Consumer complaint received 2021-12-23
Company: Payward Ventures Inc. dba Kraken
State: FL
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Virtual currency
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
I wanted to write about Kraken 's business practices that need to be looked at by anyone that issues a license for Kraken to operate its business. This is the first time that this has ever happened to me, in an type of business interaction.

Kraken was recommended as a trusted place to purchase crypto, but I have come to find out this is not the case.

The first thing that I did was follow the procedures for setting up an account. This included the procedures for being verified. Everything indicated I was properly verified, and I followed Kraken 's procedures to fund the account. After a few days it showed the money was in the account, but on hold. It was only after I initiated a chat inquiry, was it determined the account needed a manual review for some reason. Even though I was already verified, according to Kraken 's system.

Eventually I got a reply that I needed to send in a selfie with Another picture of my ID along with a very detailed note that had all kinds of verification information, including the date and my signature. I submitted the selfie and they told me the positioning of how I was holding the note was wrong. I submitted a new pic, and Kraken told me the clarity was not good. Let 's take note that this is the Third time I have submitted my ID. According to Kraken 's system, it was accepted after the First time. Now I am submitting the picture with my ID for the Fourth time, and now with an updated detailed note again. I even took their suggestion and enlisted someone's help to take the picture so it could have the best positioning and clarity.

The next time I hear from Kraken, they told me they are shutting down my account, refunding my money, and I should delete the email they sent for security purposes. Oh yes, and Kraken told me they could not tell me why the account was shutdown and don't ever try to start an account with them ever again. This is pretty alarming. What could I have possibly done wrong between the time Kraken verified me and the time I transferred money into the account? There is no true recourse for this, and when I called the customer service line, they could not or would not give me any clarity on this.

This is not how a credible business treats its customers. Much less a business that is responsible for the assets of so many people. Kraken should not be trusted to do this, if this is how they arbitrarily treat customers who went above and beyond to follow their process to become verified. It's also worthy to note, only after I initiated contact with customer service was this additional review process started. According to their system I was a verified customer, which proved to be false.

Kraken should not be allowed to continue to do this. Consumers have rights too. A business transaction is not a one way street, unless you are dealing with Kraken. As troubling as this has been for me, this is got an uncommon occurrence. If you search online, these random and abrupt account closures are being done by Kraken with too much regularity and with no accountability on their part.

Company public response: Company believes the complaint provided an opportunity to answer consumer's questions
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation