The risk of over-the-counter transactions exists objectively. Try to conduct virtual currency transactions within the scope of compliance and reasonableness.
Written by: Wei Fuhai, senior lawyer of Shanghai Mankiw Law Firm
Buying and selling virtual currency, if the transaction is successful, you are worried that you are the subject of the crime, and if the transaction fails, you are worried that you are the object of the crime.
Recently, some virtual currency players have consulted us , and they need to buy a little Tether (USDT) for use due to reasons that are not convenient to disclose. I found a currency dealer through an intermediary, and had a good chat about the unit price of the virtual currency, the quantity of transactions, and the transaction method. As a result, I just transferred 200,000 RMB at 10:00 p.m., and the other party lost contact immediately. Neither turned around. As a result, this friend did not sleep well all night.
Don’t go to the police, 200,000 is still money anyway; go to the police, how should the police explain this? Will the police uncle arrest himself too? He was very distressed and came to consult us.
Similar situations are very common in the process of buying and selling virtual currencies. After all, there is still some difference between the online world and the real world. It is impossible to carry out face-to-face payment and delivery. It depends on a few words in the online world to judge whether the other party is a reliable person or not. Ever since, it is easy to appear in the transaction that after the customer pays the other party, the other party disappears.
Before I talk about how to do it, I want to say that some people are indeed more courageous than ordinary people. Virtual currency exists in China like a Schrödinger's cat, and in addition, it is a communication tool represented by Twitter and Telegram. Liars are rampant here, and there are really people who have the guts to conduct over-the-counter transactions.
So having said that, it’s really not good, what should I do when I encounter this kind of thing?
Can I go to court?
Going to the court to file a lawsuit is also a civil lawsuit. First of all, we don’t know the real identity information of the person with whom we trade with us, and we don’t know whether the other party is currently in China or abroad. Therefore, this involves how to determine an accurate defendant and whether the application of the law applies to Chinese law or foreign law.
Therefore, there are still certain problems in filing a civil lawsuit, but even if these problems exist, it does not mean that the purchase of virtual currency cannot protect one's own rights and interests through civil litigation.
Can I file a criminal report?
In fact, in addition to the way of civil litigation, we can also protect our rights and interests through criminal reporting. For the case of being defrauded of buying virtual currency, what are the benefits of reporting through a criminal case?
First of all, although the national public power conducts criminal investigation, it is much more convenient for us to try to find the identity information of the defendant; and some evidence and related criminal facts are definitely much clearer than if we investigate it ourselves; and the power to investigate criminal cases The power of public prosecution is exercised by the public security organs, and the power of prosecution is exercised by the courts. See, criminal cases, as long as we report the case and the public security organs file the case, we don’t have to worry about the rest of the matter. The state will handle things for you. Yes, it saves us a lot of worry.
But now there is a real problem. Since the central bank issued a notice denying the currency attribute of virtual currency, some judicial agencies have gone to an extreme , even denying the virtual property attribute of virtual currency. Conviction and punishment for the crime of destroying computer information systems.
As far as I am concerned, this is a judgment that is extremely inconsistent with the spirit of legislation and legal principles. For this reason, I have previously written an article "Stealing other people's bitcoins is not considered stealing?" " There has been a discussion on this issue, and interested friends can read it.
Having said that, after the public security organ files a case and arrests the criminal suspect, no matter whether the final verdict is reasonable or not, and whether there is compensation for the victim’s loss in the judgment, at least we, as the victim, let out our breath and let the people who lied to us pay for the loss of freedom. The price, after all, life is precious, and the price of love is even higher. If it is for freedom, both can be thrown away.
The correct posture for reporting
So let’s get back to the topic, since I encourage the defrauded parties to report to the public security organs to protect their own rights and interests, how do they report the case? Take a look at an article I wrote before. I once wrote an article in detail "How to file a criminal complaint for being defrauded from Internet investment?" " , to teach the victims how to report the crime and protect their legitimate rights and interests.
To put it simply, don’t just go to petition. Before reporting the case, you must write the report and prepare the evidence materials to be used in the report, so that the public security organ that accepts the report has no reason not to issue a report receipt and corresponding legal documents. . Although this article is about being defrauded by online investment, after the crime is ruled out, the reporting process is still the same.
lawyer advice
Finally, the risk of over-the-counter trading exists objectively. Whether it is being cheated, or receiving black Usdt or dirty funds and being frozen, we are unwilling to face it. Conduct virtual currency transactions within a reasonable range (although this sentence is nonsense in the eyes of some people, I still have to say it).
