The incident has attracted the community's attention due to suspicions of a selective scam and the exchange service ChangeNOW using AML/KYC procedures to illegally lock user's funds.

According to user Xoxfux, in April 2025, he initiated an exchange of 200,000 XRP (approximately $440,000) on the ChangeNOW platform. The service suspended the transaction and demanded KYC completion. The user provided all requested documents and confirmed the source of the funds (the money was received from gambling platforms); however, the exchange refused to return the funds or complete the exchange, ignoring emails for many months. According to Xoxfux, the exchange applies a selective approach: his relative from Ukraine conducted a similar transaction from the same wallet, and after passing KYC, their funds were returned within an hour. The victim also notes that they hired a British law firm to resolve the issue, but filing a lawsuit is difficult because ChangeNOW does not have a clear legal registration.

According to user gh0573d, the prolonged lock without explanation may be related to Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) rules: if a transaction is flagged as suspicious (SAR) and reported to the authorities, the service is prohibited from notifying the client about it. However, he noted that ChangeNOW might be abusing this rule to withhold other people's funds.

According to user ChangeNOW (the service's official representative on the forum), the delay is caused by the fact that since May 2025, several people have claimed the right to own these funds, and none of them has been able to successfully complete the KYC check. According to user NIka_now (another representative of the platform), support is limited to template responses stating that the case is under individual review by the compliance team.

Forum members criticized the exchange's stance. According to user examplens, returning funds to the original sender's address does not require passing KYC, and refusing to do so is outright theft. According to user ScamViruS, who personally contacted ChangeNOW support on behalf of the victim, the exchange uses excuses to stall for time, while the BestChange aggregator continues to advertise their service, ignoring hundreds of complaints. According to user Bitcoin_Arena, referring to a correspondence on BestChange, ChangeNOW has been withholding the user's funds for over 450 days, formally apologizing for the "long verification period" but not returning the money.

The situation surrounding ChangeNOW demonstrates the high risks of using the service to exchange large amounts. The platform uses anti-money laundering (AML) procedures as a pretext for the indefinite freezing of assets, refusing to return them to the original wallet even after all documents have been provided.