Localbitcoins

Hey folks,

Thinking this might be a lost cause bit thought I'd reach out to see if anyone had any advice.

I did a bit of BTC trading over a decade ago using localbitcoins.com, stopped for whatever reason with a small remaining balance of probably pennies at the time and since forgot about it.

I recently got access again to an omd email domain that I use dfor this, to find a stream of messages from localbitcoins telling me to log in and withdraw remaining balance as they were due to close the domain.

Logged in to see the pennies had inflated to a value of roughly £2900, great! I tried to withdraw but was told I would need to go through ID verification, so did that. The was told my account was locked and I would have to open a support ticket to unlock to withdraw balance, so I did that.

The next day I get an email from their support to say I need to contact the Finnish Bureau of Investigation, as they have seized the domain and all customer funds as part of their investigation into the site. Since then localbitcoins is returning a bad gateway error when I try to access it. Sent an email to the contact provided minus any personal info, but my heckles are up, something doesn't feel right.

Thinking I've been scammed, that the whole verification thing was to harvest my data and the email to "Finnish authorities" is gonna be another attempt to get me to pay some phony withdrawal fee. The domains for both the website and the Finnish bureau of investigations email are legit though, so don't think it's a case of a spoof domain.

Very confusing, got a strong feeling I've lost that bitcoin just as soon as I've rediscovered it, guess I should count my blessings it's money I didn't think I had anyway, but wondered if anyone had similar experiences, can offer advice to actually get it back if I can, or even just confirm that this is indeed an attempt to scam me.

Thanks!

• Upvotes

67% Upvoted

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u/B1TB0TB33PB00P 1d ago

We're you clicking links in emails?

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u/EwenMcD 1d ago

I was yeah, checked the domain though and all seemed alright

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u/ChrisTheWeak 22h ago

It sounds very plausible that you just gave up your ID to a scammer

Standard safe precautions apply, routinely check your bank statements and ensure no one's setting up accounts or loans in your name elsewhere

People probably should be doing this anyway

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u/EwenMcD 22h ago

Possibly yeah, it wasn't my passport so I guess the options for what they can do are a bit more limited, will be vigilant just in case though!

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u/TheresNoSecondBest 23h ago

Localbitcoins are not operating for quite some time. If this Finish government email starts asking for any fees, it's obviously a scam.