How to solve the problem of third-party account being frozen in OTC transactions? Taking Alipay account as an example

|Original production of Compliance Alliance|

The cryptocurrency circle has been in turmoil recently, with various large and small events at home and abroad continuing to ferment. First, the OK founder Xu Mingxing was arrested, resulting in the platform being unable to withdraw coins. Later, Forbes revealed that Binance evaded US supervision, and then it was reported that Huobi COO was investigated. The three major exchanges have successively reported negative news, and the virtual currency market has also been stirred up by panic. Under the background of cracking down on new types of network economic crimes such as online gambling, online pyramid schemes, pig slaughtering, and money laundering in China, the current situation of frozen cards in the "cryptocurrency circle" and "foreign trade circle" is getting worse. When the public security organs handle "frozen card" cases, due to the differences in the handling methods of local case handlers, the degree of awareness of digital currency-related concepts, and the degree of development of the local economy, the same "frozen card" will appear, but the handling results are very different. Of course, this is also related to the case involving the stolen money. In this process, if a third-party account such as an Alipay account is accidentally frozen, how should the user unfreeze it?

OTC transactions lead to the freezing of Alipay accounts

This article mainly studies the freezing of Alipay accounts. There are two main situations in which Alipay accounts are frozen: one is that the account cannot receive payments normally due to Alipay's own risk control; the other is that the Alipay account is frozen by the judiciary. As an Internet technology company, Alipay has strong risk control capabilities. When users trade digital currencies, they sometimes accidentally trigger some of the risk controls. This also causes the user's Alipay account to be restricted by risk control. Because the reasons for risk control are different, the time for Alipay's risk control to be lifted is not fixed. If the Alipay account is subject to risk control due to abnormal operations (remote login, risky transactions, etc.), the user can contact customer service, and the risk control will be lifted after passing the relevant verification. This type of freezing will not be discussed here.

The other is judicial freezing. If an Alipay account is frozen by the judiciary, it is usually a compulsory measure taken by the police against the user during the law enforcement process. However, a frozen account does not necessarily mean that the law is violated. This is mainly because the funds involved in the transaction may be black money.

How to solve the freezing of Alipay accounts caused by OTC transactions

There is no essential difference between the judicial freezing of Alipay and the judicial freezing of bank cards, so the solutions for the two are also similar. Therefore, we should first clarify the relevant issues after the bank card is frozen.

01

After a bank card is frozen due to suspected money laundering, the user must first contact the bank to find out the reason for the freeze and determine whether the case is handled by the public security, the court, or other agencies. The user can also entrust a lawyer to intervene and explain the situation, provide favorable evidence, and request timely unfreezing.

02

After the freeze is lifted, whether there will be a fine or further criminal liability depends on the law enforcement agency that made and lifted the freeze decision. When freezing deposits, there will be a freezing notice, and users can take the initiative to contact the administrative agency shown on the notice.

03

Regarding the freezing price, according to Article 21 of the "Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on the Seizure, Confiscation and Freezing of Property in Civil Execution by Courts", the seizure, detention and freezing of the property of the person subject to execution shall be limited to the amount sufficient to repay the amount of the debt determined by the legal document and the execution costs, and shall not be seized, confiscated or frozen to an amount that obviously exceeds the amount.

04

Regarding the freezing period, according to Article 29 of the "Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on the Seizure, Attachment and Freezing of Property in Civil Execution by Courts", the People's Court shall not freeze the bank deposits and other funds of the person subject to execution for more than six months, the period for seizing and garnishing movable property shall not exceed one year, and the period for seizing immovable property and freezing other property rights shall not exceed two years. Unless otherwise provided by laws and judicial interpretations. If the applicant for execution applies for an extension of the period, the People's Court shall go through the procedures for continuing the seizure, garnishment and freezing before the expiration of the seizure, garnishment and freezing period, and the extension period shall not exceed one half of the period specified in the preceding paragraph.

Normal transaction users’ card freezing (account freezing) is often due to mistaken freezing, usually due to temporary freezing by judicial authorities. Most of the time, the facts will be quickly ascertained and the account will be unfrozen after three or four days. Therefore, if the account is frozen and the freezing period is unknown, users can be patient and do not need to rush to contact the judicial authorities for processing. If the freezing period is relatively long, for example, there is no news for more than 7 days, users should take the initiative to contact the police, cooperate with relevant investigations, and understand the reasons for the freezing.

Measures to prevent account freezing in OTC transactions

Given the current severe situation of frozen cards, the safest way is for users not to withdraw funds. If you have to withdraw funds, the following ideas for preventing account freezing may help you:

1. Cards used for virtual currency business should be used exclusively for virtual currency business. Do not use commonly used daily living cards, salary cards, stock cards, etc. as withdrawal cards;

2. Before withdrawing funds, try to recharge 1 yuan to Alipay to test whether the Alipay account is frozen before withdrawing funds;

3. After withdrawing funds, transfer them to bank cards, stock accounts, or financial management accounts of local banks as soon as possible;

4. Users are advised to choose merchants certified by platforms such as Blue Shield, because telecommunications fraudsters buy digital currencies at high prices and use new numbers that have not been traded before.

At present, even if the Alipay accounts of cryptocurrency traders are frozen for half a year, they will generally be unfrozen upon expiration, and it is rare for Alipay accounts to be frozen again. If they are frozen again, they will generally not be executed immediately, and users can use the time difference to transfer the money out in time.

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