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Hey there, another venezuelan here. if you want to help this person PLEASE dont send any money without asking for verification first, I have seen so many peopl

Hey there, another venezuelan here. if you want to help this person PLEASE dont send any money without asking for verification first, I have seen so many people lately using this "please help me im venezuelan and i am in need" to scam money, there has been at least 5 sucessfull scams on r/btc, r/bitcoin and other online forums. Also Please note that: 1- it's harder to change BTC for VEF than change USD for VEF 2- this domain it's registered at godaddys servers, meaning that what the OP claims here: "Venezuelans cannot accept USD without a bank account. You can use paypal but its hard to exchange from paypal USD to the venezuelan currency (Bolivares)" is half incorrect and does not really applies to him, he had to use either paypal or an international debit/credit card to pay for this domain.

thepumpkin1979 8y ago
op is not the Venezuelan behind the service, explained here[0]. [0]https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17512031 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17512031
- firekvz 8y ago
  that makes it even more suspicious. The venezuelan in question, could just use any other freelancing site or a service like fiverr just like any other venezuelan or person from another country. There is countless way to get paid even if you are Venezuelan living in venezuela, you can normally have a paypal account and use tons of others services like neteller, paxum, payoneer, etc, etc. I am just warning everyone to be carefull if they feel the need to help the person behind this site in a different way, the site looks like a really smart idea but please be sure that its legit :)
  - thepumpkin1979 8y ago
    It seems like you know your away around getting paid in the country, any chance you can get in touch and explain it to them? I wish I could, I'm also Venezuelan but I left in 2010 so I have no idea.
    - firekvz 8y ago
      Having a paypal account with an Venezuelan adress allows you to receive payments and to spend the USD of those payments within the paypal network (any site that takes paypal payments). You can also have other services like payoneer, paxum, skrill, neterller, etc... Plus, as you should know since you are expat, around 20% of the population has left the country so everyone knows or have a close family/friend who is living outside who can perfectly handle payments for a person in need to receive payments.
  - EnderWT 8y ago
    http://whois.domaintools.com/cointotranslate.com http://whois.domaintools.com/cointotranslate.com is showing: Registrant State/Province: Florida Registrant Country: US Registered today with GoDaddy. If you inspect the source, you'll see javascript from www.unbounce.com, which charges a minimum $79/month for marketing. Minimum daily wage in Venezuela is $0.26/day according to https://panampost.com/sabrina-martin/2018/01/04/new-monthly-minimum-wage-in-venezuela-barely-enough-to-buy-daily-cup-of-coffee https://panampost.com/sabrina-martin/2018/01/04/new-monthly-...
smallnamespace 8y ago
To add to this to this point: 1. USD is the de facto world currency, and many (most?) banks in the world let you open an account in the local currency, plus another account denominated in USD which is absolutely necessary for doing any sort of international business 2. Venezuela's currency collapse is a problem mainly because it needs to import goods (medicine, machine tools, etc.) from the international market, which must be paid in USD, and which Venezuela now can barely source because their oil industry (main source of foreign earnings) is falling apart [1] 3. In most cases, USD is superior (more liquid, more easy to transact in, a more stable store of value) to any cryptocurrency. View 'I'm Venezuela ergo crypto' claims with skepticism, especially when they could be paid in USD to a foreign account instead. Not sure what the exact situation on the ground is in Venezuela, maybe it's very hard to receive USD because the government will seize it, but that's the a situation a foreign bank account can solve. OTOH, if the goal is to use BTC to pay for living expenses by converting to bolivars, it's probably even easier to use USD. [1] https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/13803 https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/13803
- datalist 8y ago
  Slow down, "de facto world currency" and "most banks" is somewhat exaggerated. The dollar is still a very strong currency and in many areas the leader, but it is still not the world currency. Equally, banks do offer sometimes accounts denominated in USD but this applies mostly to larger banks, is typically a special kind of package, and is a classic foreign currency account you can open for GBP, EUR, SGD, and many other currencies too.
  - jjeaff 8y ago
    It is most definitely the most used currency for international trade worldwide. It also makes up 64% of all known central bank's foreign currency reserves. If we were to declare a world currency, it would most definitely be USD. Hence why the poster used the term "defacto" I suppose.
    - datalist 8y ago
      Hence I wrote "strong" and "leader in many areas". "World currency" implies more than a dominant use in international transactions though. My overall point is the statement as-is (currency and banks) is somewhat exaggerated.
1996 8y ago
I wont help, as in give money against nothing, but if I have things to translate I will consider their services. And if their prices are competitive, I have no problem giving them my business. Commerce is the best help system there is.
rorykoehler 8y ago
Can you not directly spend USD in Venezuela (like what happened in Zimbabwe before they switched officially)?
- whymauri 8y ago
  I mean, depends on what you mean by directly spend. You can definitely exchange USD for goods and services from individuals and small companies.
- firekvz 8y ago
  You actually can, there is some ways you can do it: 1. Sellers of "normal" stuff will take USD if you "deal" with them, for example if you need to buy a motherboard, most likely the seller will instantly say yes to an USD offer before getting paid in VEF because the money wont get devaluated in USD, if you check mercadolibre.com.ve (ebay equivalent in venezuela) you can see alot of people offering USD. 2. USD is used for properties such as cars, houses, land, etc. If you want to purchase/sell some of theses you pretty much have to pay/get paid in USD, not in VEF. Of course this is because devaluation is so big that if you sell something in VEF next day you can just lose 5% out of nowhere. 3. If you own a USD debit or credit card, you can use it within Venezuela payment networks, you just wont get the black market rate, you will get the dicom rate that is currently 119.850,00 VEF per 1 usd.. while the black market rate is around 3.200.000 VEF per 1 usd, so you definetely can, just that you wont get a good rate. And last, it takes some 10 minutes or less to deal exchange of VEF to USD at black market rates, you just need to have the most minimal social interaction, as everyone has friends, family, acquaintances, coworkers, etc who is changing this, it's just such a natural thing to do, dont let the name of "black market" make you think that is some shaddy thing that you need to do where you risk your life, its just some natural exchange of currency that most venezuelans know how to deal with.
  - whymauri 8y ago
    This is on point. If you need to change USD -> VEF or back you hit up a cousin on WhatsApp. I actually met someone recently who ran an informal alcohol delivery service back in ~2013-14 who offered discounts if you paid him in USD.
Grue3 8y ago
If he really does the job and the price is fair (I have no idea how much BTC or ETH is worth right now) then does it really matter if the person is Venezuelan or not?
julionav 8y ago
Venezuelan here. I have to disagree. Changing BTC to VEF is way easy than USD to VEF. I have to exchange my USD to BTC to be able to get VEF.

thepumpkin1979 8y ago

op is not the Venezuelan behind the service, explained here[0]. [0]https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17512031 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17512031

firekvz 8y ago
that makes it even more suspicious. The venezuelan in question, could just use any other freelancing site or a service like fiverr just like any other venezuelan or person from another country. There is countless way to get paid even if you are Venezuelan living in venezuela, you can normally have a paypal account and use tons of others services like neteller, paxum, payoneer, etc, etc. I am just warning everyone to be carefull if they feel the need to help the person behind this site in a different way, the site looks like a really smart idea but please be sure that its legit :)
- thepumpkin1979 8y ago
  It seems like you know your away around getting paid in the country, any chance you can get in touch and explain it to them? I wish I could, I'm also Venezuelan but I left in 2010 so I have no idea.
  - firekvz 8y ago
    Having a paypal account with an Venezuelan adress allows you to receive payments and to spend the USD of those payments within the paypal network (any site that takes paypal payments). You can also have other services like payoneer, paxum, skrill, neterller, etc... Plus, as you should know since you are expat, around 20% of the population has left the country so everyone knows or have a close family/friend who is living outside who can perfectly handle payments for a person in need to receive payments.
- EnderWT 8y ago
  http://whois.domaintools.com/cointotranslate.com http://whois.domaintools.com/cointotranslate.com is showing: Registrant State/Province: Florida Registrant Country: US Registered today with GoDaddy. If you inspect the source, you'll see javascript from www.unbounce.com, which charges a minimum $79/month for marketing. Minimum daily wage in Venezuela is $0.26/day according to https://panampost.com/sabrina-martin/2018/01/04/new-monthly-minimum-wage-in-venezuela-barely-enough-to-buy-daily-cup-of-coffee https://panampost.com/sabrina-martin/2018/01/04/new-monthly-...

smallnamespace 8y ago

To add to this to this point: 1. USD is the de facto world currency, and many (most?) banks in the world let you open an account in the local currency, plus another account denominated in USD which is absolutely necessary for doing any sort of international business 2. Venezuela's currency collapse is a problem mainly because it needs to import goods (medicine, machine tools, etc.) from the international market, which must be paid in USD, and which Venezuela now can barely source because their oil industry (main source of foreign earnings) is falling apart [1] 3. In most cases, USD is superior (more liquid, more easy to transact in, a more stable store of value) to any cryptocurrency. View 'I'm Venezuela ergo crypto' claims with skepticism, especially when they could be paid in USD to a foreign account instead. Not sure what the exact situation on the ground is in Venezuela, maybe it's very hard to receive USD because the government will seize it, but that's the a situation a foreign bank account can solve. OTOH, if the goal is to use BTC to pay for living expenses by converting to bolivars, it's probably even easier to use USD. [1] https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/13803 https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/13803

datalist 8y ago
Slow down, "de facto world currency" and "most banks" is somewhat exaggerated. The dollar is still a very strong currency and in many areas the leader, but it is still not the world currency. Equally, banks do offer sometimes accounts denominated in USD but this applies mostly to larger banks, is typically a special kind of package, and is a classic foreign currency account you can open for GBP, EUR, SGD, and many other currencies too.
- jjeaff 8y ago
  It is most definitely the most used currency for international trade worldwide. It also makes up 64% of all known central bank's foreign currency reserves. If we were to declare a world currency, it would most definitely be USD. Hence why the poster used the term "defacto" I suppose.
  - datalist 8y ago
    Hence I wrote "strong" and "leader in many areas". "World currency" implies more than a dominant use in international transactions though. My overall point is the statement as-is (currency and banks) is somewhat exaggerated.

1996 8y ago

I wont help, as in give money against nothing, but if I have things to translate I will consider their services. And if their prices are competitive, I have no problem giving them my business. Commerce is the best help system there is.

rorykoehler 8y ago

Can you not directly spend USD in Venezuela (like what happened in Zimbabwe before they switched officially)?

whymauri 8y ago
I mean, depends on what you mean by directly spend. You can definitely exchange USD for goods and services from individuals and small companies.
firekvz 8y ago
You actually can, there is some ways you can do it: 1. Sellers of "normal" stuff will take USD if you "deal" with them, for example if you need to buy a motherboard, most likely the seller will instantly say yes to an USD offer before getting paid in VEF because the money wont get devaluated in USD, if you check mercadolibre.com.ve (ebay equivalent in venezuela) you can see alot of people offering USD. 2. USD is used for properties such as cars, houses, land, etc. If you want to purchase/sell some of theses you pretty much have to pay/get paid in USD, not in VEF. Of course this is because devaluation is so big that if you sell something in VEF next day you can just lose 5% out of nowhere. 3. If you own a USD debit or credit card, you can use it within Venezuela payment networks, you just wont get the black market rate, you will get the dicom rate that is currently 119.850,00 VEF per 1 usd.. while the black market rate is around 3.200.000 VEF per 1 usd, so you definetely can, just that you wont get a good rate. And last, it takes some 10 minutes or less to deal exchange of VEF to USD at black market rates, you just need to have the most minimal social interaction, as everyone has friends, family, acquaintances, coworkers, etc who is changing this, it's just such a natural thing to do, dont let the name of "black market" make you think that is some shaddy thing that you need to do where you risk your life, its just some natural exchange of currency that most venezuelans know how to deal with.
- whymauri 8y ago
  This is on point. If you need to change USD -> VEF or back you hit up a cousin on WhatsApp. I actually met someone recently who ran an informal alcohol delivery service back in ~2013-14 who offered discounts if you paid him in USD.

Grue3 8y ago

If he really does the job and the price is fair (I have no idea how much BTC or ETH is worth right now) then does it really matter if the person is Venezuelan or not?

julionav 8y ago

Venezuelan here. I have to disagree. Changing BTC to VEF is way easy than USD to VEF. I have to exchange my USD to BTC to be able to get VEF.