There’s good news for those ripped off by scam Australian Bitcoin exchange igot Pty. Ltd., with reports that an Australian State Government agency has been able to obtain refunds for victims by threatening to sue the company.

igot came to our attention back in August 2015 when many users reported they were unable to withdraw funds from the exchange, with allegations of problems with the company going back to the beginning of the year.

In an exclusive SiliconANGLE investigation we traced the roots of the company, through a series of dodgy virtual offices throughout the world, to India with a company by the name of I Got Tech Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

News of a refund comes by way of a Reddit post, where an igot victim by the username of rhyno116 explains that he eventually had success in having his money returned with the assistance of the South Australian Department of Consumer & Business Affairs:

Hi guys, after 9 months I finally got a refund from Igot. Although the value of Bitcoin (4.5BTC) was now worth double than what I originally paid, I was still happy with a refund for $1400 which is what I paid at the time. ACCC – no luck

ACORN – no luck

ASIC – no luck

South Australia Police – no luck

South Australian Consumer Affairs – BINGO!!!! www.cbs.sa.gov.au/

I had to do a lot of explaining to them about what Bitcoin actually was and they hadn’t heard of Igot before (which is surprising). Anyway a few weeks later and I had my money back. If Igot didn’t at least reply to their requests, the directors would be taken to court by CBSSA. Very serious proper legal threats the lady I dealt with told me.

Rick Day that prick told them that Ryan (myself) failed to read their terms and conditions (what a lying prick), but he was going to refund my money to avoid legal trouble. That’s when I knew I finally had this prick.

A commenter on the Reddit post also notes that he had a similar response from Victoria Consumer Affairs as well.

What to do if you are a victim

While rhyno116 recommends contacting the South Australian authorities (read his full post to see what you need to say) Australian residents have to contact the appropriate consumer affairs/ fair trading office in their respective state.

The fact that the South Australian authorities have this case on file now, and are willing to pursue legal action, not only helps victims in South Australia but across Australia as each State’s authority is able to contact the South Australians to obtain further information.

Contact details for each State’s Department are as follow:

• ACT Office of Fair Trading (OFT)
• NSW Fair Trading
• NT Consumer Affairs
• Office of Fair Trading Queensland
• SA Office of Consumer and Business Services (CBS)
• Tasmanian Consumer Affairs & Fair Trading
• Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV)
• WA Department of Commerce

If you’re outside of Australia you can try contacting the South Australian authorities, but it’s not clear if they will assist you or not.

Image: igot/ screenshot