Question Bitsafe account closed after strange AML-procedure, any advice?

[repoapple]

First time poster here, wanted to share my Bitsafe experience.

Long story short - customer support contacted me in a way that looked suspiciously similar to a phishing scam. They wanted me to provide sensitive account details. I obviously didn't provide any, as banks don't do this sort of thing (at least banks who are not utterly incompetent). Customer support got pissed off and they banned my account.

I tried to explain that online banking services shouldn't act like phishing emails but they weren't having it. They asked for a bank statement and account details where they can transfer my remaining funds, and then silence.

As a result, I now have a good amount of money frozen in the Bitsafe account AND a SEPA transfer coming into a Bitsafe account that's frozen. Bitsafe support won't respond, and I'm slightly worried now as to what will happen next.

Based on what I've read here, a European EMI can't just steal my money and run.

But can anyone give me some advice on:

1. What will happen to the incoming SEPA transfer? Is there a "return to sender" sort of function in SEPA transfers?
2. When (if ever) will Bitsafe transfer my funds to my other bank account?
3. Is there some sort of regulatory authority I can report this absolute sham of a banking service to?

Thanks everyone.

If you're interested, attached is the conversation with support.
Here's the complaint I sent to Bitsafe after the incident. Link to pastebin.com

 

[KJK]

Looks like another EMI with a questionable business model and apparently failing at whatever compliance they want to do. They don't want you as a user apparently. This as if you opened a restaurant and you were annoyed that people are coming and wanting to use the restaurant...

To answer you questions
1) no there is no such function
2) noone knows, can be a month, half a year, two years, whatever. Just check this forum and there are examples of other EMIs blocking money for various random time periods
3) yes, it is listed in the footer of their website, however you will not achieve anything by reporting them

 

[uplana]

Looks like another EMI with a questionable business model and apparently failing at whatever compliance they want to do.

agree.

However, I'm sure they will not take your money and run but it will take a few weeks for them to process the payment they return to the alternative bank account you may already have provided them with.

Sadly it is not new that an EMI behave like that and it will not be the last time. We have a thread here about "Mister Tango s**t service" it is a story similar to this one.

If they have closed your account incoming SEPA transfers and any other incoming transfer get returned / rejected.

 

[repoapple]

Looks like another EMI with a questionable business model and apparently failing at whatever compliance they want to do. They don't want you as a user apparently. This as if you opened a restaurant and you were annoyed that people are coming and wanting to use the restaurant...

To answer you questions
1) no there is no such function
2) noone knows, can be a month, half a year, two years, whatever. Just check this forum and there are examples of other EMIs blocking money for various random time periods
3) yes, it is listed in the footer of their website, however you will not achieve anything by reporting them

I think you're right. It's so weird though, I think Bitsafe has a good concept and they could easily make it work. I'm always puzzled when companies just throw good money away.

Granted, I'm probably not the biggest most profitable customer, but I wonder how many "whales" will stick around when the company has a reputation like this? Are people really so desperate for EMI-accounts in 2021 that these sham companies can afford awful service? Doesn't make sense to me. Just imagine having a 6-7 figure revenue running through Bitsafe and dealing with this sort of service.

Oh well. Lesson learned.

agree.

However, I'm sure they will not take your money and run but it will take a few weeks for them to process the payment they return to the alternative bank account you may already have provided them with.

Sadly it is not new that an EMI behave like that and it will not be the last time. We have a thread here about "Mister Tango s**t service" it is a story similar to this one.

If they have closed your account incoming SEPA transfers and any other incoming transfer get returned / rejected.

Yeah I read about Mister Tango. Unbelievable.

Thanks for the reassurance, sounds about right. And hey, who knows. Maybe they'll sort this out within a matter of days. Otherwise I'll just contact Kifid in 2 months and hope for the best.

 

[VESTANON]

First time poster here, wanted to share my Bitsafe experience.

Long story short - customer support contacted me in a way that looked suspiciously similar to a phishing scam. They wanted me to provide sensitive account details. I obviously didn't provide any, as banks don't do this sort of thing (at least banks who are not utterly incompetent). Customer support got pissed off and they banned my account.

I tried to explain that online banking services shouldn't act like phishing emails but they weren't having it. They asked for a bank statement and account details where they can transfer my remaining funds, and then silence.

As a result, I now have a good amount of money frozen in the Bitsafe account AND a SEPA transfer coming into a Bitsafe account that's frozen. Bitsafe support won't respond, and I'm slightly worried now as to what will happen next.

Based on what I've read here, a European EMI can't just steal my money and run.

But can anyone give me some advice on:

1. What will happen to the incoming SEPA transfer? Is there a "return to sender" sort of function in SEPA transfers?
2. When (if ever) will Bitsafe transfer my funds to my other bank account?
3. Is there some sort of regulatory authority I can report this absolute sham of a banking service to?

Thanks everyone.

If you're interested, attached is the conversation with support.
Here's the complaint I sent to Bitsafe after the incident. Link to pastebin.com

@OP no need to worry your head, your funds would be returned, once a bank acct or Emi is provided, thats in the same name/credentials of bitsafe acct holder.

Yes customer desk is quite nonchalant at best, rating 3/10. Feedback from helpdesk comes out as unmotivated and fishy if taken at face value.

At this point that simply, is the organizational culture..

The Emi has a high finicky tendency, with that said the funds frozen would be returned back, simply provide bank acct/emi acct same as user credential, for onwards transfer of user frozen funds.

TopTip: Major dealings with any EMI would require the user having a physical bank acct/separate EMI in user name, in other to receive frozen funds, when the Ball Hits The Fan..EMIs Freeze Funds At 85% rates either short term/longterm.

 

[fredouille1973]

you should complain to the NL national bank, this always unlock situtations

 

[repoapple]

Last week in the quiet of the night, 7 weeks after the incident, Bitsafe returned 60% of my money. No explanation, no comment.

Where the rest is, I have no idea. Now 8 weeks has passed so I've filed a complaint to Kifid and filed a police report in my country. Theoretically it might make a difference since we're both in the EU, but realistically ... yeah nah.

 

[NicolasMaduro]

You were both being kinda sucky though. They were writing from a shitty e-mail. The original e-mail surely had a link where you could go to the thread in the support system. You replied with in a condescending manner. Probably pissing them off. Unprofessional obviously. They ask you for "source of funds" and you reply with "bank transfer"? Surely you understand that source of funds is not "bank transfer".

 

[repoapple]

You were both being kinda sucky though. They were writing from a shitty e-mail. The original e-mail surely had a link where you could go to the thread in the support system. You replied with in a condescending manner. Probably pissing them off. Unprofessional obviously. They ask you for "source of funds" and you reply with "bank transfer"? Surely you understand that source of funds is not "bank transfer".

Fair enough. But remember a few things:

1. This contact came from out of the blue from an unidentified email address. It's a common phishing/scamming technique. Treating those emails with any level of trust is dangerous.
2. The original email had no link to the support system or any form of authentication. I had to dig through Google to find the support website they use.
3. It's not my job to accommodate incompetent customer service reps. I gave the person the benefit of the doubt at first, and asked who they are and why are they contacting me. At no point did this person acknowledge my concerns or even bother to identify themself. When I'm treated with condescension and rudeness, by a person showing dangerous levels of incompetence, I tend to respond in kind.

I could've certainly been more patient and accommodating. But remember this could've been any random scammer trying to access my bank account. I have little patience for that.

Truth is, their ridiculous customer service process created a sucky situation. As entitled as it sounds, I'm the customer here and I'm not supposed to be a service professional.

I hear what you're saying. But honestly, I have no idea how to respond to these questions even at the best of times. They're incredibly generic and grammatically confusing "where do you use it for." Since there's no context or reason behind asking these questions, I have no idea what sort of answers they're looking for. That on top of the completely random email from a random address lead to my reply "Why do you want to know?" which they promptly ignored.

Like gimme a fucking break here.

 

[NicolasMaduro]

Fair enough. But remember a few things:

1. This contact came from out of the blue from an unidentified email address. It's a common phishing/scamming technique. Treating those emails with any level of trust is dangerous.
2. The original email had no link to the support system or any form of authentication. I had to dig through Google to find the support website they use.
3. It's not my job to accommodate incompetent customer service reps. I gave the person the benefit of the doubt at first, and asked who they are and why are they contacting me. At no point did this person acknowledge my concerns or even bother to identify themself. When I'm treated with condescension and rudeness, by a person showing dangerous levels of incompetence, I tend to respond in kind.

I could've certainly been more patient and accommodating. But remember this could've been any random scammer trying to access my bank account. I have little patience for that.

Truth is, their ridiculous customer service process created a sucky situation. As entitled as it sounds, I'm the customer here and I'm not supposed to be a service professional.

Its the most unprofessional s**t I have ever seen. Obviously what they did is next level retarded. And also them writing from a domain called "bitsafe.support" is hillarious. I wonder which "genius" in their team though that was a brilliant idea lol.

 

[repoapple]

Oh and the heartwarmingly confidence inspiring "My name is Sara and I am a Compliance Specialist within the Compliance team of Bitsafe. I have send you an information inquiry earlier today regarding the use of your account. As a licensed Electornic Money Institution we are obliged to know our customer ..."

(typos direct quote)

Does this sound like a bank representative ... or a 419 scammer?

I do agree with what people here have said. Either I'm not smart enough to use EMIs, or I should've seen the obvious warning signs on the wall when I signed up to this shitstain of a service. Lesson learned.

Its the most unprofessional s**t I have ever seen. Obviously what they did is next level retarded. And also them writing from a domain called "bitsafe.support" is hillarious. I wonder which "genius" in their team though that was a brilliant idea lol.

I work in infosec. I've seen some glaring security malpractices when it comes to regular people in regular companies doing daily tasks. That's fine, they don't know and they don't need to know. That's why they hire me.

But this a digital payments company that openly advertises security for the customer's money. And they can't be bothered to set up secure communication? That probably pissed me off more than anything.

Where's that Gandalf gif "an EMI should know better!"

 

[VESTANON]

Bitsafe, The Taliban Of Emi's..Thuggish In Every Aspect I Might Say...

 

[anotherone]

Hello,

I face the same problem than repoapple

I expected an incoming SEPA transfer of 2990 euros. They froze the said incoming transfer. They asked me to provide supporting documents for the incoming transfer. Money came from affiliate program. I sent as many screenshots as I could however, the bitsafe account wasn't credited.

Here is the first email, I received.... So , i am going to second repoapple.
No reference to any transaction is visible. No IBAN of the source of money is visible. No amount is visible in the email.
No reference to any customer account
No signature mentioning the company behind bitsafe, with its corporation number and address.

this compliance inquiry came just after they received my money. It does not come out of nowhere.

 

[wellington]

affiliate program

For a MLM/Ponzi/Crypto related scam?

 

[anotherone]

For your information, I succeeded in passing the AML/KYC procedure of Bitsafe by providing screenshots of the source of income. The incoming transfer was credited on my bitsafe account and then I was able to transfer it to my personal account.

 

[Ariasweet]

For your information, I succeeded in passing the AML/KYC procedure of Bitsafe by providing screenshots of the source of income. The incoming transfer was credited on my bitsafe account and then I was able to transfer it to my personal account.

Hello. Are you still using Bitsafe? I am having the same problem. I have earnings from Adult but bitsafe approved me once and they want approvement again