Skrill / MoneyBookers Goes Bust – Get Your Money Out if You Still Can!

Skrill, formerly known as MoneyBookers, is going bust according to latest reports.

Over the past several months they’ve started randomly freezing, suspending and closing accounts, as well as applying random credit card charges. Multiple cases were reported. Their support is almost non existent, getting a reply is very rare.

Recently I also had my account suspended, along with a balance of about $1K, which I’ve been using for many years. They haven’t responded to the tickets and didn’t provide any explanation to the cause of that suspension. Calling them also gets you nowhere as you are put on hold, and transferred around a few times and then eventually disconnected.

Typically accounts are suspended at first and you receive a message like this:

We would like to inform you that your account is temporarily suspended for payments following a routine security audit. 

In order to lift the restrictions imposed on your account, we need to confirm your identity and address. To allow this, please provide the following documents:

–    A full colour copy of a valid, official identification document; such as your international passport, national identity card or drivers licence (front and back). This is required in order for us to verify your identity.

–    A copy of a paper utility bill (Gas Bill/Electricity Bill) or bank statement issued in the last three months clearly displaying your name and address that has been received at the registered postal address detailed on your Skrill  account. This is required in order for us to verify your address.

The required documents/information should be sent via email to security@skrill.com.

Please accept our apologies for any possible inconvenience, however Skrill  must adhere to strict security standards which are there to protect your account privacy. Please be aware that your account will remain frozen until you comply with this request.

We thank you in advance for your cooperation in this matter.

Kind regards,

Skrill  Security

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Keep yourself safe.

Please note that Skrill and its representatives will never ask you to reveal your password by phone or by email. Please also ensure that you only enter your username and password on the genuine Skrill website at www.skrill.com. If you see anything suspicious please contact our Skrill Help Team.

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Skrill Ltd., London, Registered in England and Wales no 4260907.

Registered office: Floor 27, 25 Canada Square, London, E14 5LB, United Kingdom.

Authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 for the issuing of electronic money.

 

However I used my skrill account very little and mostly just for hosting accounts or affiliate payments, so there definitely can not be anything suspicious. While the request itself is quite outrageous, even after sending them the required documents accounts are rarely reinstated. They either do not reply, or ask for multiple additional verification to the point that it’s very dangerous to accommodate, as it can easily be used by them for malicious purposes .

Even their facebook page is filled with complains, which are met by an automated reply: “Sorry to hear that you have a problem. We cannot deal with individual issues on this page”  and a suggestion to open a ticket. The recent reviews speak for themselves:

• After several years of using skrill.com without any problems, suddenly skrill.com have locked my account without reasonable cause. I use Skrill to pay for web hosting services…. My case (#00711142) and (#00757970) still not resolved.Remember stormpay.com ? They also use the same tactic. A few months later, stormpay was declared bankrupt.
• They sent me a cheque that was supposed to take 10 days and it arrived in 6 weeks. .. a few weeks later I get a letter from my bank saying they closed their account (where the funds come from) I got the cheque returned, a $58.00 euro charge from overseas, a $30 Aus Dollar charge from my bank and now owe $285.00 🙁 I HAVE EMAILED SKRILL 3 TIMES IN ABOUT A MONTH WITH NO RESPONSE – DO NOT NOT NOT USE THIS RIP OFF MERCHANT COMPANY!!!!!!
• their customer service is extremely awful. I created a 2-3 tickets 2 months ago and was told to expect a reply within 2 business days. It’s been 2 months and no reply.

Many additional complaints are available on ScamBook concerning random charges and high fees with no permissions from clients:

• Received alert from my bank that a suspicious transaction had been made with my debit card. When I checked it out sure enough, I had a charge of 229.00 that was made to MoneyBookers out of London. Not sure how they received my info 🙁
• they stole $177.00 from my credit card on 11/18 and 11/19/2013.i had to cancel my card.charges came from moneybookers london england. they did not or would not leave their phone # with the card company.
• $70 charged to my debit card this morning. I’ve never heard of this company. The charge is still pending. I had to cancel my card and my bank is investigating.
• Random charges showed up on my card. 2 charges for $26.95. Bank of America called me to alert me that possible fraud charges happened and they plan to completely reimburse me on Monday when the charges process.

Thousands of additional complaints and unresolved issues are available below:

• Around 100 complaints on ScamBook – ScamBook tried to help resolve these on behalf of their members however couldn’t reach Skrill as their London numbers were disconnected or no one replied.
• At least 80 reviews on TrustPilot with almost all of them being 1 our of 10 – the lowest possible rating on the site, most complaining about charges, account suspensions and lack of support and inability to recover any funds.
• Over 200 reviews on ReviewCentre with bottom ratings of 1.4 out of 5 average and similar complaints.
• The lowest possible F rating on BBB with dozens of complaints.
• Hundreds of complaints on their facebook page, which are replied to with a regular “we can’t deal with individual issues on the page” and still no response to tickets.
• More on: Yelp, SiteJabber, WebHostingForum, TalkGold, FB,

 

If you have an active skrill account with a significant balance, and can still withdraw money from it – do it as soon as possible! Also be sure to remove your credit card or bank access from skrill and watch out for any suspicious charges from the company, which can usually go from either MoneyBookers or Skrill based out of London.