mtgox requires physical identification

Mt.Gox_Natalie

member

Activity: 68

Merit: 10

Quote from: ?? on ??

Hi all,

Here's my experience with Mt. Gox so far. I tried to go through the verification process before sending any money to Mt. Gox. I send a color scan of my US passport and it was rejected for the following reason.

We regret to inform you that the identification documentation you have submitted has been reviewed, and your request has been temporarily denied.

Reasons(s)

No utility bill or residency certificate has been provided with this application.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, but it would be greatly appreciated if you resubmit the requested clarification(s) above.

Otherwise, if you would like to make further enquiries in relation to this, please do not hesitate to contact Mt.Gox Support.

Does a passport not count as a residency certificate? I understand the need for security but this is just getting obnoxious. I can get a job, buy a house, move to another country, or do just about anything else with a passport but not open an account with Mt. Gox.

Your proof of residence should be a document that includes your name and address which was issued within the last 3 months. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding in this matter.

Mt.Gox_Natalie

member

Activity: 68

Merit: 10

Quote from: ArsenShnurkov on November 12, 2011, 12:42:37 AM

Quote from: repentance on October 26, 2011, 10:53:24 PM

disclosing user information when required to do so by law - AML laws require them to collect that information

I decide to upgrade to "trusted" status:

I sent them documents physically to obtain "Trusted status":

(Note, that post office index was written properly)

The post said that it delivered:

And I asked them to increase limits to the level of "Trusted" account:

Within 5 days (as they promised)

I received no response.

Today I also send the request to support (but earlier thay said that they are not an AML team and will not answer for it)

Hello,

We see that your account has been upgraded to a Trusted Status. If you require any further assistance, please feel free to send us a ticket at the Support Desk and we will do our best to address your issue.

DeepBit

donator

Activity: 532

Merit: 501

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Quote from: ?? on ??

Does a passport not count as a residency certificate? I understand the need for security but this is just getting obnoxious. I can get a job, buy a house, move to another country, or do just about anything else with a passport but not open an account with Mt. Gox.

When you are moving to another country or getting a job, the officer can look at the picture and check if it's your passport or not.
Mtgox can't do that. Possibly that's the reason...

ArsenShnurkov

legendary

Activity: 1386

Merit: 1000

Quote from: repentance on October 26, 2011, 10:53:24 PM

disclosing user information when required to do so by law - AML laws require them to collect that information

I decide to upgrade to "trusted" status:

I sent them documents physically to obtain "Trusted status":

(Note, that post office index was written properly)

The post said that it delivered:

And I asked them to increase limits to the level of "Trusted" account:

Within 5 days (as they promised)

I received no response.

Today I also send the request to support (but earlier thay said that they are not an AML team and will not answer for it)

repentance

hero member

Activity: 868

Merit: 1000

Quote from: Etlase2 on October 26, 2011, 03:27:43 AM

Quote from: N.Z. on October 24, 2011, 03:35:08 PM

In a way of the biggest bitcoin exchange "mtgox requires physical identification"...while one of the main points of Bitcoin is total privacy :-/

You guys need to get over this. Seriously. If you want to transact with real world cash, you are going to have to follow real world rules. And one of the main points of Bitcoin is not total privacy, it is pseudo-anonymity. There is a difference, and it's fairly big.

Mt.Gox may have been far from perfect in handling this situation, but it is a growing pain of a totally new economy. It will become easier to convert BTC/USD/other in the future if Bitcoin increases in popularity. You gotta roll with the punches for now and allow Mt.Gox to work better at streamlining this process so other people in the future can benefit from those growing pains.

People also need to understand that the exchanges are not Bitcoin itself. In a peer-to-peer situation Bitcoin can offer pseudo-anonymity - that doesn't mean the exchanges can legally offer that (and I'm quite sure that none of them want to get shut down for offering it illegally). The exchanges should certainly be offering privacy, which means only disclosing user information when required to do so by law - AML laws require them to collect that information and privacy laws prevent them from disclosing it without legal cause.

PatrickHarnett

hero member

Activity: 518

Merit: 500

and another happy Gox user finally gets something resolved in public

I dodge Gox as a preference because they don't inspire any real confidence, especially since their hack fiasco. I didn't lose funds or coin, but the delay in transferring money around just smelled too much like they have an underlying problem that I don't want to be victim of. Yes, I did lose 3BTC when they did the BitPLN acquisition because their system could work out the difference between accounts, and they play favourites for some of their users, but they are making some money and if they wanted to abscond with a huge amount of coin, it would crash the value immediately - they'd have to take the cash and that would be real crime. But while this is still wild-west, lawless trading and there are no accounts/records or protections, people lose sometimes.

Mt.Gox_Natalie

member

Activity: 68

Merit: 10

Quote from: ArsenShnurkov on October 26, 2011, 03:52:24 AM

Quote from: tvbcof on October 26, 2011, 01:35:15 AM

one conspiratorial minded person (namely, me)

I have one more conpiracy idea - the summer rise of bitcoins was caused by the CIA funding.
Now they want to track their dollars, which flow out of MtGOX.

Quote from: Etlase2 on October 26, 2011, 03:27:43 AM

If you want to transact with real world cash

I entered BTC, and I want to withdraw BTC.

Actually I was needed ~400 BTC for a project, but I already miss the opportunity, because all shares (FPGA.contract) was sold out...

Hello,

Our AML team has reviewed your documents and they have been approved. Our sincerest apologies for the delay and frustration caused.

ArsenShnurkov

legendary

Activity: 1386

Merit: 1000

Quote from: tvbcof on October 26, 2011, 01:35:15 AM

one conspiratorial minded person (namely, me)

I have one more conpiracy idea - the summer rise of bitcoins was caused by the CIA funding.
Now they want to track their dollars, which flow out of MtGOX.

Quote from: Etlase2 on October 26, 2011, 03:27:43 AM

If you want to transact with real world cash

I entered BTC, and I want to withdraw BTC.

Actually I was needed ~400 BTC for a project, but I already miss the opportunity, because all shares (FPGA.contract) was sold out...

Etlase2

hero member

Activity: 798

Merit: 1000

Quote from: N.Z. on October 24, 2011, 03:35:08 PM

In a way of the biggest bitcoin exchange "mtgox requires physical identification"...while one of the main points of Bitcoin is total privacy :-/

You guys need to get over this. Seriously. If you want to transact with real world cash, you are going to have to follow real world rules. And one of the main points of Bitcoin is not total privacy, it is pseudo-anonymity. There is a difference, and it's fairly big.

Mt.Gox may have been far from perfect in handling this situation, but it is a growing pain of a totally new economy. It will become easier to convert BTC/USD/other in the future if Bitcoin increases in popularity. You gotta roll with the punches for now and allow Mt.Gox to work better at streamlining this process so other people in the future can benefit from those growing pains.

tvbcof

legendary

Activity: 4690

Merit: 1276

Quote from: ArsenShnurkov on October 26, 2011, 12:37:14 AM

I upload notarized translations (that cost me ~30 BTC equivalent as a reward to the translator and notarius) and reopen ticket.
Ticket was closed with comment:

Quote

Unfortunately, we are not the AML team. Please contact [email protected] if you have questions about getting your account reviewed.
Thanks,
MtGox.com Team
Oct-26 2011 10:44

I wrote a letter to that email address.
Start waiting for five days.

Looking at BitcoinCharts.com, it seems like Mt. Gox RUB exchange stopped on the 24th. I'm not a customer so I don't follow their boards and I suppose it has been announced somewhere there, but I didn't notice discussion of it in this forum.

Then I see that you, presumably a Russian, seem to be getting a fair amount of grief from Mt. Gox on this.

It seems to at least one conspiratorial minded person (namely, me) that perhaps there is some desire to cut out the Russian block from as much of the Bitcoin fun as practical. Could it be that the amount of financial visibility within the Russian sphere is limited enough to make it worthwhile to exert significant pressure on Mt. Gox to cut them out? Or perhaps that the user base within that sphere could sustain Bitcoin even if it were effectively quashed in the West?

bitflower

newbie

Activity: 33

Merit: 0

Quote from: ArsenShnurkov on October 26, 2011, 12:37:14 AM

I upload notarized translations (that cost me ~30 BTC equivalent as a reward to the translator and notarius) and reopen ticket.
Ticket was closed with comment:

Quote

Unfortunately, we are not the AML team. Please contact [email protected] if you have questions about getting your account reviewed.
Thanks,
MtGox.com Team
Oct-26 2011 10:44

I wrote a letter to that email address.
Start waiting for five days.

We check AML emails as well as process applications daily. You should be receiving a response from our AML team within 24 hours of submission.

ArsenShnurkov

legendary

Activity: 1386

Merit: 1000

I upload notarized translations (that cost me ~30 BTC equivalent as a reward to the translator and notarius) and reopen ticket.
Ticket was closed with comment:

Quote

Unfortunately, we are not the AML team. Please contact [email protected] if you have questions about getting your account reviewed.
Thanks,
MtGox.com Team
Oct-26 2011 10:44

I wrote a letter to that email address.
Start waiting for five days.

repentance

hero member

Activity: 868

Merit: 1000

Quote from: ?? on ??

Quote from: EhVedadoOAnonimato on October 24, 2011, 02:43:11 AM

Quote from: tvbcof on October 23, 2011, 06:45:04 PM

I doubt that any exchange who is big enough to pay their expenses will be able to operate under the kind of anonymity that would be desirable to a lot of us.

I understand that. But it should be made upfront. If they need IDs, that should be clear from the moment you register in the site. They cannot let you deposit money and then hold it until you comply to their terms. That's criminal. Those who did not agree to provide IDs should be given a chance to withdraw all their money. And if then MtGox wants to demand IDs before they start trading again, it's fine.

This is pretty much the feeling of all who live in the free world, which is why Paypal has had its ass handed to it in court over and over again.

Actually PayPal had its ass handed to it over not being compliant with financial services regulations many times in the early days. Like the exchanges, they argued that they were a new and different type of services and that the usual regulations didn't apply to them because...PayPal.

The Bitcoin exchanges for some reason thought that their withdrawal limits would exempt them from AML compliance requirements. They should probably sue any accountant or lawyer who gave them such advice because there were never any valid grounds to believe that.

Terms of Service and User Agreements don't trump the law. If they're required by their banks to verify customer IDs, then they either comply with that or their accounts get frozen. Allowing customers to withdraw anonymously isn't going to be an option in many cases. It's certainly not criminal to require people to comply with the law before they can access their funds. And "I lost money because MtGox complied with the law" isn't likely to fly in a civil suit either.

Quote

In a way of the biggest bitcoin exchange "mtgox requires physical identification"...while one of the main points of Bitcoin is total privacy.

Privacy and anonymity are not the same thing.

N.Z.

sr. member

Activity: 427

Merit: 250

In a way of the biggest bitcoin exchange "mtgox requires physical identification"...while one of the main points of Bitcoin is total privacy :-/

BitterTea

sr. member

Activity: 294

Merit: 252

Quote from: N.Z. on October 24, 2011, 03:17:14 PM

What a sad story, bearing in mind the nature of Bitcoin Sad

In what way is this the nature of Bitcoin?

N.Z.

sr. member

Activity: 427

Merit: 250

What a sad story, bearing in mind the nature of Bitcoin Sad

EhVedadoOAnonimato

hero member

Activity: 630

Merit: 500

Quote from: tvbcof on October 23, 2011, 06:45:04 PM

I doubt that any exchange who is big enough to pay their expenses will be able to operate under the kind of anonymity that would be desirable to a lot of us.

I understand that. But it should be made upfront. If they need IDs, that should be clear from the moment you register in the site. They cannot let you deposit money and then hold it until you comply to their terms. That's criminal. Those who did not agree to provide IDs should be given a chance to withdraw all their money. And if then MtGox wants to demand IDs before they start trading again, it's fine.

tvbcof

legendary

Activity: 4690

Merit: 1276

Quote from: ?? on ??

I'm doing an interview with Mark Karples on BitTalk.TV regarding these ridiculous issues, claims of insolvency, etc etc. Would you mind messaging me and providing me with the proof of this claim?

P.S. posting it here because people deserve to know what I'm doing and MtGox deserves to know that people are watching.

I'm baffled at the continued support for Bruce Wagner's show by Mt. Gox (as is claimed by Bruce at least.) It would be interesting to hear some discussion of that if you guys have the time.

ArsenShnurkov

legendary

Activity: 1386

Merit: 1000

Quote from: bitleaker on October 24, 2011, 01:36:59 AM

Even after faxing identification, it seems about only 50% manage to retrieve their money

I gave him international passport, which have translations to english (within the document itself).
and domestic bill (as they requested).
Of course the bill was in domestic language.

I received (2011-Oct-24) an email:

Quote

We regret to inform you that the identification documentation you have submitted has been reviewed, and your request has been temporarily denied.
Reasons(s)
Submitted documentation must be in English or Latin script, and legible. Where documents are not in Latin script, they must be translated and a notarised copy provided.
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, but it would be greatly appreciated if you resubmit the requested clarification(s) above.
Otherwise, if you would like to make further enquiries in relation to this, please do not hesitate to contact Mt.Gox Support.

bitleaker

newbie

Activity: 42

Merit: 0

Most people in my BTC pool have had issues with MtGox cancelling their accounts for similar issues as what has already been described. Even after faxing identification, it seems about only 50% manage to retrieve their money. The others just get excuse after excuse, and play the infinite ticket game.

But people have been talking about this issue for months. People have been sharing their issues on this forum for months. And people keep using MtGox?... Huh

I didn't realise until shortly after signing up that MtGox hosts this forum. Talk about a monopoly. lol. This forum is ok for open discussion, but I wouldn't trust any PM's being private - so be careful what information you give to others on this board via PM. Best to go to an instant messenger or some other offsite form of communication to discuss transactions.

Topic: mtgox requires physical identification (Read 10175 times)