alert The fund can't be withdrawal from Epik.com via Masterbucks wallet

[enamebroker]

It happened on 23rd Aug 2022 and this matter lasted almost one month without any process. Masterbucks.com declined my fund withdrawal and disabled the button of fund withdrawal. And I contacted Epik.com and got no further action even if Rob Monster got involved in it for two weeks. All the time I was told in email by management review.

What is wrong with Epik.com? Do you think it is normal to disable fund withdrawal? How can I get back my fund from Epik.com? Thanks for your suggestion.

 

[wangtou]

Sadly, there are MANY customers around the world that are having the same issues.
The short answer is Epik.com has had a critical cash shortage for MONTHS already, since it is alleged that Epik mixed company & escrow money (if not personal money too).
They do NOT have the money to pay (everyone/anyone?) the money they are owed.
The total amount owed to customers is unknown, but likely in the millions of USD.
As for what they are doing with the money they are receiving -- since they don't seem to be using it to pay their escrow obligations -- is anyone's guess.

The sad truth is there is NO guarantee you will receive any/all of the money you are owed.
Yes, you could have a US-based lawyer -- preferably one specializing in domain names / intellectual property -- sue them for the money + damages, etc. HOWEVER that would take a LONG time (months/year+) and there is NO guarantee you will receive the money, even if you win the case, ie if Epik declares bankruptcy, etc. If you decide to hire a US-based lawyer to help, make sure it is done on a contingency fee arrangement (the lawyer ONLY gets paid if/when money is recovered).

Another option is to try Washington State Small Claims court (lawsuits have a $5k or $10k limit), but that typically requires YOU to do the simplified filings yourself -- in person -- so is only cost-effective, if you already live in Washington state or a nearby state. (And even if you won, you still would likely need to pay for assistance to collect the debt.)

(I am NOT a lawyer, so the above is my opinion, NOT expert legal advice. I strongly recommend everyone owed money by epik do their own due diligence.)

US $26144 exceeds the court limit for small claims and can only be sued through a risk lawyer. Thank you for your help.

 

[Mikeyboy]

Yeah. It was bad enough for the 14 domains I sold. When it comes to the other 700 I have to transfer out very soon, it'll be a full-time job for a day or two! I am trying to get a complete list from Epik support, but of course expectations aren't real high. Time will tell.

its a pain but i suggest you get them out asap, even if just one at a time like i had to do

 

[GNP]

US $26144 exceeds the court limit for small claims and can only be sued through a risk lawyer. Thank you for your help.

You are right the total amount exceeds the limit for small claims.
HOWEVER -- as far as I know -- the small claims court limit is ONLY about the amount you are allowed to SUE FOR. The limit is NOT based on the total damages you suffered. As I understand it, if you have $50k in damages, you ARE still allowed to sue the company for the "court limit" ($10k I believe) in small claims court.

OBVIOUSLY in most cases using the regular court is better (since you get to sue for FULL damages ($50k in my example), instead of limited damages ($10k). But there can be times when a speedy judgment in your favor and the potential ability to recover SOME money is more important than a SLOW judgment in your favor and a LOWER potential ability to recover some money.

In most cases, if the business declares bankruptcy, the ability to recover money from them and/or the amount recovered is (greatly) diminished. In the case of Epik however, if it can be proven that there was a mixing of business & personal money, that should "pierce the veil". Once that happens then it is possible to sue the affected individual(s) personally, rather than just the company itself.

I certainly was NOT recommending small claims as the OPTIMAL solution in your specific case. (I believe the other person that asked about the same time as you had damages under $5k.)

Every case and each victim's circumstances are different, which is why they have to decide for themselves what to do. Best wishes to everyone adversely affected by Epik's "bad" business dealings.
--------------
(I strongly recommend everyone due their own due diligence regarding their concern(s). I am NOT a lawyer, so if you need legal advice, please contact relevant legal counsel. Everything above is NOT legal advice, but my personal opinion(s) which may or may not be factually accurate.)

 

[gotaheadrush]

US $26144 exceeds the court limit for small claims and can only be sued through a risk lawyer. Thank you for your help.

Doesn't make sense to me as the funds go from point a) buyer to point b) seller and is then held in this masterbucks. If they have spent this money on Rob's kitchen or whatever, then its a crime and they should be charged both owners, whoever:

Misappropriation of funds refers to the illegal use of another person’s money. While the person committing the offense was given lawful access to the money, it is the use for their own purposes or another unauthorized use that makes it a crime.

 

[bmugford]

Doesn't make sense to me as the funds go from point a) buyer to point b) seller and is then held in this masterbucks. If they have spent this money on Rob's kitchen or whatever, then its a crime and they should be charged both owners, whoever:

Misappropriation of funds refers to the illegal use of another person’s money. While the person committing the offense was given lawful access to the money, it is the use for their own purposes or another unauthorized use that makes it a crime.

Brian Royce already admitted that there was a commingling of escrow funds with other funds.
This is a big no-no, especially when the money is clearly not there to pay their customer debts.

Where did the money go? Only a handful of people probably know that.
Rob, Brian, Lars, etc.

Masterbucks is essentially just a worthless internal currency now. There is nothing backing it.
It has been used in a scheme to defraud customers.

Epik is using this scheme to continue operations.

For instance with renewals that are not being processed, they are refunding those funds in "store credit". That is another way of turning real money into magic beans.

Again, in the @Kathleen Kalaf case, which was well after Rob left, Epik took $100K payment for her domain then stuck her with $91K in Masterbucks that can't be withdrawn.

This transaction happened well after Rob Monster left as CEO. This was almost (5) months ago now.
They essentially just stole her domain.

Where did the money go when Epik sold their domain portfolio?
Where did it go when they sold DNF?

It certainly did not go towards paying off their debt to customers.

I have no doubt the FBI is going to be interested in this, but justice can be extremely slow.

Brad

 

[wangtou]

Doesn't make sense to me as the funds go from point a) buyer to point b) seller and is then held in this masterbucks. If they have spent this money on Rob's kitchen or whatever, then its a crime and they should be charged both owners, whoever:

Misappropriation of funds refers to the illegal use of another person’s money. While the person committing the offense was given lawful access to the money, it is the use for their own purposes or another unauthorized use that makes it a crime.

That's what they do，
Not only misappropriate funds,

I suspect that the people who buy domain names also play their own roles, which is a direct fraud.

 

[Igor Gabrielan]

A small fish is still caught in the net.

 

[enamebroker]

A big fish is still struggling in the net.

 

[cooljub]

Domaining use to be an honest fun business with full of integrity

Really? When was that?

 

[alcy]

Brian Royce already admitted that there was a commingling of escrow funds with other funds.
This is a big no-no, especially when the money is clearly not there to pay their customer debts.

Where did the money go? Only a handful of people probably know that.
Rob, Brian, Lars, etc.

Masterbucks is essentially just a worthless internal currency now. There is nothing backing it.
It has been used in a scheme to defraud customers.

Epik is using this scheme to continue operations.

For instance with renewals that are not being processed, they are refunding those funds in "store credit". That is another way of turning real money into magic beans.

Again, in the @Kathleen Kalaf case, which was well after Rob left, Epik took $100K payment for her domain then stuck her with $91K in Masterbucks that can't be withdrawn.

This transaction happened well after Rob Monster left as CEO. This was almost (5) months ago now.
They essentially just stole her domain.

Where did the money go when Epik sold their domain portfolio?
Where did it go when they sold DNF?

It certainly did not go towards paying off their debt to customers.

I have no doubt the FBI is going to be interested in this, but justice can be extremely slow.

Brad

some may wonder.....
do u believe Masterbucks started with this intent and result we see today? or was it actually a well working system... if so at which point did things go bad or why...?

 

[Joe123]

Really? When was that?

That brief period after the first ever domain registration and before the first sale

 

[GNP]

some may wonder.....
do u believe Masterbucks started with this intent and result we see today? or was it actually a well working system... if so at which point did things go bad or why...?

The latter is more likely in this case. Epik was likely a growing, profitable business until the "Epik hack" in early 2021 and perhaps even for awhile afterward.

 

[Alop]

Really? When was that?

January 1, 1983 is considered the official birthday of the Internet. Prior to this, the various computer networks did not have a standard way to communicate with each other. A new communications protocol was established called Transfer Control Protocol/Internetwork Protocol (TCP/IP).

 

[Alop]

!log off Alexa

 

[TheBuyerz]

We should create a group of persons that still facing the issue of withdrawal problem so can take legal action agains't this scam service !!!

After 3 month of claiming my own money on Masterbucks, I contacted them again last day and finally got an answer from Lars:

That’s what I needed. I will forward this to the finance dept, who is processing the Masterbucks payout in a queue of dates requested.

The same one 3 months ago !

Sincerly they do nothing to solve this situation, we must try something on our behalf... they try to win more time to steal us our money.

Any Epik user out there that he got her/his withdrawal done?

 

[Alop]

We should create a group of persons that still facing the issue of withdrawal problem so can take legal action agains't this scam service !!!

After 3 month of claiming my own money on Masterbucks, I contacted them again last day and finally got an answer from Lars:



The same one 3 months ago !

Sincerly they do nothing to solve this situation, we must try something on our behalf... they try to win more time to steal us our money.

Any Epik user out there that he got her/his withdrawal done?

Issue was stated years ago

 

[TheBuyerz]

Issue was stated years ago

And?

 

[Alop]

And?

according to your post it’s still in making, no ?

 

[Alop]

So 6 more months

 

[enamebroker]

Today, Epik's person wanted to add me to the friend list by wechat, and I rejected it.

 

[wangtou]

Today, Epik's person wanted to add me to the friend list by wechat, and I rejected it.

You are wrong. I am Chinese. I want to communicate with you because your information is Chinese

 

[GoKaizen]

There has always been this element in the domain industry unfortunately.

Halvarez and NameJet, Adam Dicker, etc.

Epik sure is giving a bad reputation to this domain industry. Domaining use to be an honest fun business with full of integrity but now being tarnished with cheats, lies, dishonesty and full of scams.

 

[bhartzer]

It looks like the DNProtect(.com) domain name has been transferred over to GoDaddy, which is concerning.
I'm wondering if any other domain names from Epik were transferred over to GoDaddy at the same time.

 

[Future Sensors]

It looks like the DNProtect(.com) domain name has been transferred over to GoDaddy, which is concerning.

It could also be that it is actually beneficial for you to get the domain back in a legal proceeding, because it is now registered with a different registrar. But I don't know what your ownership rights are for the dnprotect.com domain. I respect that you can't be completely open about this, but it makes it difficult for us to think along.

Take care.

 

[Derek Peterson]

Epik's Mini-Monster hard at work.

https://providencepost.com/epiks-mini-monster/