bomboclat77



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Full MemberActivity: 150Merit: 100 Bitspend July 28, 2013, 02:31:52 AM #1 There has been a lack in communication from bit spend. They have given deadlines and then broken them without a single word. Many are beginning to think this was a scam and they cut it off as soon as they got popular.



We are unsure of any recourse, but the owner Justin Whelchel's information can be found easily with google. If he was scamming he is very very stupid. Bitcoin-otc feedback

Mr. Coinman



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Sr. MemberActivity: 277Merit: 250 Re: Bitspend July 30, 2013, 09:10:49 AM

Last edit: July 30, 2013, 09:29:15 AM by Mr. Coinman #2 no way it could have gotten lost in the mail or anything - they just simply did not deliver on their end of the promise.



Right now Bitspend is holding about 0.23 BTC of mine and thousands of dollars belonging to other customers. Just take a look unanswered complaints from customers. They simply took peoples' money and ran.



19 days ago, the 'Bitspend CEO' (Justin Whelchel) posted I ordered something from Bitspend on June 14th and paid for it on June 18th. I haven't heard anything back from them yet. Bitspend hasn't answered any of my emails, posts on the /r/Bitspend subreddit , or any of my multiple support tickets. This was a digital item, so there isit could have gotten lost in the mail or anything - they just simply did not deliver on their end of the promise.Right now Bitspend is holding about 0.23 BTC of mine and thousands of dollars belonging to other customers. Just take a look here for some of the manycomplaints from customers. They simply took peoples' money and ran.19 days ago, the 'Bitspend CEO' (Justin Whelchel) posted this on Reddit, stating "Orders to begin processing next week." That never happened. There has been no word from Bitspend since that short, obviously untrue post. Bitmit | Trade History

augustocroppo

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VIPHero MemberActivity: 756Merit: 502 Re: Bitspend July 30, 2013, 10:21:20 AM #3



http://www.coindesk.com/bitspend-ceases-trading-due-to-frozen-accounts/



Quote Bitspend ceases trading due to frozen accounts

Published On June 20, 2013 at 14:49 BST | By David Gilson



The bitcoin payment system, Bitspend, has been forced to stop operations after its bank accounts were frozen. Bitspend is a service that acted as a bridge between those who held cash in the form of bitcoin, and merchants who did not accept bitcoin payments.



According to the firm, its banks (Chase and another unnamed bank) both told it that they regarded businesses which trade in bitcoin as too high risk. The banks allegedly did this without notice. Initially, Bitspend was told that its funds would be returned by cheque within 30 days. However, the firm reported, via Reddit that an employee of Chase bank told them:



Your account will be reviewed to decide whether the source of deposits (exchanges) is legitimate, and we will decide within 30 days if we will be returning any or all of your money Furthermore, Chase bank has also closed the personal accounts of the firms owner.



If true, this represents a heavyhanded approach by assuming that businesses dealing with bitcoin payments are automatically suspicious.



The company stated that it will honour orders as soon as it can, but with the current state of affairs it cannot pay its own credit bills even though money is being deposited from exchanges. Did you know that?

useful_idiot



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NewbieActivity: 29Merit: 0 Re: Bitspend July 30, 2013, 05:11:34 PM #4 I was entirely understanding of the situation when they announced these issues, currently they have ~11BTC worth of my money.



I had placed an order with them through ebay around June 10th, and even saw the auction end appropriately, however the item has never arrived, and they will not respond to any email questions. This is entirely unacceptable, I wasnt even looking to hound them down for money, just to proxy questions to their ebay sellers! They do not require their bank accounts to answer email!



Shame on you bitspend/Justin! If I don't see answers soon the next time I am in the Florida area I will go looking for answers.

Mr. Coinman



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Sr. MemberActivity: 277Merit: 250 Re: Bitspend July 30, 2013, 06:25:17 PM #5 Quote from: useful_idiot on July 30, 2013, 05:11:34 PM I was entirely understanding of the situation when they announced these issues, currently they have ~11BTC worth of my money.



I had placed an order with them through ebay around June 10th, and even saw the auction end appropriately, however the item has never arrived, and they will not respond to any email questions. This is entirely unacceptable, I wasnt even looking to hound them down for money, just to proxy questions to their ebay sellers! They do not require their bank accounts to answer email!



Shame on you bitspend/Justin! If I don't see answers soon the next time I am in the Florida area I will go looking for answers.



I think this is the most troubling part of the situation. People would probably be more understanding if there was at least some sort of communication from Bitspend, but for the most part there has not been. Most customers did not have their issues addressed personally, and were only given vague statements full of false promises from the Bitspend reddit account. I think this is the most troubling part of the situation. People would probably be more understanding if there was at least some sort of communication from Bitspend, but for the most part there has not been. Most customers did not have their issues addressed personally, and were only given vague statements full of false promises from the Bitspend reddit account. Bitmit | Trade History

Bitcoin Scammer



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Sr. MemberActivity: 266Merit: 250 Re: Bitspend July 31, 2013, 07:17:56 AM #6 Yeah, this is kinda sad. BTC could still be returned back to the users. I added them to bitcoinscammers not because I think they are scammers but so people can vent and the owners may or may not respond. Good luck everyone http://BITCOINSCAMMERS.com DON'T GET SCAMMED, CHECK FIRST = Bitcoinscammers.com

ReCat



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Sr. MemberActivity: 406Merit: 250 Re: Bitspend August 01, 2013, 08:59:05 PM #7 I have purchased roughtly $1000 worth of equipment using their website over the course of more than a month, and I can prove it to.



As of last month BitSpend's bank accounts have been seized with no reason given, including ALL AND ANY MONEY they could have. They are essentially broke now, and they have no way to convert the Bitcoins they are given to US dollars, NOR do they even have money to make employees process and give refunds. THEY DO NEED A BANK TO PROCESS EMAILS BECAUSE A BANK HOLDS ALL OF THEIR MONEY, AND WITHOUT MONEY YOU CAN NOT PAY EMPLOYEES!



Geez, guys. Do your research.



They also have their office address listed online, for people to visit. I should go visit it today as it's in the same city that I reside in.



Edit: Put their address in on my GPS and I'm currently 5 miles away from their office. Geez. I should seek a method of transport. xD BTC: 1recatirpHBjR9sxgabB3RDtM6TgntYUW

Hold onto what you love with all your might, Because you can never know when - Oh. What you love is now gone.

Bitcoin Scammer



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Sr. MemberActivity: 266Merit: 250 Re: Bitspend August 01, 2013, 10:56:33 PM #8 Take it easy, you're the first person to respond back to this thread. I think it's great you did step up and would like to put your situation on bitcoinscammers.com. All views are welcome! http://BITCOINSCAMMERS.com DON'T GET SCAMMED, CHECK FIRST = Bitcoinscammers.com

ReCat



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Sr. MemberActivity: 406Merit: 250 Re: Bitspend August 02, 2013, 06:15:50 PM #9



So everyone knows. BitSpend has publicized their office addresses since the start. If anyone would like to visit the offices, here it is.



Quote Bitspend LLC

750 East Sample Road

Building 3 - Suite 229

Pompano Beach, FL 33064

Furthermore, if you were a customer, You likely have a house address of one of the employees, as some purchases required home addresses for the billing address. I also have one of their home addresses on the packaging slip of one of my purchases with them. Like this one, of a GPU I bought.







I will not publicize their home address, but if you were a customer you can check your packaging slips if you purchased from Amazon to confirm legitimacy.



It just seems unlikely to me that a scammer would make themselves so vulnerable and be so open.



Cheers. Hey guys. Some more information.So everyone knows. BitSpend has publicized their office addresses since the start. If anyone would like to visit the offices, here it is.Furthermore, if you were a customer, You likely have a house address of one of the employees, as some purchases required home addresses for the billing address. I also have one of their home addresses on the packaging slip of one of my purchases with them. Like this one, of a GPU I bought.I will not publicize their home address, but if you were a customer you can check your packaging slips if you purchased from Amazon to confirm legitimacy.It just seems unlikely to me that a scammer would make themselves so vulnerable and be so open.Cheers. BTC: 1recatirpHBjR9sxgabB3RDtM6TgntYUW

Hold onto what you love with all your might, Because you can never know when - Oh. What you love is now gone.

bomboclat77



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Full MemberActivity: 150Merit: 100 Re: Bitspend August 09, 2013, 12:25:43 AM #11 So i guess there is nothing to do to get our money back? looks like I will be seeing mr. Justin Whelchel in court. Bitcoin-otc feedback

facings



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MemberActivity: 96Merit: 10 Re: Bitspend August 10, 2013, 03:57:09 PM #17 Bitspend Also scammed me $800+ Donations: 1BzhiEys7xTga9C2Ut1gnd64EZetea2Vwy

Eric J Whelchel Scammer still owes:

Order Date Amount (BTC) Amount (USD) TX Details Username

27 May 2013 5.91462571 BTC /u/skysdalimit420

27 May 2013 1.10185902 BTC /u/skysdalimit420

11 June 2013 9.12815979 BTC /u/useful_idiot

15 June 2013 8.35516248 BTC /u/Facings ME

17 June 2013 2.65727237 BTC /u/mikey67156

17 June 2013 0.36119484 BTC /u/mikey67156

18 June 2013 0.23425049 BTC /u/pixelbits

19 June 2013 0.98 BTC /u/Ragerino

19 June 2013 1.75318265 BTC /u/SirPinkBatman

ReCat



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Sr. MemberActivity: 406Merit: 250 Re: Bitspend August 11, 2013, 02:28:18 AM #18 It is likely that many BitSpend employees have had all or many of their services disconnected due to their lack of money, of course due to their banks ceasing all of their funds.



It is also possible that BitSpend employees have been arrested for "money laundering" charges for appearing as a currency conversion service to the authorities, in a similar situation to what happened with MtGox initially. Although I consider this less likely.



What I think is least likely is that BitSpend employees have run off with the BTC that their website got from payments to orders that have been placed around or after their bank accounts were seized, although it is unfortunately possible.



However do consider the situation. Do consider that it's possible that BitSpend has not provided updates simply because they have been unable to.



Consequently, I expect that they will be active again and will be refunding everyone's money within the next 30-60 days. However, I can not be sure. If they have been arrested for frivolous money laundering charges, it may take much longer, as their equipment may have been ceased as well(?).



It is also possible that I can go visit this address that was on my packaging slip, which I expect is an address of an employee, and casually ask questions, to potentially get this mystery resolved, in the coming week. As I think my rebate card may have been accidentally mailed there, anyways. (This was my mistake, not their doing) If I can go, I will attempt to take some video or something to settle the case.



Cheers.



~Re BTC: 1recatirpHBjR9sxgabB3RDtM6TgntYUW

Hold onto what you love with all your might, Because you can never know when - Oh. What you love is now gone.

facings



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MemberActivity: 96Merit: 10 Re: Bitspend August 12, 2013, 03:13:09 AM #19 Quote from: ReCat on August 11, 2013, 02:28:18 AM It is likely that many BitSpend employees have had all or many of their services disconnected due to their lack of money, of course due to their banks ceasing all of their funds.



It is also possible that BitSpend employees have been arrested for "money laundering" charges for appearing as a currency conversion service to the authorities, in a similar situation to what happened with MtGox initially. Although I consider this less likely.



What I think is least likely is that BitSpend employees have run off with the BTC that their website got from payments to orders that have been placed around or after their bank accounts were seized, although it is unfortunately possible.



However do consider the situation. Do consider that it's possible that BitSpend has not provided updates simply because they have been unable to.



Consequently, I expect that they will be active again and will be refunding everyone's money within the next 30-60 days. However, I can not be sure. If they have been arrested for frivolous money laundering charges, it may take much longer, as their equipment may have been ceased as well(?).



It is also possible that I can go visit this address that was on my packaging slip, which I expect is an address of an employee, and casually ask questions, to potentially get this mystery resolved, in the coming week. As I think my rebate card may have been accidentally mailed there, anyways. (This was my mistake, not their doing) If I can go, I will attempt to take some video or something to settle the case.



Cheers.



~Re

Please do if possible. Please do if possible. Donations: 1BzhiEys7xTga9C2Ut1gnd64EZetea2Vwy

Eric J Whelchel Scammer still owes:

Order Date Amount (BTC) Amount (USD) TX Details Username

27 May 2013 5.91462571 BTC /u/skysdalimit420

27 May 2013 1.10185902 BTC /u/skysdalimit420

11 June 2013 9.12815979 BTC /u/useful_idiot

15 June 2013 8.35516248 BTC /u/Facings ME

17 June 2013 2.65727237 BTC /u/mikey67156

17 June 2013 0.36119484 BTC /u/mikey67156

18 June 2013 0.23425049 BTC /u/pixelbits

19 June 2013 0.98 BTC /u/Ragerino

19 June 2013 1.75318265 BTC /u/SirPinkBatman