January 18, 2021 | AtoZ Markets – The representatives of the Livecoin cryptocurrency exchange, which was hacked at the end of December 2020, announced their decision on January 16 to shut down and pay off the remaining funds.
Please read update on https://t.co/sqj62mmC3H
— livecoin (@livecoin_net) January 16, 2021
“Our service suffered significant technical and financial damage. It is not possible to restore work,” it was reported.
Multibank ReviewT&Cs apply, 18+eToro Review74% of retail investor accounts lose moneyCapital.com Review76% of retail CFD accounts lose money
According to the announcement, the Russian exchange is still investigating the incident and searching for the hackers.
How Livecoin Customers Can Receive a Refund?
To receive a refund, customers are asked to send their login and registration date on the exchange to verification@livecoin.news. After that, they will be sent further instructions for passing the verification.
"Applications are accepted only from the email address to which you have registered an account in our service, and only in English and Russian."
The collection of applications for payments will take place until March 17, 2021. No new applications will be accepted after this date.
“We offer our deepest apologies for the current situation, and we ask you to remain calm when communicating with our employees, as our service suffered serious financial losses due to the fault of cybercriminals, as did our clients. In case of threats and insults of the support staff, the application may be rejected,” added Livecoin.
Exchange representatives also warned about fake groups in various messengers and services that, under the guise of Livecoin or hackers, may try to deceive users. They stressed that official information is published only on the livecoin.news website.
“Do not send money to anyone under any pretext. You do not need to pay anything to receive a refund from us, you only need to apply and follow the instructions received. "
Users on Twitter were wary of this message and suggest that exchange clients do not rush to send personal data:
TO EVERYONE, THINK 10 TIMES BEFORE SENDING ANY DOCUMENT TO THESE UNKNOWN PEOPLE, THIS ACCOUNT IS STILL REGISTERED UNDER THE HACKED DOMAIN, THEY WILL SELL YOUR IDENTITY, OR DO WORSE THINGS.
— jiegen (@jiegen) January 17, 2021
“Think ten times before sending documents to these unknown persons. The exchange's Twitter account is registered on the hacked domain. They can sell your personal information or worse."
Users also reported that the email address specified in the Livecoin message is not available.
What Documents Are Required For a Refund?
Some users of the exchange have already sent requests for a refund. In response, the following documents were demanded from them:
- data on the first deposit;
- scanned passport with registration;
- scanned document with the address of the place of residence;
- a selfie with a passport and a sheet of paper on which the date of registration on the exchange is written;
- the model of the device most often used to enter the exchange;
- source of funds;
- a video file in which to demonstrate the transaction ID of the first deposit, show your face and passport, as well as pronounce your name, date and verbally confirm the legality of the origin of funds.
About Livecoin Exchange Hack
For their part, the clients of the exchange demand from the administration an official video message with coverage of the chronology and reasons for the hacking, explanations of the reasons for the termination of the platform's legal registration, and data on trading volumes.
Livecoin has been operating since April 2015. According to available information, until 2018, the exchange was registered to DELTA E-COMMERCE LTD. Said Yusipov was listed as the director of the company in the register of companies in Great Britain.
However, the owners of Livecoin are unknown. The names of the executive director of the company - Svetlana Geller and the CEO - Ivona Zlatova are flashing on the Internet. There are no details about these people, perhaps they are fictional.
Recall that on December 24, the price of one bitcoin on the Livecoin exchange jumped to several hundred thousand dollars, and the withdrawal of funds from the platform became unavailable.
At the same time, director Svetlana Geller deleted her Telegram account. Users assumed that the founders of the platform performed an exit scam.
Read also: Bitisis Crypto Exchange Shuts Down Amid Exit Scam Claims
Unidentified hackers stole 106 BTC, 380 ETH, 236 BCH, 567,012 XRP, 66.8 million DOGE, as well as unnamed amounts in ERC-20 and USDT tokens. All funds stolen from Ethereum were transferred by hackers to the DAI stablecoin through the Uniswap contract.
All of the stolen XRP coins ended up on the hacked KuCoin exchange.
What do you think about Livecoin shutting down? Let us know in the comments section below.