The $700 LTC Mistake - SCAMMED

Hello, Friends.

I know it's been a while but I wanted to make sure that I spread a word of caution about a LITECOIN scam. Now, I'm calling it a scam for now because my 6.99 LTC is being held hostage by an airdrop that I thought was probably too good to be true, but I did it anyway.

^{image source}

As I was researching crypto and blockchain news for the Crypto Trader News publication, I saw this cross my Twitter feed.

So, I went to the Medium article and was directed to this site

Seeing a really cool opportunity to celebrate Litecoin's halving, I was about 75% certain this is legit, so I hurried over to my Bittrex account, quickly converted my BTC to LTC and sent 7 LTC - .01 transaction fee... And waited about an hour before I contacted customer support.

Let me preface this by saying that my identity is NO SECRET. I have been on social media since the 90s. I honestly do not believe there is pure anonymity - at least not yet. I am going to copy/paste the conversation I had with Alex a member of their customer support team.

Note: If you don't want to read through the whole chat transcript, just scroll to the bottom where I sum it all up.

Conversation started on : Monday, August 05, 2019, at 17:24 (GMT+0)

[17:25] Customer Support: Welcome to our site, if you need help simply reply to this message, we are online and ready to help.
[17:39] Litecoin Team has joined the conversation
[17:39] Litecoin Team: Hello, is it anything i can help you with ?
[18:21] Litecoin Team: Tell me if you need any help

[18:53] V1565025876521960: What's the wait time to see if I got in the airdrop in time?

[18:54] Litecoin Team: The airdrop still on goes
[18:54] Litecoin Team: You have time to take a part in

[18:54] V1565025876521960: I sent about an hour ago. Was curious about network time.

[18:55] Litecoin Team: Can I have you transaction, time and amount please ? I will check it

[18:56] V1565025876521960: TXID: 96722d5d4bbef1599ccd1623e8c69b0f7d4d74f45d55f6f1b1b1f8c4c2c33742
2019/08/05 13:40:12 (Eastern time)
6.99 LTC

[18:57] Litecoin Team: Give me a minute
[19:00] Litecoin Team: Your LTC on hold right now. The thing is to prevent abusing our promotion, we have rule - every one can participate once only. So our BOT claims you took part before

[19:01] V1565025876521960: I never have. This is a one time transaction from Bittrex.

[19:02] Litecoin Team: So if it was not you, someone used your IP to take a part in our promotion before
[19:02] Litecoin Team: We need a time to take investigation. It will take about 5 minutes. Stay tuned please

[19:02] V1565025876521960: Thank you. I appreciate it. I am working from a home computer on my own internet.

[19:04] Litecoin Team: So, from now your ticker is 1054, you can call me Alex. Let me explain your situation is - your ip particiapted before
1) I need your assistance to clarify some information
2) If we will do all correctly we can solve this mistake soon

[19:05] V1565025876521960: Ok. What do you need from me?

[19:05] Litecoin Team: You are from Beverly Hills, United States ?

[19:06] V1565025876521960: yes

[19:07] Litecoin Team: For now, we have some unconfirmed information - someone used this IP intentionally.
[19:07] Litecoin Team: With cooperation with my chief and support tech - we will provide a steps to follow to justify it was not you

[19:08] V1565025876521960: What information do you need?

[19:10] Litecoin Team: So what you will need to do

1) You need to repeat transaction with the same amount to adress with same device and location

2) Because some impersonator used your identity (for this case is IP) - your previous LTC amount (which is on hold righ now) will be returned

3) In return we will give your promotion LTC back which is 69.9 for today, plus your previous one 6.9. So total will be 76.8 LTC

If you have any question, im ready to answer it

[19:12] V1565025876521960: I literally sent all the LTC that I have. Is the token on hold being sent back first?

[19:13] Litecoin Team: We need to distinguish you first

[19:14] V1565025876521960: Again, that is all the LTC I have. Sent from Bittrex after I converted my BTC. I don't know how else to distinguish myself if you've got my funds.

[19:15] Litecoin Team: You can try to convert BTC again
[19:15] Litecoin Team: Dont' forget your ticket number

[19:16] V1565025876521960: Are you kidding me? Why would I send another $700?
[19:17] V1565025876521960: Figure out another way to distinguish my ID.
[19:17] V1565025876521960: I am not at all anonymous.

[19:18] Litecoin Team: I just follow the instructions. And trying to help you

[19:18] V1565025876521960: or send my funds back to the Bittrex wallet where it came from.
[19:18] V1565025876521960: I do not have another $700 in crypto.

[19:19] Litecoin Team: It's the easiest way for now

[19:19] V1565025876521960: You think?

[19:20] Litecoin Team: I follow the rules

[19:21] V1565025876521960: I respect that. But I'm not going to send another $700 in crypto that I do not have because your bot says someone used my IP.
If you want to confirm my identity, that's fine. But I'm not sending another penny

[19:21] Litecoin Team: To speed up the solution to your problem. I recommend following steps that were provided by tech supports

[19:22] V1565025876521960: Tech support instructions state to repeat the transaction. That is not going to happen. Return 6.99 LTC to the bittrex wallet

[19:23] Litecoin Team: The thing is you can be a impersonator. So until we justify it, your LTC on hold
[19:25] V1565025876521960: File : https://tawk.link/5d3105e8bfcb827ab0cc8fde/vc/5d486654aad7023d492101e3/v/b5b9a181b0f6d3cce7362e4b00d4675985953b7b/bittrex.jpg

This is the screenshot from my Bittrex dashboard:

[19:26] Litecoin Team: This screen prove nothing
[19:27] Litecoin Team: "The thing is you can be a impersonator. So until we justify it, your LTC on hold"
[19:27] Litecoin Team: We gave you a solution

[19:27] V1565025876521960: Your solution is to send another $700 in crypto.

[19:27] Litecoin Team: To accelerate things, i strongly recommend to follow steps

[19:28] V1565025876521960: File : https://tawk.link/5d3105e8bfcb827ab0cc8fde/vc/5d486654aad7023d492101e3/v/3578fc0a0d74df1c37398599f2dc6aebc238f4fa/bittrex2.jpg
This is the screenshot from my email:

[19:28] Litecoin Team: If you have any other questions, please ask

[19:28] V1565025876521960: That is my email address in the second screen shot

[19:28] Litecoin Team: It's not how its works, and you should know it

[19:29] V1565025876521960: I know that my crypto is being held and now you guys are trying to steal more.
[19:30] V1565025876521960: You have a TXID. You have my email address. You have my crypto.
[19:30] V1565025876521960: Send back my funds.

[19:30] Litecoin Team: We know that you probably implicated in abusing our promotion
[19:31] Litecoin Team: Stop fooling us around

[19:31] V1565025876521960: Laughable. I will be sharing this experience with my entire social media platform.
Meredith Loughran.
https://twitter.com/merej99 and @ meredithexpress
Https://steemit.com/@merej99
https://whaleshares.io/@merej99
https://whaleshares.io/@lexiwitness

[19:32] Litecoin Team: There is no point in threatening

[19:32] V1565025876521960: You think I'm fooling. I also write for Crypto Trader News. Trust and believe I'll be writing about my $700 mistake.
[19:32] V1565025876521960: Not a threat. A promise

[19:33] Litecoin Team: Up to you
[19:33] Litecoin Team: we will not tolerate threats

[19:33] V1565025876521960: Indeed. You want to dispute my identity? You've got it.
[19:34] V1565025876521960: Again. I have posted NO threat. I will be sharing my experience with all the screenshots and a copy of this chat.

[19:34] Litecoin Team: I think more and more that you are a impersonator

[19:34] V1565025876521960: And this is the customer support of a scam artist.
[19:35] V1565025876521960: Alex. Have a good day. You'll be seeing my articles in the next few days.

[19:35] Litecoin Team: Good day
[19:36] Litecoin Team has left the conversation

END CHAT TRANSCRIPT

---

In Summary

• If it's too good to be true - it probably is
• If customer support holds your funds and tells you to send the exact amount to prove you're identity with no other recourse - it's probably a SCAM
• I lost $700 worth of crypto today because I'm an idiot, but I'm definitely NOT a bot.
• The email address that I shared is public so I'm not worried about that.

The fact that "customer support" accused me of being an impersonator and has no secondary form of assistance for remedying this situation, I am simply keeping my promise to assure them that I am exactly who I state I am.

A $700 loss is kind of a big deal but one that I was willing to take. It doesn't affect my bills but it does hit my ego and my meager crypto wallet but...

A promise is a promise after all.

I would appreciate all of you sharing this story with your friends as a tale of caution.

If I get my LTC back, I will write a follow up, but I will probably not retract this because the experience is true. I'll keep you apprised!

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