<p>I have been paying amounts of bitcoin, with the promise from Howard Jones in Texas that I will get my private key to get the bitcoin, but when it was time to give me the key, communication went quiet, and the WhatsApp number got deactivated. Now the amount in my Blockchain wallet is going down. Have I been scammed?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-07-11T07:33:52.647Z
Yes this sounds like a typical scam. If you didn't have the private key all along, you never had any money and weren't ever getting any.
Pieter Wuille
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-07-11T10:49:26.247Z
Possible duplicate of [How do I get imported Bitcoin in my blockchain wallet without having to pay more for the private key?](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/76949/how-do-i-get-imported-bitcoin-in-my-blockchain-wallet-without-having-to-pay-more) or [How to unlock private key of bitcoin](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/q/77742/13866) or [Needing a Private Key in order to receive profits in Blockchain Wallet](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/q/88141/13866)
RedGrittyBrick
<blockchain><private-key>
Blockchain Private Key
user96863
# Blockchain Private Key

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-07-11)

I have been paying amounts of bitcoin, with the promise from Howard Jones in Texas that I will get my private key to get the bitcoin, but when it was time to give me the key, communication went quiet, and the WhatsApp number got deactivated. Now the amount in my Blockchain wallet is going down. Have I been scammed?

**Tags:** blockchain, private-key

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Yes this sounds like a typical scam. If you didn't have the private key all along, you never had any money and weren't ever getting any.  
> **username_2**: Possible duplicate of [How do I get imported Bitcoin in my blockchain wallet without having to pay more for the private key?](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/76949/how-do-i-get-imported-bitcoin-in-my-blockchain-wallet-without-having-to-pay-more) or [How to unlock private key of bitcoin](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/q/77742/13866) or [Needing a Private Key in order to receive profits in Blockchain Wallet](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/q/88141/13866)  

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