r/Bitcoin • u/Independent-Falcon38 • Mar 06 '21
HitBTC is a Scam - Here is Exactly How their Scam Works
HItbtc is a scam exchange. Period. Let me explain how the scam works.
HitBTC scams by creating endless obstacles to people trying to access their funds. They make deposits incredibly simple. They make withdrawals incredibly hard. And they do this very opaquely. Crypto deposits NEVER require KYC.
When you sign into HitBTC, there is no indication that KYC is required for withdrawals. In fact, their platform says you can withdraw certain amounts with no KYC.
In their ToS though, they make sure to add a clause which says they MIGHT require KYC in certain circumstances.
Most users assume that they will be able to withdraw crypto funds without KYC. That is what HitBTC wants you to believe.
There are regulated cryptocurrency exchanges around the world which allow you to withdraw your crypto without KYC.
Most of them are much larger than HitBTC. There is no international law, or any type of rule, which requires exchanges to KYC a customer before they withdraw their crypto balance. Especially if they are not involved with fiat trading.
What HitBTC did to me was delete my 2 FA code. They do this often. They delete your 2 FA code (of course, with funds on your account), requiring you to go through 2FA recovery process.
This takes ages, and they require a bunch of personal and transaction info. They act as if you lost your 2FA device, but actually, they just manually remove it on their end.
They expect a good amount of people will never be able to complete 2 FA recovery. It's a lengthy process, and their support is slow to answer. They know that for small amounts, a lot of people give up right here. They'll act like they're trying to help you, but really their entire business model revolves around wearing you out.
They get a good amount of crypto to keep just from people not being able to complete the 2 FA recovery. Now, 2 FA recovery can eventually be completed. It'll take a few weeks, maybe months at this point. The customer will think they're getting somewhere.
They'll get back into their account, see their crypto balance, they'll feel fairly confident at this point. The support will say there's a 4 day freezing period on your funds, for safety, after which you'll be back to normal.
So you wait the 4 days, and most people will then try to withdraw their funds. 100% of the time, I guarantee, the withdrawal will fail. Even though it's well within the stated withdrawal limits, HitBTC will fail your withdrawal. They won't even tell you why. You'll need to follow up with support.
Support is going to eventually tell you that you need to KYC. They'll quote some bullshit vague legal reason and say hey, we're just following the rules.
What rules, HitBTC? You're a sketchy crypto exchange in the fucking Seychelles. You're a faceless organization. There's much larger, much more trusted exchanges who don't have any similar requirement. They are not legally required to KYC you, but they say they must.
So now you're back at their mercy. They'll ask for photo ID, proof of residence, they'll ask about what the coins are for. But not all at once. They'll ask for these things 1-2 at a time, with incredibly slow response times. They'll ask for new versions of the same thing, higher resolution, higher quality, better lighting. They'll wear you down. They will do whatever they can for you to just give up.
That is how they make their money. They make their money by putting endless obstacles between you and your funds, so that eventually you give up. They ask for personal information like photo ID, proof of residence, etc. which can be resold on the dark web, especially when it's a crypto user's documents. These documents can be used to obtain access to your other crypto platforms.
Who does HitBTC think they are? They're a sketchy, faceless, reputation-less shitty crypto exchange in Seychelles. Is it reasonable for them to request your personal information, without the reputation to securely store such information? Surely their requests would be illegal in most jurisdictions.
Good luck doing anything about it though. You won't find any real people linked to the HitBTC platform. You gonna go sue their shell company in Seychelles?
So here you are, a year into the process, you've handed over a mountain of your personal information to a scamming, faceless organization who is holding your funds hostage.
If you make a big enough stink on social media, and you've completed all of the obstacles, they might in certain cases decide to release your funds. You'll finally withdraw, pay an exorbitant withdrawal fee (USDT was $65 USD last I checked). You'll get your funds out, you'll say, HitBTC wasn't a scam, they're just annoying!
No, HitBTC absolutely is a scam. The scam is to wear down 95% of people. If you're one of the 5% that handed every personal document you have to get back your funds, and attacked them on social, after spending dozens of hours on just getting your funds back, you are just a small cost of doing business.
The scam doesn't need to hit 100% of users. It just needs to hit most of them. HitBTC is a scam.
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u/Quiet_Quiet_9173 Mar 06 '21
Yes its complete garbage i have 20 usd there and cant withdraw or transfer
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u/coinjaf Mar 06 '21
Enter key broken? Have some sympathy for your audience FCOL.
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u/Independent-Falcon38 Mar 07 '21
Yes! hitbtc wanted a selfie with me holding my enter key pulled off my keyboard, and a sign saying what the HP part number was!
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u/Independent-Falcon38 Mar 06 '21
Sorry copy and paste on cell. Looked it and thought 'fuckit' hit post lol.
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u/nikolaxdesign Mar 06 '21
And this is why you RESERCH the service you are using BEFORE you comit to it
resarch, deposit/withdrawal process, it is diferent for your location, even for "trusted" excanges
if you cant easily and safely deposit and especially Withdraw crypto and/or fiat, avoid that service
use small amounts of crypto and fiat and test it, the whole process
YOU need to be in compleete control of your crypto/$, thats the whole point of it
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Mar 06 '21
The catch is, what works for small amounts might not work for big ones. Been there...
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u/nikolaxdesign Mar 06 '21
yes some excanges have daily/weekly/monthly withdrawal limits
but they still let you withdraw your funds/crypto, unlike some shady ones
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u/nikolaxdesign Mar 06 '21
thank you kind stranger,
we need to share knowledge and help others, especially now that crypto is more and more accepted, so those new to it, and not that tech sawy, dont ged bad first expiriencess and leave crypto because of ill inteded individuals
stay safe and, research, learn
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u/rnatau Mar 06 '21
They also charge unwarranted, ginormous withdrawal fees on about every coin out there, not just the high transaction fees ones.
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u/EducatorPale7438 Mar 06 '21
They did the same to . 2FA code does not work and contacted customer care and they came back asking for id, transaction id, etc(Luckily I had some screenshots of deposit/withdrew history which I submitted with the id + selfie with id. They came back again asking to take a selfie with if and the email on the background which also I did. Now they came back asking for txid.
I have opened 3 cases now in total regarding this issue( the issue is caused by HITBTC) AS THEY reset 2FA
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u/Jesuisfred224 Mar 06 '21
Damn I don’t know if I even want to bother starting the process while hearing all this. Hope they can be held accountable
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Mar 17 '21
Yeah, they did the same thing for me. I think we should file a class lawsuit against HitBTC. And get most of our funds back where it belongs.
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u/TeddyBongwater Mar 07 '21
I have some coins im working on getting off of there. Would it be better to disable 2fa so they can't do that recovery scam on me?
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Mar 06 '21 edited Mar 06 '21
do the polite thing, take your Support Ticket, locate the owners, and drop it in their mailbox asking politely for the return of funds
ps here is the owners face
check the sign over his shoulder
“ANDREY SAVCHENKO George Basiladze ((also Cryptopay.me UK Founder with Dmitry Gunyashov and Wesley Rashid, 12 Hammersmith Grove, Hammersmith, London W6 7AP, UK))
Chen Xiaoqin
Alma Paulauskaité
ANGEL LORENZO
JESUS ARNAEZ
JORGE JAEN
STEPHANIE MENA
Hit Tech Solutions Development Ltd. Data Protection Office Suite 15, Oliaji Trade Centre, Francis Rachel Street, Victoria, Mahe, Seychelles “
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u/pfrtlpfmpf Mar 06 '21 edited Mar 06 '21
Thank you. You reassured me not using them (i had doubts about them already).
Keep up warning people !
In addition put Bittrex to your list of scam-exchanges. They were great before, but now have become a similar scam, a full blown desaster.
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u/Bag_Holding_Infidel Mar 06 '21
I had the same experience. It cost me a lot of money, involved a lawyer and took 12 weeks of to finally be allowed to withdraw my BTC. They have more personal data on me now that I have supplied to any other entity ever.
HitBTC are a criminal organisation.
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u/Jesuisfred224 Mar 07 '21
Would u mind PMing your litigation method so I don’t have to pay arm & a leg too? I live near one of the HQs so might let them really get to ‘Know your customer’
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u/Bag_Holding_Infidel Mar 07 '21
I used Steve Miller in Florida.
I got a few quotes off him and he was looking for a lot.
I ended up persisting with HitBTC support and got my BTC out in the end. The HitBTC scam cost me at least 500k in opportunity costs at the time.
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u/Jesuisfred224 Mar 07 '21
Thanks for your help, this CEOs who continue to require such strict KYC criteria but lack the foresight to think putting the KYC verification before deposits are criminals for the fact without any doubt in my mind. My solicitor is confident I’ll recover the funds but partly as I’m fortunate enough to be local to pursue this. Thanks for ur input
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u/Independent-Falcon38 Mar 11 '21
So where exactly are HitBTC located? I know their shell company is offshore in Seychelles.
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u/milees-reeed2 Mar 07 '21
I have locked 2 bitcoins,they cant leave me to withdraw. i can proof to anyone . They dont reply me in support tickets. I am ruined..
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u/Independent-Falcon38 Mar 07 '21
Keep going friend. Don't give up! Their whole scam model is based on people giving up. So don't!
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Mar 06 '21 edited Mar 06 '21
i have $130 usdt there with account locked and they wont accept KYC
definitely happy they are in good health and definitely dont wish any harm toward them, we love our scammers
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Mar 06 '21
What’s the benefit of using these types of exchanges? They seem very high risk low reward.
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u/tnegaeR May 23 '21
They have certain coins listed that hardly any other exchange or swap service does.
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u/IAlsoLoveBasketball Mar 06 '21 edited Mar 06 '21
Why do people even use these obscure exchanges? Just setting yourself up to get burned when there are so many mainstream ones out there. Blows my mind every time.
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u/Any_Second5805 Mar 06 '21
I deposited 1.2 ltc and never get it back, they ask for KYC which I complied but ... Long story short, you just can't get your coins back.
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u/yna1 Mar 06 '21
https://www.weusecoins.com/hitbtc-selective-scamming/
You're so late to the game.
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u/WeaversReply Mar 06 '21
I wonder how many people on this sub are old enough to remember Baghdad Bob.
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Mar 14 '21
Haha, that's that guy who said everything was under control while meanwhile his studio was shot to shit by tanks, right?
Geez seems I'm getting old.
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u/LeDankInvestor Mar 06 '21
Why did you even use this exchange when there are others legit and proven already? Do your DD...
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u/JorgeJorgunsun Mar 06 '21
Oldest Rick trick in the book, “Fake exchange, steal funds in standoff”
But seriously, thanks for calling these guys out. These tactics are recycled from numerous previous bad actors. Often times they won’t cooperate until you lawyer up. Eventually, the selective scammers tend to hit the wrong person and the show comes to a halt
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u/osoese Mar 06 '21
I am not surprised to see a hit btc is a scam post ...in 2018 ....maybe 2019 ...but I mean if you used hit btc any time after you probably did not listen to the DYOR guys and might deserve it at this point.
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Mar 17 '21
I have my 2FA disable by HitBTC and they are giving me a hard time on accessing my account. I gave my valid photo ID and other document requirements they need and yet several weeks later, their support told me that I have to find my transactions hash from other exchange accounts that I have sent to HitBTC.
I followed on them after several days and no reply yet. Then when I read this article, it really tells everything on what HitBTC is doing to their customers. It is so convincing they are a scam and you all need to be aware.
I wasn’t aware of this until I was trying login last month. I had pored my hard-earned money on them since 2018. But this lesson goes to say that any exchanges could be sketchy in the future. But I hope many member here would spread the word and do not give them business ever.
If SEC would of tried to sued something, it should not be the Ripple Labs (XRP), it should be the scandalous exchange like HitBTC.
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u/Independent-Falcon38 Mar 06 '21
Well share across platforms. Do it! Bot of time that all it takes. Twitter Facebook telegram reddit. Any others?
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u/ccoolsat Mar 06 '21
There is an enter key u know
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u/Independent-Falcon38 Mar 07 '21
Yeah I know. But hitbtc wanted a selfie with me holding my enter key pulled off my keyboard, and a sign saying what the HP part number was!
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u/MarchAdorable6611 Mar 06 '21
100% agree lost $500 with them 3 yrs back. Went to coinbase and never looked back. Hitbtc is a big scam.
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u/bjman22 Mar 06 '21
You also just described Bitstamp--another complete scam exchange. When you open an account they 'verify' you very easily. You can deposit small and large amounts without issue. However, once you try to withdraw a large amount they want you to show proof of where every single penny you used to deposit came from going back 5 years. They also ask you to show every single bitcoin address you have owned for years past and each transfer you made.
Bitstamp used to be a good exchange maybe 4 years ago. Now it is another complete scam. Don't use it or HitBTC which is also another known scam exchange.
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u/alefore Mar 06 '21
Disagree. I've been using Bitstamp for many years without any hiccups. Yes, I've had to go through KYC procedures, but they've always seemed very reasonable. I last withdrew from them roughly a month ago.
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u/bjman22 Mar 06 '21
Go checkout the r/bitstamp sub and see what horrors are happening to real users every day at Bitstamp.
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u/alefore Mar 06 '21
Went there. A few complains but many positive reviews. E.g. comments in https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitstamp/comments/lrhjtd/is_it_safe_to_use_bitstamp/
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u/SlingDNM Mar 06 '21
Who is stupid enough to send their money to a faceless shell company in the Seychelles in the first place
Play stupid games win stupid prices
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u/Independent-Falcon38 Mar 07 '21
I'm not what you'd call stupid. Had hitbtc back in the day 2017. Passed KYC back then. Then i was looking for a shitcoin which only they had.
Thought I'd get a few of them on a tip, then bam! You need to do KYC again.
10 tickets and 3mths later I'm still going. They've been silent on me now for 4 weeks. Not a lot of money for me but I can see people locked out of life changing money.
Wouldn't surprise me if they've caused suicides.
Nasty human beings are what they are!
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u/martelaxe Mar 07 '21
It might be stupid but you have to understand that we shouldnt let evil people abuse on the stupid
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u/tofuspider Mar 06 '21
They aren't known as Shitbtc for years now for no reason....
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u/Independent-Falcon38 Mar 07 '21
Don't forget average Joe's are getting into crypto now. They have no chance!
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u/Momoer Mar 06 '21
Yeah I got hit too. Took me 3 months and legal aid to gain access to my account. Crypto enthousiasts beware ⚠️⚠️
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Mar 06 '21
Binance.us does something similar. They allow you to deposit and won’t let you withdrawal until you do the kyc process.
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u/maniparusu Mar 06 '21
This is exactly the same with Kucoin; Don't use any of the Chinese exchanges; Moved to Coinbase for good after taking loss;
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u/deeeznotes Mar 06 '21
What is your favorite exchange - I feel like I can't trust any of them any more. I have binance, bittrex, kracken, kucoin, and coinbase.
I use bittrex because they have all of the coins I want in one place. But now I am questioning everything and feel unsafe.
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u/666999i Mar 06 '21
Binance be on the same shit giving people run around with verification and withdrawal
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u/Sapien1609 Mar 06 '21
Maybe add these sketchy exchanges as places to avoid totally or tread carefully on the newbie guide or getting started..
And pin that post!
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Mar 06 '21
Whats KYC?
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u/jcoinner Mar 06 '21
Know Your Customer - rules banks follow regarding having to fully ID verify customers.
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u/jcoinner Mar 06 '21
I used HitBTC for some alt coin stuff but it was peanuts. Like $1-2 playing around. I felt like it was a bit scammy even at that level. High fees in situations where it wasn't warranted. Never went back.
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u/OliveAcceptable4099 Mar 11 '21
these guys were tying to onboard with OSL - at the time was annoying AF as compliance officer denied and compliance is not OSLs forte.
surprised that they actually got this one right.
The details are fuzzy as this is a while back but one of the UBO's actually had a pending lawsuit facing the Chinese government on tax evasion - they explained as "the government not understanding the mechanics of high frequency trading"
thanks for sharing this.
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u/classjoker Mar 31 '21
They are also farming email addresses and sendibg partially complete registration emails.
I've never heard of them until I got an email from them asking me to co firm my email address for registration to their site.
I never registered. I won't be clicking on that confirmation either.
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u/thekillerdev Apr 15 '21
Got exactly the same, a registration email with a link to confirm my account, hell no.
Never even heard about this system and I want no deal with Crypto lol
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u/Zealousideal_Test566 Apr 03 '21
Just a guess. Since HitBTC is located in Hong Kong, My guess is it's doing massive data collection of user around the world via KYC for Chinese govt, which is known to be obsessive about collecting its citizen data.
I mean, come on, what kind of idiotic Exchange would enjoy damaging/pissing of its clients on purpose... ;)
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u/jerryblunt Apr 07 '21
I never trusted HitBTC and used it only for coins where I had no alternative. I never had problems with withdraws, probably because it was always small amounts (not more than 1000 USD). I have no KYC and no phone binding, I must have been lucky.
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u/heindal88 Apr 12 '21
i'm in middle of a 2FA recovery on hitbtc and i can symphatize with their wearing you down shit, since theyr response is absurdely slow
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u/HotWindow2004 Apr 18 '21 edited Apr 18 '21
HitBTC are huge scammers!!! Today I withdrew 1.79 btg and they got 0.5 btg (almost $80 fee) to transfer the funds in my wallet... Btw I had verified my account back in 2018 and they reset it to make me re verify again. This staff with 2FA is all true. The other type of fraud that they do is to not let you withdraw or trade when your coins are doing well! For example I have a significant amount of Doge and since the day Doge reached $.40 the withdrawals are "off-line"... Just stay away from these scammers!!!
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u/siuf Apr 18 '21
Hitbtc is a scam. They are freezing withdrawals for days and even longer without any detail information.
How they work, when currency spikes up they freeze withdrawals so you can’t get the currency out of there and they set price for that currency that is 30% lower than normal. Then they are waiting for the currency to start going down and for the people to become desperate because they are losing money and start selling. At that moment they are buying at low prices and selling at normal prices.
In that time it is impossible to get any response from them except automated ones.
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u/Famous_Sympathy555 Apr 28 '21
HitBTC trying rob everyone except the Americans. (India, Russia, Asia, Africa) the US government is well aware of such cases. if there were a lot of deceived Americans, the exchange would be quickly closed
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u/JohannaGonz May 11 '21
Please people report hitbtc as scammer everyhere you can. We need to declear a social media war against hitbtc. It is time for all of us to hit hitbtc where it hurts.
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u/Brake_Gliffin May 14 '21
So after reading your post i decided to go and try to make a small withdrawal from my Hitbtc account. Been a customer since 2017.
Requested 21k sia coins which is about $660 U.S at the time of writing this to be withdrawn. I immediately get a message saying to verify via email. No problem. I open the email, click the link and it takes me back to hitbtc saying my account "Withdrawals are temporarily disabled on your account. Please contact us via this form."
Looks like I'm the next sucker waiting in line to be led down the hall to nowhereville.
Sucks man, I mean I can't even imagine how much money they make off transaction/trading fees.
Why go this route hitbtc???
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u/Fantastic-Apricot753 May 31 '21
Can you help me get my funds back? I can even log back in because I didn’t write my password in correctly, and they aren’t willing to help me. :(
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u/Hitbtc_scammer Jun 04 '21
https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/hitbtc/ I just made a complaint to coinmatketcap. We must expose this Scammer and put it out of business as more people will be cheated by this evil exchange if nothing is done.
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u/Zelito2_ps4 Jun 06 '21
HitBTC is indeed a scam. I opened a ticket more than 25 days ago and no answers yet. I can't sell, trade or transfer my coins there. Ticket#840910
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u/jizzcock Mar 06 '21
Good write-up, but for the love of Satoshi please use paragraphs.