someone else. Nobody else can be held responsible."

That's exactly correct, the police won't reimburse me but a court would make the perpetrator pay restitution, and if the stolen merchandise is $ then the depositing bank refunds the stolen funds. Unfortunately we're not dealing with real life here, we're dealing with coin and an exchange...which is still too new for any real control factors to have set in.

I get it, and take full responsibility for my actions, I took a risk and got burned. But I don't have to like what happened, nor do I feel I should be quiet about what happened. I want this thread to be here for others to see so they don't make the same mistake. I can afford the hiccup fortunately, but for others that aren't as fortunate financially to be able to absorb this type of problem I want them to know not to do this, nor should they expect CEX to help them in finding the people that defrauded them. That's what really incenses me about the whole thing...the lack of even so much as empathy on the part of CEX.

The bank would absolutely NOT refund you. I don't know where you got this idea from.

The courts would force the perpetrator to pay restitution, I agree. You can do the same thing here: sue them. You're in the same boat as the stolen merchandise situation, with the difference being that they haven't been charged with a crime (as you haven't pursued it). Again, this has nothing to do with cex; it has to do with you and the other party. Don't blame a third party for not getting involved when it's not their job.
newbie
Activity: 9
Merit: 0
"This is just like if you buy stolen merchandise. When the police come to your door to recover it, they aren't going to offer to reimburse you for it; you're out. It was a risk you took, not someone else. Nobody else can be held responsible."

That's exactly correct, the police won't reimburse me but a court would make the perpetrator pay restitution, and if the stolen merchandise is $ then the depositing bank refunds the stolen funds. Unfortunately we're not dealing with real life here, we're dealing with coin and an exchange...which is still too new for any real control factors to have set in.

I get it, and take full responsibility for my actions, I took a risk and got burned. But I don't have to like what happened, nor do I feel I should be quiet about what happened. I want this thread to be here for others to see so they don't make the same mistake. I can afford the hiccup fortunately, but for others that aren't as fortunate financially to be able to absorb this type of problem I want them to know not to do this, nor should they expect CEX to help them in finding the people that defrauded them. That's what really incenses me about the whole thing...the lack of even so much as empathy on the part of CEX.
legendary
Activity: 1988
Merit: 1007
I see the error in my ways at this point, but it's after the fact. As stated previously the vouchers weren't sent by email, they were sent by eBay message where you contact the buyer about the item, it never touched an email server. I could understand the stance the item wasn't delivered if it was by email, but by contact in eBay is another story. This process is exactly how I got involved with CEX, I purchased a legitimate voucher code on eBay and got started mining, then was able to grow my GH/s through mining, and then purchasing additional equipment to mine from home. This isn't a BAD IDEA, this is a way to get more people involved who don't know how to get into mining.

As it stands now, the buyer didn't reverse the funds, the eBay account has hijacked, which is why PayPal froze the funds. I'm the one that took the risk, but it's disturbing to know that CEX refuses to cooperate in identifying the perpetrators of the fraud. They were willing to identify the user accounts, I have both of their usernames, but I have no recourse, and CEX while admitting the purchases were fraudulent refuse to do anything about it. It's like someone stealing money out of your bank account and the depositing bank refusing to release the deposit of the fraudulent funds.

I've posted this thread to be sure that others are more aware of the ways other can and will defraud you. I had expected more cooperation from CEX when they openly admitted it was fraudulent. Live and learn...

Additionally: "But I swear I sent them something via eBay message." is something that eBay can prove. it wasn't sent via email...it was in the contact service provided by eBay. How would I know that the "verified" eBay member was fraudulent?

It's not cex's job to reverse anything. They did absolutely nothing wrong. This is just like if you buy stolen merchandise. When the police come to your door to recover it, they aren't going to offer to reimburse you for it; you're out. It was a risk you took, not someone else. Nobody else can be held responsible.

And I understand your idea that it's not a "bad idea" to buy/sell online. The issue here is we're talking about eBay and PayPal. eBay and PayPal. eBay and PayPal. Seriously, do searches online and you will find thousands of horror stories from them. And everyone in this community should already know that you don't use them for anything Bitcoin related.
newbie
Activity: 9
Merit: 0
I see the error in my ways at this point, but it's after the fact. As stated previously the vouchers weren't sent by email, they were sent by eBay message where you contact the buyer about the item, it never touched an email server. I could understand the stance the item wasn't delivered if it was by email, but by contact in eBay is another story. This process is exactly how I got involved with CEX, I purchased a legitimate voucher code on eBay and got started mining, then was able to grow my GH/s through mining, and then purchasing additional equipment to mine from home. This isn't a BAD IDEA, this is a way to get more people involved who don't know how to get into mining.

As it stands now, the buyer didn't reverse the funds, the eBay account has hijacked, which is why PayPal froze the funds. I'm the one that took the risk, but it's disturbing to know that CEX refuses to cooperate in identifying the perpetrators of the fraud. They were willing to identify the user accounts, I have both of their usernames, but I have no recourse, and CEX while admitting the purchases were fraudulent refuse to do anything about it. It's like someone stealing money out of your bank account and the depositing bank refusing to release the deposit of the fraudulent funds.

I've posted this thread to be sure that others are more aware of the ways other can and will defraud you. I had expected more cooperation from CEX when they openly admitted it was fraudulent. Live and learn...

Additionally: "But I swear I sent them something via eBay message." is something that eBay can prove. it wasn't sent via email...it was in the contact service provided by eBay. How would I know that the "verified" eBay member was fraudulent?
legendary
Activity: 1988
Merit: 1007
Additional information can be found on this thread https://cryptocointalk.com/topic/11286-cexio-voucher-fraud-and-cexio-refusal-to-assist-in-recovery-of-stolen-ghs/ which details the scam and the CEX.IO position on the whole thing.

I followed your thread and I'm still a bit confused on how what happened to you is somehow the responsibility of cex.io.  You posted an auction for some GH/s voucher on cex.io to eBay.  The auction was won by some user.  That user then proceeded to send funds to you via PayPal.  You then sent the vouchers to that user through eBay.  At some point that user then reversed his PayPal payment to you.

You took the risk of selling your voucher on eBay.  Had you actually sent the item to the purchaser via carrier service, then PayPal would have given you the seller protection because you could prove that you did indeed ship out the goods.  Your entire defense is, "But I swear I sent them something via eBay message." Since this user never actually received any physical goods, PayPal has no choice but to reverse the payment to you if the user requests it.  His defense is easy, "I never received any goods from the seller."

PayPal, eBay and cex.io all have terms of service that you agreed to so you could utilize their services.  You took a risk and got burned on it.  Perhaps you'll learn from it and adjust your activities accordingly in the future.

I was under the impression everyone knew that selling things like this on eBay is a terrible idea. PayPal's stance on this isn't new. This has nothing to do with cex.io. It has to do with the seller getting involved with something they clearly aren't thinking through.
legendary
Activity: 1344
Merit: 1024
Mine at Jonny's Pool
Additional information can be found on this thread https://cryptocointalk.com/topic/11286-cexio-voucher-fraud-and-cexio-refusal-to-assist-in-recovery-of-stolen-ghs/ which details the scam and the CEX.IO position on the whole thing.

I followed your thread and I'm still a bit confused on how what happened to you is somehow the responsibility of cex.io.  You posted an auction for some GH/s voucher on cex.io to eBay.  The auction was won by some user.  That user then proceeded to send funds to you via PayPal.  You then sent the vouchers to that user through eBay.  At some point that user then reversed his PayPal payment to you.

You took the risk of selling your voucher on eBay.  Had you actually sent the item to the purchaser via carrier service, then PayPal would have given you the seller protection because you could prove that you did indeed ship out the goods.  Your entire defense is, "But I swear I sent them something via eBay message." Since this user never actually received any physical goods, PayPal has no choice but to reverse the payment to you if the user requests it.  His defense is easy, "I never received any goods from the seller."

PayPal, eBay and cex.io all have terms of service that you agreed to so you could utilize their services.  You took a risk and got burned on it.  Perhaps you'll learn from it and adjust your activities accordingly in the future.

EDIT: I neither condone, nor endorse fraudulent activity and it sucks that it happens.  I agree that this user fraudulently acquired your voucher, but I do not hold cex.io at fault for it as they had nothing at all to do with your sale of that voucher.
newbie
Activity: 9
Merit: 0
Additional information can be found on this thread https://cryptocointalk.com/topic/11286-cexio-voucher-fraud-and-cexio-refusal-to-assist-in-recovery-of-stolen-ghs/ which details the scam and the CEX.IO position on the whole thing.
newbie
Activity: 9
Merit: 0
After providing proof of fraud CEX.IO are refusing to do anything other than give me the username that did indeed cash the voucher. This company claims to be a legitimate exchange and financial institution but holds no accountability when presented with proof of fraud. To turn a blind eye to fraud is to be a party to fraud!

I requested the issue be escalated to a manager or director and was told point blank the case would be closed and no additional responses would be made to my request. How's that for customer service?!? These people only want your coin and to rip you off! I'm trying to get more people involved in hashing by providing an easy alternative to buying BTC and transferring it to cex. Yes I expect to see a profit from this endeavor but didn't expect the provider to leave me with my ass hanging in the breeze!

Needless to say I'm extremely unhappy with the way I've been treated and will be taking this issue to the masses starting right here!

Here's the thread on CEX.IO: https://support.cex.io/hc/en-us/articles/201572336-Feb-27-2014-Vouchers-usage-warning By admitting that the vouchers were in fact legitimate and that they were purchaed fraudulently and doing nothing about it makes CEX.IO a knowing participant to fraud! I'm highly reconsidering whether to keep my GH/s on CEX or cashing it out and never doing business with this group again.

Who else here has seen this issue?
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