Bitcoin Forum

What happened:
Yesterday, I made a post with a buy offer for 10 BTC worth of Mastercoin (see here (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=287145.msg3390566#msg3390566)). Received a PM from "Q" saying they would sell the MSC at my desired price using "Bitmerch escrow". This (https://bitmerch.com/order/f7c61728-ce73-5bcd-a764-557d7f83e7c3) invoice page was linked. I did some quick looking around to see if Bitmerch had been flagged anywhere as a scam, but wasn't able to find anything.

Those of you looking at the page that was linked are likely face-palming quite hard. I was in a hurry to get the trade done as I had other things to do and only took a quick glance at the blue text, which seemed legitimate. Unfortunately, in my haste I failed to notice that the blue text was a part of the description, not the Bitmerch website. I did notice that the grammar was a little messed up, but in my quick search on Bitmerch it appeared they were Russian or something along those lines, so small errors in grammar didn't ring alarm bells. Silly mistake.

I made payment to the "escrow" address and sent "Q" a PM telling them as much. Never heard from them again.

I have never fallen for a scam on the internet, and I've been a part of quite a few communities rife with scammers. Unfortunately, this slip-up was a costly one. Be diligent.

Scammers Profile Link:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=94036

Reference Link:
N/A

Amount Scammed:
10 BTC (roughly $185 each at the time, I believe)

Payment Method:
BTC

Proof of Payment:
Transaction sent from Bitcoin client (https://i.imgur.com/s6P64i8.jpg)
Bitmerch page showing completed transaction. (https://bitmerch.com/transaction/940b16f6-0b84-5418-98c7-6f3e5026d778) If you can't access that, here (https://i.imgur.com/D4gLbCR.jpg) is a screenshot of the page.

PM/Chat Logs:
Here (https://i.imgur.com/KcFD1a0.jpg). I've edited them together chronologically.

Additional Notes:
He has been online several times since this and is still sending PMs, attempting to scam people. (see here (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=287145.msg3398480#msg3398480))

what did bitmerch say about this link  https://bitmerch.com/transaction/940b16f6-0b84-5418-98c7-6f3e5026d778  ?

did you report to a moderator ?

Sorry, not sure I follow. What would reporting that link to Bitmerch do?

well.. it is written under their domain.. but I dont see an escrow service on their site..

Indeed, they don't have an escrow service. That's the scam.

"Q" entered that blue escrow text into the description field of the invoice. Nothing on the website was altered.

I also recieved an "offer" from him, after opening a thread trying to but Skrill with Bitcoin. I searched a lot on Bitmerch for the escrow thing but didn't find anything. now I know why. His account there seams to be blocked now

Ya, I got the offer too.

Sent a PM to maxmint.

Dear j5t,
We've got your email report about the scammer.
Thank you for bringing this to our notice.
We are sorry for the problem you experienced. We already blocked his account.

We are going to implement full KYC policy in the future. In the next update we will add to the order page a notice that we do not provide an escrow service.

We are really sorry for the inconvenience caused to you.
BitMerch support is available at support@bitmerch.com


Best regards,
NovelyLab Team
http://noveltylab.com

Q agreed to a deal to sell me bitcoins. He said he'd send first.

This was me giving him a second chance after he shorted me 0.01 BTC from the agreed amount on a previous transaction.

At the last minute he decided we needed to use localbitcoins because his coins were "stuck in escrow?" What does that have to do with anything?  If they are truly in escrow at localbitcoins, then they aren't available for a transaction there either.  If they aren't, then they can be sent from localbitcoins directly to my address.

Then as he was setting up the transaction at localbitcoins he changed the agreed amount by 3.5%. At that point I walked away from the deal. Too much shenanigans.

Can't be trusted to send the agreed amount, and can't be relied on to remember what he agreed to 15 minutes after he agrees to it.

.

Q also agreed to buy me prepaid debit cards but when i asked for escrow he dissapeared, tried to convince me to send first.

I've just fallen for the same scam by user MGK. I feel really really stupid.

You seriously lost 19 BTC to MGK?

Yes. I'm an idiot. Had been awake for about 24 hours trading through the madness and despite spotting numerous warning signs, still proceeded with the transaction.