Bitcoin Forum

I can forward any pms to any moderator or such on here confirm that is the btc address he provided me. I asked for my btc back and was told he couldn't send them back as he was not at home on his computer, after looking through his blockchain and seeing btc leave it was obviously all a lie too.

Maybe he is using phone and doesn't have 4,5btc on his phone?

Honestly man, I don't think Projects is out to scam you. He probably just got slammed with real-life stuff and we'll eventually follow through with his end of the deal. Nevertheless, I've given him a negative rating which I'll remove once this issue is settled.

Holdaaja: 5 bitcoins have left that account today and  I haven't received any messages, at the very least this trade has been handled poorly regardless of what's going on in his life. If he can make time to move coins around he can make time to send me boa or btc.

sorry if i've missed this but are you sure it is not a web/shared wallet? many web wallets shuffle funds around from addresses without necessarily moving it from the account

Projects PM me 30/12/13:

Hi mark can't do escrow as I need the btc today to buy something but check my trust feedback I'm highly trusted and have more feedback than most escrows for 3.5 each ill include corsair psu and all cables etc ready for you to plug and play I'm in the eu too and can post in a few hours if you send me the btc soon I could do 3x them for 9.5 also if interested they're 180gh miners let me know if you have any questions

I sent to him 2.999 BTC for one antminer and one psu.  (Another PM: Ok send it to 17HwbH8agbuyFr7iQ4mdcdNqQCHupfPME and give me your address ill ship it within a few hours and send you the tracking)

I do not know how to give you proof that, if I explained I feel.

Last PM: All ok ill have the tracking for you in about 3 h when its posted 

After this, the silence...

I think it's highly unlikely that Projects is trying to scam anyone. For the last year or so he has been a solid member of the community. I have personally bought and sold bitcoin from him in the past with no problems whatsoever.

On the other hand his account may have been hacked. Here's hoping that it all gets resolved.

I now believe he is a scammer, too.

We had a deal about some KnC-Miner for 24.000,- €.

I sent him the money (BTC) and he said he shipped the units.
But the only thing that arrived is a puppet!

He told me the package has beend swaped.

He wont send me a proof of the shipping!


scamming asshole!

In the event his account was so called hacked, why would someone remove all his bump posts in his buying thread from the month of December? He would be trying to get as many btc from people as possible not deleting posts hurting his chance of getting more btc. It wasn't hacked and he needs to fix this mess

Projects owed me 51.4 BTC and he loaned an additional 14.5 BTC for the week 23 - -> 30 Dec.

Has anyone heard ANYTHING from him? Projects seemed so trustworthy (I had been dealing with him for a year now). Is this another long con? Fuck this ...

He has taken lots of big loans, I would assume someone has his contact info and a way to get ahold of him besides this site.

In my opinion he deleted all his posts from December to come on at a later date and say last time I posted was November, my account was hacked blah blah.

Unfortunately I have to add to this - 20btc for KnC miners, nothing received for over a month. This was prior to any of these scam allegations and I send funds to the public wallet on his account.

More fool me, perhaps ... but isn't that what a trust rating is supposed to be about?

Impossible,he made a periodic payment to me on Sun Dec 22nd and asked for a loan extension the day after. Both using the same email address.

I still hope this is all a misunderstanding and he's just AWOL for new years, but I'm beginning to feel increasingly naive about that though.

I do not understand why none of you have reported anything before. Absurd.

I don't know what the full situation is, but I had a good experience buying 40 coins off ubettercall and sincerely hope you get your coins back. I will be leaving projects negative trust until this is resolved.

He has done money gram trades and I would assume he has to give name and details for that. I'm sure someone who has traded with him has his personal contact info.

I will have to add to this:

http://blockchain.info/address/1CdESARQzo3q5s22f6icA8E6fZysEcEgX6

Sent him 6.1 BTC on 12/30 for 2 antminers. No escrow done seeing as he had trust and feedback with the community.

His response on December 30, 2013, 08:52:05 PM (after payment):


Money looks to have been moved out of that wallet about an hour afterwards.

No tracking info given, no package received, will give him the benefit of the doubt for a few more days seeing as his last online time was right around when that message was sent. (Plus it's the holidays.)

Not posting negative trust on his profile just yet, he may must be busy.

I have traded successfully with Projects on a number of occasions.  Two scenarios.

He's been hacked or
he's gone rogue.

Unfortunately it happens all the time.

I'll contact him directly.

I fucking HATE scammers.

Hacked story will be complete and total bullshit

Much appreciated BCB - I suspect his account was hacked.

The confusing thing it - I got a tracking number and it was from the UK where he is based and he continued to communicate in a professional manner once I sent the funds to him. Clearly not in the ilk of the poor english, grab and run type scammer you never hear from again. He hasn't replied in two weeks though, and my package is now being returned to him due to the address being wrong. Unlikely to be coincidence, but it shut me up long enough waiting for the shipment - three weeks I have been tracking on usps.

23BTC  is enough for me to hire a PI and get the local police involved however.

If you lost money it is a crime.  Report it.

Built his rep up too pull off a big scam like this, worthless fucking scum

I will give this a little more time (but not much). I have his full name and bank account number (he did a SEPA wire to me once). His name is quite common though in the UK. A helpful forum member also send me his cell phone number and I tried texting.

I have some info that may be helpful.

Projects tried to initiate a sale with me on Dec. 27th. We had details worked out, but I didn't feel completely comfortable about it and asked him to post a public sale thread with the terms of the sale and pictures of the hardware. He refused so I did not proceed with the transaction.

I'd be happy to provide any information as well as the PM's if it will help. I'm not sure what the etiquette is for this, but his messages just reeked of scam and I would like to try and confirm this.

Good thing there is a post warning people to use escrow.

Edit:

I may have evidence that his ID is compromised.

May have spoke too soon.

more to come....

Yea his id compromised for the last month and he knew nothing. Let's not even hear any bullshit stories like that.

Oh shit, his PMs indicated he was from Florida (USA)

I will consider my 6 BTC gone

I guess the lesson is use escrow even with a forum member with 1000 posts and 12 trust.

What happened:
That was a month ago from now. On December 02th I sent user projects 12 btc for 3 knc upgrade modules.
I did not use escrow as he was hero member with high trust level. (never will do so)
In few days he gave me tracking code.
But seems that he cancelled parcel as tracking is not updating for a month.
I have never received any upgrade modules that I paid for. I feel I have given him a fair amount of time.
tracking number is stored in my messages from him so any moderator can check it.

Scammers Profile Link: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=52439:

Amount Scammed: 12 btc
Payment Method: BTC

If his account was hacked why didn't he alert anyone?

Please read the topic before commenting. His account was NOT hacked. Impossible.

That's exactly why I said it. It was a rhetorical question. I've read every post.

Then you know I already clearly stated the opposite. So either call me a liar, or stop derailing this thread. This thread keeps being derailed by people talking about projects being hacked. He's NOT

Either he's hit by a bus or something OR he's a scamming us. The second is far more likely (especially considering the fact he timed to have many loans outstanding around the current date).

BTW: The bank account he paid me from once is British (I saw someone claim he was from Florida).

Here is the ss of his PM saying Florida:
http://postimg.org/image/rs38d7k9l/

Maybe he had a hookup in Florida shipping for him. Also kinda weird that he would ask for a shipping address instead of just disappearing with the money.

I followed your money and it arrives at  https://blockchain.info/address/1Facb8QnikfPUoo8WVFnyai3e1Hcov9y8T and since apperently TorMarket robbery was also send there http://w3.reddit.com/r/DarkNetMarkets/comments/1tn1ca/was_tm_hacked_and_robbed_as_sm_was_and_by_the/ I assume it's a laundry service?

Projects is a money mover and reading through his posts he didn't like to hold into coins longer than a day. So he easily could have exchanged and that trail leading to the laundry is someone else's money. Still if he had time to trade he had time to ship the items that were paid for.

I defended Projects earlier in this thread, but it seems that something decidedly sketchy is going on here. It truly seems to me that pretty much no-one on this forum can be trusted. Sad times indeed.

Just to add, when I dealt with him he had a UK bank account.

Yeah, if it turns out this really is a scam I'm done with lending completely.  Apparently my judge of character isn't worth shit.

I'm really pissed off and disappointed here.

I provided loans to Projects a while back - all paid off in full, no missed payments, etc.

He's based in the UK but he definitely has US interests too (US bank accounts, that sort of thing), so I wouldn't read too much into the Florida thing.

Hard to believe he would go rogue, but then I thought the same about creativex (basic-mining).  Guess you just never know.  Very sad indeed, if this turns out to be the case.

A forum member (I keep people anonymous unless they say otherwise) has also provided me with an address and 3 more UK bank accounts of him. It's also possible to get more info on him using sites such as 192.com or peoplefinder.co.uk but I' not sure whether they'll help and whether these are trustworthy sources (and it costs money).

Please, someone who has traded with him before give us his address.

Thank you!

Me to Projects the day of the SCAM:

What kind of psu? I'm not a rich guy and I'm investing in this thing almost all my savings. Man pls don't scam me!!

Corsair 500 of course I won't scam check my trust feedback so are you interested ? If you send the btc within 2h I can post today
 
A true man.

Now i know. Sick.

Okay, so we have his address and and I heard someone was going to hire a private eye?

Anyone from the UK (preferably Scotland because that's where he's from) willing to pay him a visit?

We should get out act together and not let him get away with this.

Also: if anyone had any contact with him this year please speak up now.

We have his address?
Can someboy post it please or send me a pm?

Let's coordinate actions first. I would like to be in the loop. Then I'll release his address to the people involved.

What's your plan?

I am absolutely in.  If we have his address then shouldn't need anything apart from a call to the police and a lawsuit no?

We definitely need to coordinate this correctly.

This is theft.

first you need to compile a list if victims and amounts stolen.

Then you provide that to the authorities when  you file the police report.

That sounds good.

Is somebody willing to do this list?

If anyone lives close a trip to his front door would be good.

Not that this is your intention but I would suggest not advocating any type of violence on a public forum.

This is an effort to collect a debt and most countries have very specific laws about this process.

Does anyone live close to Edinburgh? Are you willing to pay him a visit?

If not, anyone from the UK willing to take the lead on going the official route?

Offer me his 4 KNC miner too, but my common sense let me ask for some provement, like picture, work for 30 min in my pool and he refuse. I ask for pick up local, and he was tell me a fucking bullshit story about he got mugged before.

Guys, i am really sorry for all of your lost, but use your mind and your common sense. DON'T trust anywho, who don't want or can't send any kind of provement, even with 1000 Trust Level!

^THIS!

TL; DR - He has scammed me out of 201.7 BTC.

Oh, God no. This is supremely embarassing to admit - I neeeeever make mistakes like this. Except this time.  He has wiped out over a year of trading and collectible work, done at the expense of my family, in one fell swoop.

12/9 - 84 BTC
12/10 - 63.334 BTC
12/11 - 54.366 BTC

He claimed to need funds urgently to buy some mining gear, and sold me some casascius coins he was otherwise going to have to open for face value.
Normally I would never, ever, ever send first. But like so many of you, his long and strong reputation persuaded me otherwise.

I agreed to keep the matter private until there was clear resolution. He gave me tracking numbers. I got nervous when the first updated to be listed as 'Arrived' yet I did not receive it. Then the second.  I held out hope that the intermediate shipping company had received it and there was a shipping delay due to the holidays.

I've got all the PM correspondence, as well as the correspondence by emails when we shifted to that.

On 12/27, when I asked for details about his follow-up with RoyalMail, he went silent.

The email address he used to communicate with me: projectsbtc@fastmail.co.uk
His claimed name: David Williamson

Wachtwoord, are you coordinating this effort? If not, is someone else?  I'm happy to provide any and all communications if they can help.

It looks like I should begin with filing another SCAM report here. Anyone with more information, please shoot me a PM.

wow fucking sick

Incredible. This place is ripe for the picking.

How much did he stole total? Like +150BTC? Sick.

Much more than that.

201.7 BTC from just one person. I can't be bothered to do the calculations in the thread but I would not be surprised if it was double that adding up the others. Lessons might be learned. Then again they might not.

Wow! Here should be like some company that would handle escrows, can't trust anyone now :(

This is terrible. A lot of good people here have just been swindled. I wouldn't go so far as to say that nobody can be trusted, however I would always exercise extreme caution. There are many on this forum working hard to do respectable business lets not discredit these people because of one guy like this.

I sincerely hope this works out in your favor. I lost one of my Casascius coins yesterday and was feeling very upset. This thread made me realize that it could be worse. I think after the amount of time he has been on this forum and the amount of dealings he has had surely someone knows something about his personal whereabouts? I have only been a forum member for about a year and have had several Hero members to my home. Doesn't anyone know him?

Dude is on his way to a nice vacation destination. We are talking about moving to a different country type money here. The likelihood of this guy staying at his home where people have info on him is very low. Factor in that the police will be next to useless because most of them will need to attend bitcoin 101 to even understand them.

It's not much, but one of my trusted contacts that lives in the UK has offered to put us in touch with a good lawyer, and suggested we gather up the bank account information and contact the police as soon as possible.  He is currently on vacation, and I want to respect his identity, but best case, he'll post here with information/offers soon.

(And yes, he has probably fled, but if we have bank account information, we know his identity, and we should have a good chance of finding him.  Enough that it's worth the effort, and contacting authorities, anyway.)

Chainsaw just informed me of what has happened.

I'm in the Uk (and ironically enough left edinburgh a few hours ago). You guys need to get all the details together and get the police involved ASAP. I suggest getting in touch over email/Skype. You cannot be anonymous to push this forward so be aware of that but you don't need to be in the UK.

I do know a very good uk law firm but this is a criminal matter so they may only be able to suggest someone else or say that the police need to be informed.

I'm away until Tuesday but am happy to help in any way I can.

I'm so sorry to hear of yet another scam (am myself caught up waiting for weexchange money).

David Williamson

Broomhouse Place North
Edinburgh
EH11 3UG

Bank account data possible over PM.

I'm not really sure whether the police will do any good though. My only interest really is to get my money back.

This is a must for the police I would have thought. You will need to provide firm evidence of theft and known identity information.

This is not the time for angry bitcoin threads but no action. Someone has stolen a shed load of money from you guys. You need them arrested ASAP if possible.

I have just intro'd Chainsaw to my UK lawyers who will hopefully tell him who to speak to.

I would also suggest names/addresses are restricted to private communications to avoid potential issues.

As my package of puppets (or whatever) is currently stuck in USPS' moronic forwarding I can't really do anything until I get the 'returned to sender' notice to confirm the scam.

I have nothing to hide and will be happy to submit evidence / personal info / as needed to lawyers of the police.

He needs to be held accountable for this.

Yes, but he'll have stored the Bitcoins somewhere else and getting him arrested/convicted does not get the Bitcoins back.

Also, does showing Bitcoin transactions and a bunch of emails/PMs really prove anything for the police?

That's correct - I believe in the UK it's a county court judgement or CCJ that would be in order? I don't know, perhaps a criminal court can compel him to recompense the injured parties - or jail time?

Even with a CCJ. If he has no means to pay back your SOL. Assuming of course he is ever caught and held accountable.

Has anyone who has his phone number tried calling it yet?

IANAL but this is theft, not a ccj type case. Doesn't matter that it's bitcoins. I would have though that they should be contacted ASAP.

This is a criminal matter, involves a very large sum of money, and you have evidence of identity - at the very least you have uk bank accounts that have been used.

Thank you and you are right, I concur.

Now this is spooky. Projects was recommended to me as someone reliable to sell me knc gear a few days ago. I turned it down as too risky. Just checked my PMs and it's the same dude.

Recommended by whom? Projects traded coins - buying and selling equipment seems like an odd departure for him.

Are any of you UK based? Someone should speak with the authorities asap.

At this point, thanks to the help of many of you, I have a name, address, and accounts used in the thefts.
As ffssixtynine mentioned, he's given me the name of a lawyer.

I'm willing to contact the police ASAP, I'm unsure of:
-Whether I should first wait to speak with the lawyer ffs has put me in touch with (I assume I should not wait), and
-Their phone number, and protocol. (I've never had to call police before in my own nation, much less in Scotland!)

If anyone cares to chime in on these subjects, or more helpfully, PM me the phone number of the Scotland police (bobbies? See - I'm gonna look like a foreigner tool talking to them!), I'd be grateful.

I would call Police Scotland on +44 131 311 3131. A) They are based in Edinburgh and b) It's their centralised police force. They will be able to direct you appropriately even if they can't help.

*Eyes ON*

For everyone's information: I have provided Chainsaw with all information I have (and suggest everyone does the same).

If you tell me how to do it, I can send via pm the proof of the transaction.

wow this is all very surprising ive sold projects lots of coins in the past

Just found out mate. Hope you catch the bastard and he spends a good amount of time in the naughty/rape corner where he belongs. Thinking of ya mate.

just saw this as coming back from the break and this is going pretty crazy so here is the last message I got from him.



I paid 56 BTC for 2 Juipter and 3 Saturn with 6 Modules technically making it 5 Juipter speeds got tracking numbers 3 packages Royal Mail this was on 11/20/13 , 11/23/13 , 11/26/13 posted.. I believed everything was good since he posted the last package first and said to send the coins later. In December through email was another trade 3 Juipter for 40 BTC but he paid 3 BTC since I only had 37 BTC and I said I will send the 3 BTC he lend as soon I get the package was suppose to be overnight shipping never got the package for that. The package ended up surface mail so calling Royal Mail they say they can't track it anymore and USPS has not scanned it in. I didn't think there was going to be this sort of problem but finally posting as now just wanted everything to be public. So summary so far 93 BTC as I never sent the 3 BTC since as it most of the post I also trusted his feedback for solving any problems in the past.  

gingpark,

he supplied me with likely-fake tracking numbers as well. They show as having been sent on 12/10 and arriving on 12/27, and sent on 12/12 and arriving on 12/19. Obviously, neither were sent to me. I ascribed it to shipping delays or errors amidst the holiday season, and completely bought his victim story.

An update on where things stand:

Thanks to the efforts of so many on this thread, I've compiled:
-Name
-Address
-Phone number
-Bank account data used in a fraudulent transaction tying to his identity
-Two emails

-ffssixtynine has sent an initial email putting me in contact with a lawyer.
-I have the phone number for Scotland Yard.

I don't currently have a means to call internationally. KCMining sent me some calling card information, and I'll work tomorrow on getting my iPhone configured to be able to use that, then will call and at least begin that process of informing the police.

I contacted Projects at both emails, left a text on his phone number, and left a 1 minute voicemail today after signing up for some international plan that had 2 minutes included free. I let him know we are rolling forward full steam ahead at this point, and requested he return the coins.

Ideally, we would have someone that lives in the UK spearheading this.  KCMining expressed a willingness to do this, but is currently stuck in the US.

Legal pursuit, foreign calls, and police interactions are all new things to me, so please bear with me. I don't hold out much hope of recovering mine or others' funds. If we engage on the legal route, I expect it would lead to either up-front fees or a significant cut of funds recovered.  At this point, it is more about justice, and I remain highly interested in pursuing this matter on the legal front.

I'm open to suggestions from others, and very willing to hand off any efforts to any other motivated parties.

Pmed Chainsaw with what info I have.

Sorry man, I wish you luck.

Buy $50 Skype credit and that will last you ages even for international calls. There are also various international calling cards/numbers you can use. Chainsaw, if the police want a uk person to speak to to help explain anything then you have my mobile number (it's in my emails) but obviously I have not been defrauded.

When you speak to the police, the important thing to remember is that it's about non delivery of goods paid for and not bitcoin. That will just confuse them. Bitcoin was just the payment method sometimes used but it's really not important to the initial investigation other than as proof of payment.

You should give the payment price in uk sterling equivalent at the time of purchase but obviously you need I say that most payments have been made using online digital currencies. Make things as easy as possible.

I have a PM from my contact with his views/info but he should post here himself if he wants rather than me reposting private messages, especially if he has bank info. He is UK based too.

This is either a long con or someone who got into debts up to his eyeballs. Either way, police involvement is required. Bitcoin is really nothing special here - this is someone who has essentially taken a lot of money and needs to deliver on promises, repay, or face the legal consequences. Whether the money or goods will be reclaimed depends upon if they are still around. Legally speaking, this may be fraud rather than theft but I can't ask lawyer friends until next week.

Chainsaw, don't wait for a lawyer. Speak to the Scottish police. Be calm and to the point. State what you paid and when, that he has disappeared and tracking numbers etc appear to be fake, and that others are in the same situ. State that between you you have personal and bank information about this person from previous dealings.

That's only true for some of us. I for one just lend him Bitcoins rather than buy HW from him.

You might want to cross-post in the Currency exchange subforum (he seemed most active there) or any other relevant subforum in case others have info that might help.

I've sent a PM to Chainsaw with an e-mail address that Projects provided to me a couple of months ago.  Hope this gets resolved, but not looking good...

I bought 2 Saturn Miners from him on November 14th. I paid in 2 tranches (8+10 BTC, so 18 in total, which was ~6000 Euro):
https://blockchain.info/tx/13b1701080da92d3cbbf6af3ceffbd697bb2caa4d4edaba3ca64bf63af275164
https://blockchain.info/tx/34279de2c3bee08751e89175582e13d3d870b8e5e5b27e1dee091621ce4efc11

He sent me a tracking number (http://www.royalmail.com/track-trace -> RU059220205GB) but the package disappeared.
After discussing via email he agreed that we split the loss so he sent me back 3.88601 BTC which was 3000 Euro on December 6th.
Furthermore he promised to send me half of the insurance which he should receive for the lost package (2500 GBP / 2).

After that he offered me several miners via email, but I was not interested.
I would also like to add that I asked him for an invoice which he sent me. But I do not expect (now) that his real address is on it, it was an address in London:
David Williamson   
60 Windsor Avenue   
London   
SW19 2RR   

Edit: Added the address, hope this is not a problem since I assume it is a fake address.

I'm in London - I can check it out. Either way, it should be added to the police report.

That was me who recommended him.

On the 23rd December, i contacted Projects to exercise a call option i had purchased from him weeks ago. After he agreed to settle the trade the next day via BT, he went on to explain that he had 4 x KnC pre orders that he would like to sell, as he owed some people money. Given that i have successfully dealt with Projects over the last 9 months, I agreed to get in touch with some people i thought may be interested, ffss being one of them.

Looks like i was used here in a particularly nasty and potentiality criminal way, and so, if someone needs recent communication between myself and Projects, let me know, while im still angry.
I have never had his phone number, but confirm the address posted in this thread is the one i have.

You will notice i left him a positive trust rating......as he paid the 4 figure sum he promised!!
Bitter sweet, indeed.

Wow Projects, what the hell have you done?

I spoke online with http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/report-a-fraud-including-online-crime (http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/report-a-fraud-including-online-crime) today. She suggested I file there, as she implied this was fraud-based.
I will take pretty much all the advice you shared above, ffs. I have a few phone numbers for police contacts now, so I'll try a few of those today after getting the Skype credit and getting off work.

We have at least one physical address for shipment and some bank accounts, so presumably he will be findable.

I'm not too sure how to say this, but uhhh, I'm not sure I'm the best person to be pushing this forward. Right now all I want to do is lie down in a hole somewhere for a few weeks, or spew venom at the world.

Going forward...I'll share everything I did, once it is done. Presumably that will give others a clear path forward, to be able to stack their claims on. I would guess I'll have some contact information or a case number that I can give others via PM once things get moving forward.  If I don't reply to a PM and it's been a few days, please re-send, there's a very good chance I'll miss things right now.

I'll post again when I know more. It might be a few days. (I won't be cross-posting or taking any other actions other than those that are absolutely necessary. I try to live a pretty drama free life, and already had two crises on my plate before this one got added. I have neither time nor emotional room for any additional effort other than those absolutely necessary at this point. I would encourage anyone else interested in cross-posting, or getting the word out to do so.)

A huge, huge thanks to everyone that provided me with information up to this point to help move things forward.

I think you're doing an excellent job. Thanks for your work :)

I hope you'll be able to continue.

Chainsaw

Where are you located. 

Can anyone in the UK take the lead?

BCB,

I live in Wisconsin, USA.

I've got enough preliminary information that I intend to file a fraud report today.

Where I see a UK-based person being far more effective is in attempts to actually locate the individual, perhaps be a resource to answer recurrent questions by the police, should they take the case, etc.

Someone in the last day mentioned a Florida address.  We don't know whether that information was part of the long con, or if he got in over his head, and shared some incriminating evidence about his escape plan.

If anyone has specific addresses, phone numbers, etc that are US-based, that may be a chaseable trail that I can provide to the authorities when I complete that form later today.

You should definitely file a complaint or report with your local authorities, unfortunately the police will probably say it is a "civil" matter and may refer you to a civil court.  It's too large for small claims so you would have to retain a lawyer.

Thanks, BCB.

I don't really want to rack up thousands in legal fees to chase money I probably won't get back anyway - I'm more interested in seeing the guy go to jail.
I'm sure that when people see "201.7 BTC" they assume I'm stinkin' rich. The reality is, I just bought in early, I've never cashed out any of my Bitcoin holdings, so thousands of dollars at this stage would still seriously impact my already-in-deficit budget.

I should at the very least explore the path, see what kind of costs are involved.  I'll think more on this over the weekend. I'll probably take this advice once I have a clearer head.

Truly - thanks to everyone for the advice and information. It's next to impossible to define and move forward on a path when you can't think straight.

Maybe someone should make a self moderated thread that will allow us to find out the total  amount scammed by Projects.

Date |  Amount Scammed (BTC) |   Worth $ at the time of Scam |   Description (e.g Item Sold, Loan Terms etc)

Thanks everyone here for the work being put into for this matter as I have lost as previously post majority of my btc which I bought when there were very high impossible for me to get them now was trying to get those KnC as I am a starting engineer and want learn more about now the 28nm ASIC and Bitcoin as it continues to grow rapidly now pretty much at a lost on how I could possibly start all over.

Since buying the bitcoins is way out of budget and based on the other forum pages loans require litecoin or some sort of collateral and especially with this scam it probably be hard to get any by other means but if there is any chance I know this might be the worst place to ask but if anyone knows any secure method especially with the current trust issue or possible able to create such a method please let me know I would like to see the options that may be around and help out in any way to prevent this from happening to others since any more scam/fraud would probably give me a heart attack since at the moment going through the depression and never knew how hard it was to get my head around again :'(.

So overall really hoping this scam concludes in a good way so that in the future there will be no more victims as it is life crushing. Thanks again to all the efforts put into it I hope it turns out for the best of everyone and if there is anything I can also do to help please let me know I am based in Los Angeles CA.

Which airport would be the closest to his address?

I was scammed by him too this month. Paid for 4 Jupiters. I did not understand why the tracking numbers were registering as being sent by "boat", I guess I now know.

Count me in. I want to see this POS come to justice.

I run a few national companies, as such I have my own legal team. Let me know how I can help.

Where are you located.

Someone needs to collate this information. I suggest everyone PM their failed transactions/amount owed to whoever volunteers to collate it. Someone step up and volunteer or else these things tend to drag on.

+1

I think there are a lot more of us.

I will like to start this , but not as familiar with the how to get it looked all organized using the forum but with some help I can start the post.

Start a new post that outlines the info you are looking for and tells everyone to pm you. Create a Google spreadsheet (make it public) with the table headings that I suggested. After you get a pm from a victim of Projects, input the data into the document along with the username (unless that person wants to stay anonymous). If you need any help pm me although I would like to state that I was not scammed by Projects and have never talked to him.

i will get started on it if no one else does tonight once i get home from work so i can focus on it and yeah if i run into anything i don't know will send a pm thanks for the help.

which subforum should I post the new thread? should it be in this Scam Accusation ?

I think Scam Accusation is right place.

Turning up at an address should not even be worth considering unless he has agreed to meet you. You don't know if it will be the right person and you put yourself at risk in multiple ways.

This is one for the police first, then lawyers if necessary.

I would say enough of you have been scammed to be able to put together a few btc for a lawyer and then a barrister -if- it becomes necessary and worthwhile, ie the money still exists and the CPS don't do what is required. This is beyond my legal knowledge unfortunately.

My suspicion is that projects ran up debts through gambling or bad trades, perhaps to bad people hence the recent rush for money.

Sorry to heat about this, sadly chances are not very good that the money will ever be recovered. I wish you all the best of luck.

Wow.

Did I dodge a bullet here, or what?  Was about to buy some upgrade modules off him & also use him for an escrow.
My gut didn't tell me not to do it, my wife suggested that I take a break from computers.

Saved me probably about $30,000... -shakes head-
Such a shame.

I'm glad you were saved from this.

Go do something nice for your wife :)

That is exactly what this scam form is for, as difficult and embarrassing as it may be to admit you've been scammed (it happens to everyone at some point).

Hopefully the action the victims are collectively taking will be worth the effort.

Just my 2c I don't think the most scammers don't think they won't get caught.  They just get into a desperate situation, caused by drugs or alcohol or financial desperation that causes them to cross the line.  They get in to a "buy now pay later" sort of mentality, sort of like a gambler on a massive loosing streak hoping that the next payout will be a jackpot and he'll be able to get back to break even.  And we all know how that usually turns out.

I recently watched a boring but somewhat interesting documentary called "Unraveled" about Marc Dreier who was convicted of investment fraud using a ponzi scheme to sell $700M USD in promissory notes.  In it Dreier is remarkably candid about what he did and why he did it.  It is an interesting character study.

I'm in no way defending Projects or other scammers.  Just curious as to what makes them do what they do.  I personally don't understand it.

I should add that in Projects' PMs to me, he stated he was in the EU.

Yeah, Not sure what happened here. He claimed to have KNCMiner Jupiters for sale. I Send him 25BTC, he gave me a tracking number for a packed shipped from UK to a different state, Funny thing is he RETURNED 15BTC to try and get me to not leave him a bad trust rating! Weirdest scammer ever!

Total Amount scammed out of: 10BTC

I would like that deal. David, could you send me 60% back too? Better than zero ..

Damned right. I'll take whatever right now. Then sue him for the rest.

Id offer not to sue. And I keep my word.

If only - it's worth a try - you never know.

If anyone wants or needs PMs or other info, feel free to ask. If you want anything posted here i'm game also.

Here's the tracking he gave me for the Jupiters Tracking RJ315893682GB

He is sure good at stretching out his scamming that's for sure. Played hard on his 100% positive trust.

Told me he was in the UK.

His MO in dealing with me calling him out was exactly like in this thread

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=266672.0

In which he apologized for the problem, and was doing everything he could to right the situation. What makes a good member go bad? I mean, this is really really bad.

I'm quite sure that Project is in the UK (Scotland) I shipped a few high value Silver/Gold packages to him, and I'd imagine he would use his real address and phone number, for when customs called and told him he had to come in and pay VAT before he could pick up the package. I had sent this information to Chainsaw already, and would be happy to give it to anyone who was scammed.

I've got a Cellphone number and address.

Salty, I don't suppose you are able to give out his IP address, are you?

Administrators are the only ones with access to IPs. IPs aren't normally given out, even when we think they should be, because it can cause legal trouble for us and fundamentally we are big on privacy, however if someone files a police report against Projects, I'm sure Theymos would be happy to oblige.

@BCB didn't we have a conversation about Projects via PM on your other site earlier last year? He seemed kinda shady back then but seemed to be paying back his loans...

If anyone requires the PMs that Projects sent me, let me know and I will release them to you.

Don't remember.  Let me check.

Don't think so.

epiks went rogue back in 2012. Similar story. 

lol was projects the guy who for the last 12+ months took out loans, then more loans to keep paying back the loans, and more loans etc etc..
like literally every 2 weeks he'd have a new loan to pay back the old one.  was funny to see in the lending section a while ago.

if its the same dude... jeeez didn't see this coming... cough..cough..

In case this needs to be added to anyone's report.
https://i.imgur.com/GMLFU09.jpg

I am so fortunate to have avoided this.
 :(

EDIT:
Who is spearheading the legal proceedings? 

When he offered the miners to me he said knc wouldn't change the post address which I found difficult to believe. He also sounded far too desperate despite saying knc could refund him in full a few days later. I nearly called him out on it but instead decided it was a due diligence fail, just said no, and left it at that.

Fairly certain of this also, shipped a few packages to him as well.

If this turns out to be a confirmed scam I can PM you the details Salty if you want to double check the address you have?

If any buisness was done with this guy and not paid for in BTC, should the people try to chargeback their transactions? Bank transfers and both paypal would be used in most cases I believe.

Is this it?

Broomhouse Place North
Edinburgh
EH11 3UG

Pm'd you

Thank you :)

Yes I believe that is where he worked. I looked it up a while ago, because how the EU and the UK do its shipping layout confused me, so I wasn't sure what country he was in, and wasnt able to print out a shipping label. So I googled the address and if I recall it was some sort of business.

No, I looked it up on Google streeview and it's definitely a residential area. No doubt about that.

If you google the address, it brings up, "Euronext"

I can't find it. Could you link? https://www.google.nl/search?q="Broomhouse+Place+North"+euronext

Sorry, you are right, I was thinking of the wrong person.

Trust means nothing on this forum.
People do a few small trades and build trust and reputation and than scam the shit out of everyone.

Problem is, It was not a few trades, He has been dealing in 1000's of $$$ for quite a while, And doing respectively well, I'm still guessing something has gone hideously wrong, he is sorting his stuff out and coming back with a plan,  Or rather I hope so!

As a member with a good trust rating, I always sell stuff saying, "please use an escrow Unless you feel you can trust me" I do think the "trust" system has a loop hole, But everything does, I look at the trust and see who left it, If it's someone I have dealt with before, I know I stand a better chance I will get my goods.

I do hope this gets sorted out, Good luck to everyone involved.

If I had a horse in this race I would of considered going for the drive and scouting the area out.. its about 1 hr 30 or so from my home. Hope you at least get some sort of Justice.

hate scammers

If you put 'wester hailes' into google maps (as per Facebook reference), it defaults to 1km from a certain Broomhouse address. Could be him, but common name though.

http://www.deadlinenews.co.uk/2011/08/31/cannabis-grower-goes-to-pot-as-he-reports-crop-stolen/

this is very very very strange but on the other hand i sold him bitcoins for UKBT. i would also like to point out the he is from the UK not the EU so im suspecting his account might have been hacked. still its very hard to deal with a hero member scamming so many people. kinda makes you loose faith in community spirit all together.

This is an open letter I sent to Projects, and yes, I get religious:



You've taken a lot more from others, that's why I'm willing to put up my 10BTC to help you come clean. Do what's right Projects.

If anyone else would be willing to up part of your loss to give Projects the chance to change the direction he's taken his life, post it here. Stealing half a million is incredibly serious, this isn't a stolen snickers from the petrol station.

Well if his account was hacked he could have easily alerted everyone by making a thread in Meta section, but it didn't happened so I think either something went wrong in UK, then he moved to EU and did all scams.  Or he is still in UK, he just tried to fool some people by saying he is in Europe.

The UK is in the EU. This whole discussion is moot.

He sold me a Jupiter for 9 BTC. Here were his replies:



and this:


I asked for a photo, here was his response:


and then his son apparently went to the hospital:


When he finally shipped it, he gave me a tracking number and thought all was well, however to this day it still says "It's on the way" (yah right).


Then after I complained a lot, he offered to give me back some of my 9BTC:


Then I complained some more, and he gave me more BTC back...


He then had the gall to ask me to buy multiple neptune preorders as well as more Jupiters through PM, some as low as 7.75 w/ shipping. Thank god I decided he was shady as hell, even with his supposedly good trust rating.

I've only been scammed out of 2.25BTC at this point, but still upset. That's a lot of money to me. I'd be happy to provide any information needed to anyone compiling information. I'm about to start an escrow business--these scammers are total pieces of filth and I don't want any other good person to get ripped off :(

Hi
i have his bank account number as i purchased BTC's from him
He all so tryed to sell me miners and got rather rude on PM's
if you want them as well i can send them in a email.

I think we all need to take a long hard look at this thread.
We need to put somthing in place so that this dose not happen again

I "bought" 1 Jupiter, 2 Saturn and 4 Mercury on November 27th for 33 BTC.

I lost the summary.

Who is taking the lead at the moment?
Who is in contact to the police?

Please update my lost: 5 BTC, at that time worth 1996.25GBP as agreed with Projects. This is big money to me. Formerly trade a lot with him

Alright I will add that.

Ps: anyone knows Btcjam owners?
His account is fully verified there, so a copy of his I'd and address proof can be obtained from them.

I filed a fraud report on Projects last Friday. So far, I have only received the automated "we have received your message".
When I asked them whether I should also contact the police, they told me it would be redundant based on the NFIB being part of the City of London police.

That said, I would be thrilled to find out other efforts were also underway to find this guy.
It seems he is either a very smart or a very stupid criminal, given how much real life information he has made available. If it represents his true identity, it seems like he should already be in jail.

Ideas I have seen generated include:
-lawyers
-one individual offered to convert his stolen 10 BTC into a gift if Projects returned the rest
-private investigators (I was given a URL for a PI in his town)

escrow.ms seems to be centralizing/leading the charge going forward (thank you!!!).

Other than Chainsaw, has anyone else that was scammed been in contact with law enforcement and filed a police report?  If you are going to let us know that you were scammed, wouldn't you also want the police to know?  I realize the police likely aren't going to be able to retrieve any stolen BTC, but with your assistance at least they can investigate, file charges, prosecute him, and hopefully put him in prison for a while.

You guys should all exchange email addresses and discuss this *off the forum*
Any actions you guys are taking and updating here prior too or as you're doing them are available to anyone too see including "projects". He may have already registered a new account and is watching and reading this giving him the upper hand.

Please post updates so that we can see progress but do not post anymore actions you plan to take or if/when people know his location. He has a half million dollars to move around with. Keep your actions private and update results.

I cannot file report as I'm outside Europe.
But I'm ready to give half (6btc) of  total 12bitcoins that was stolen from me by Projects in case if some detective or lawyers will find person who is behind the name Projects and draws him to justice

Chainsaw is located in the USA, but he still filed a report.  He has even provided a link to the website where you can report the crime in this post:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=393593.msg4292830#msg4292830

Wow, I felt that one day Projects will be announced to be a scammer. I've stuck with his scamming behavior in early summer, what a pity I had too little trust to be trustworthy for others that days.

Good luck in investigations! I hope Truth and Justice help to win

So far I have gotten messages and mails from few users. Everyone who got scammed please post your email id's or pm me so I can contact you or you can send me a email with all the info you have.  Please don't forget to give transaction id's of the payment you have sent to projects.

 Currently there are alot users who are saying they got scammed but only few have posted transaction id's.

Ps: As Chainsaw and shawshank said, if you got scammed by him, please file a report on that site.

sorry for my delay. He scammed me out of 15btc

Updated

Username | Amount Scammed
ubettercall  | 4.5
mabipa125   | 3 BTC
Truman   |33 BTC
wachtwoord  |66.4 BTC
KCmining |20 BTC
gmoney1 | 6.1 BTC
semaster  |12 BTC
Chainsaw |201.7 BTC
gingpark |93 BTC
FlensGold |18 BTC
josg21   |15 BTC
1l1l11ll1l  |10 BTC
gudmunsn | 2.25 BTC
BiTCluE | 5 BTC
-----------------------------------------------
(Total 489.95 Bitcoins)
-----------------------------------------------

Is someone also collecting personal information on Projects.  I'm sure between us we have all the banks accounts and emails and locations he's been using.

I am trying to collect.

Date Nov 30th
Amount 25BTC

TX ID    a5013ed712bbadc1885778e61610705784b316d267cf8157ebaf7706450add5d

recipient: 1HtnBMkVCPvJo2fHBRMUz8UtEgiFk2KksH

Then his refund:

Amount 10BCT
tx:  f1172d8c79d62134db16c57c561d6abd63138314bf3a23842986ef275abc092d

Amount 5BTC
tx: 2c7d6dc35dc35e270ef51eb7bfd59d3e3d00b2e2645a099515c1eb06128f044f


Either he got himself into trouble and needed the money, thus trying to make us "okay" with his scam being glad we could recover some of what we lost due to "shipping" problems, or else he was simply trying to delay getting a torrent of negative trust ratings so he could continue to scam more and more.

His original offer to me was 1BTC per week for 25 weeks.

Final grand total was 13BTC scammed by projects.

Please add me to any lawsuit or other legal (or otherwise) pursuit of projects for funds scammed.

This is all such a shame.  Projects was one of my best customers.  I loaned him a lot of BTC over the years and he always paid me back.  I closed up my lending business a while back (too many scammers to ever make a profit) so I did not lose anything in this case.

From reading all of these posts it sounds as though Projects had a serious drug or gambling problem. Always taking one loan to pay another. Selling fake hardware to one person to repay another person. All while keeping a few (sometimes more) B from each and the purchaser chalking it up as a loss and a lesson. My guess is gambling. probably pissed it all away hoping to make it all back each time and finally realized he is in way to deep.

I would check with the gaming sites and see if any deposits came in on the same days for the same amounts scammed.

tired to scam me  i guess in a private sale of 4 KNC miners at 20BTC each, insisted he was trust worthy and had never needed to use escrow in the past. He told me it was no escrow or no deal, so it was no deal. Shady F*cker!

Don't know if it has been done, but here is a google spreadsheet for victims to fill in.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1RnXR9W19092PpTrhOnns8PCYc8zAXM0U_Hs4udRfEAA/viewform

I can possibly pass the data on to a criminal legal team in Scotland depending, I have family in this sector.

Info filled out on the form.

Tx IDs for my scammed amount (10btc x 2)

https://blockchain.info/tx/323641b1c5488567e50246e8e69379468b3428c6783cfe0c815bf307a66b53c3 (https://blockchain.info/tx/323641b1c5488567e50246e8e69379468b3428c6783cfe0c815bf307a66b53c3)

https://blockchain.info/tx/022c70bdc8b38292daf52b3f0b4be49633d9330110787c2e9834838c80573536 (https://blockchain.info/tx/022c70bdc8b38292daf52b3f0b4be49633d9330110787c2e9834838c80573536)

My 'puppet' tracking number - he deliberately sent it to the wrong address.

https://tools.usps.com/go/TrackConfirmAction!input.action?tRef=qt&tLc=1&tLabels=RJ315893705GB (https://tools.usps.com/go/TrackConfirmAction!input.action?tRef=qt&tLc=1&tLabels=RJ315893705GB)

I will file a report this weekend as well.

If I spend the money to get a PI involved and I find him ... well I won't be shaking his hand let's just say. And be damned anyone who wants to preach to me about being 'professional'. This silly bastard thinks he can get away with this? Spend enough money and anybody can be found.

I could care less if he is 'watching' this forum too. The more people I see who have been scammed the more pissed off I am with this worthless scumbag piece of shit.

Apologies, rant over.

Oh BTW ... either he lied on the customs forms or he has provided his real information that can be found. If he lied then - well, it's a felony here in the US, sure it ain't that different over there.

If he is in FL now then so much the better.

I have a thought. Perhaps we can put a "pool" together of money to find him. This way we can leverage the scale of all of us and get the most out of the money spent.

I am more then willing to contribute.

I thought about this too, and I would be willing to contribute, but not being in the UK is a killer for spearheading this effort.

who is the best guy for this?

Then we can pool some money together for him. I will put up 3btc to start with. What say you men?

+1 for Kelticfox  (dude what is up with that neg trust.  is that all from Sublime??)

Is thus guy from Edinburgh? I'm from there.

No idea.  escrow.ms is collecting personal information

His address is:

22 Broomhouse Place North
Edinburgh
EH11 3UG

I think it would be best if the main contact person driving this has standing in the case - in other words they should be someone who was also ripped off.

That's not far from me.

Lock 'n load ;)

Would be nice to see if he still lives there.  Just drop by and give him a visit.  If he has moved that would be a good thing to know.

There's a few things could be done but I wouldn't mention them on here lol

He must be watching this thread.

Yes, I hope it's clear I'm merely kidding (although in a bit cynical because I'm pissed off). Whatever you do meade16, be sure you're safe. (not that I have any indication David's violent).

Wow. Just read through the whole thread.

I have sold BTC to projects several times over the last few years and the transaction were always smooth, although recently I did notice he seemed to have more and more issues with trades.

I just want to mention a possibility that hasn't come up so far - some time ago there seemed to be a lot of offers to purchase trusted accounts. Could projects have decided to sell his account to someone?

Obviously, this would be foolish as it would link him to any future scams done under his account, but it's a possibility he didn't think of that.

What would be more foolish would be to scam a community where you know a lot of people have you bank details/address.

Admin could look for an IP address change around the time he started to scam.

Very very very unlikely. He used other means than the forum to trade with most people (including me). Only the initial contact was made on the forums a long time ago.

Ah, then that would be very unlikely.

Oh dear, projects  :(

I have to say the flame neg rating cause you guys don't like each other kinda deletes the purpose of the trust system.  I've traded successfully with sublime dozens of times with no  problem.  He's fully transparent  and public about who he is.  Of course he can be a dick but can't we all.  

Your neg rating makes you look untrustworthy, which I know you are not.

You two should kiss and make up.

Here's my experience, he agreed sell me a KNC Saturn for $2850 in mid november. At the time this was about 6.5 BTC
This was a pretty good deal based on market prices but not out of this world.
Since he had an excellent reputation I agreed to send first.
He sent me a tracking # the next day. It was supposed to be sent from the UK using the fastest shipping possible.
It took about 2 weeks for the package to arrive. When it did get there, a problem with the label almost caused it to be sent back.
By contacting the local post office I managed to arrange to pick it up. The package I received had a few children's toys in it and that's all.
I immediately contacted him assuming I had been scammed.
He told me that he had a business selling children's toys and must have made a mistake.

I told him that I was going to post a thread about the situation in case it was a scam and he told me he didn't want me to do that because it would encourage others to scam him.
I said that if he put me in touch with someone else who bought hardware from him recently then I wouldn't pursue it any further.

Around this time things got really busy in my store and I sort of lost track of the issue before Christmas. By the time I looked it up again the scams had broken.
I haven't really had time to type this out until now.

Wow, that story does smell of either a gambling or drug problem.

http://metro.co.uk/2011/10/12/drug-user-david-williamson-jailed-after-calling-police-over-theft-of-his-own-cannabis-181981/

 :o

Is that Projects?

The name and location fit although it could be a common name for the area I suppose?

I think I may have fallen for this one too :( Absolutely gutted 9.5 BTC for a KNC Jupiter. I thought i'd have a little look on here last night to find what had been a really good feedback rating had turned in to a pretty terrible one. He gave me a tracking number which has been stuck "waiting for dispatch overseas". I actually called Royal Mail and asked what was going on and they said it was getting send via boat (i'm in New Zealand). I'm now doubting anything's getting sent.

If anyone's trying to do something about this or I can help in anyway please let me know. I'll add my name to the google doc. I'm normally really sensible with stuff like this and would have insisted on escrow. Though thinking the ebay way I assumed the good feedback was ok. Guess I've learnt my lesson... the hard way.

Updated

Username | Amount Scammed
ubettercall  | 4.5
mabipa125   | 3 BTC
Truman   |33 BTC
wachtwoord  |66.4 BTC
KCmining |20 BTC
gmoney1 | 6.1 BTC
semaster  |12 BTC
Chainsaw |201.7 BTC
gingpark |93 BTC
FlensGold |18 BTC
josg21   |15 BTC
1l1l11ll1l  |10 BTC
gudmunsn | 2.25 BTC
BiTCluE | 5 BTC
Pistachio : 13 BTC
BitcoinBrains : 6.5 BTC
cshelswell : 9.5 BTC
-----------------------------------------------
(Total 518.95 Bitcoins)
-----------------------------------------------

my god your saying this scumbag stole close to 400k dollars?

BTC was over $1200 when I sent it to him

Just digging through some PM



This might be helpful in locating him.

It looks a lot like it. Shame how lessons always have to be learnt the hard way.

I did a fair amount of PP business with him and that is the name on his PP account...

If this goes to LE then I may have a couple of tidbits of info to add.  Let me know.

BUT the date on the article:  Wednesday 12 Oct 2011 1:07 pm indicates that even if that is him this all happened before we met him.

Thats the rub though, isnt it? Where was/is the point in this story, where you say, ''i should have noticed that, but now ive learnt"?

Here you have an individual with 100's of successful interactions involving many £$1000s over a relative long period of time. I dont think im alone in thinking Projects was making some sort of (legitimate!) living, out of the daily activity he created. And that activity was built up through earned trust. So the question is, and if we are to learn from it, where and when was the point we should or could have questioned a given interaction with Projects? I dont think its so obvious in this particular case, although some of the PM's im reading seem to follow a familiar theme of some other event getting in the way of a smooth transaction, which would normally ring alarm bells, but his earned reputation over came that.

Was this planned for, for over a year, or was this good-turned-bad? The former should have been picked up on, the later can only be known after the event.

Also, wish people wouldnt cheapen this with the word scam. Its receiving monies by deception, and unlike most buyer-beware scams, this really should be treated as a serious crime.

 


  

I've stopped lending altogether. This was the final straw.

Username | Amount Scammed
ubettercall  | 4.5
mabipa125   | 3 BTC
Truman   |33 BTC
wachtwoord  |66.4 BTC
KCmining |20 BTC
gmoney1 | 6.1 BTC
semaster  |12 BTC
Chainsaw |201.7 BTC
gingpark |93 BTC
FlensGold |18 BTC
josg21   |15 BTC
1l1l11ll1l  |10 BTC
gudmunsn | 2.25 BTC
BiTCluE | 5 BTC
Pistachio : 13 BTC
BitcoinBrains : 6.5 BTC
cshelswell : 9.5 BTC
-----------------------------------------------
(Total 518.95 Bitcoins)
-----------------------------------------------




Nightowlace, the global scam buster, what should we do about this one?

Chainsaw and I spoke on the phone today. I reached out to forum user aerobatic whom lives in the UK and is also a longtime customer of mine. He has told us to contact the Edinburgh PD directly (picking up phone cards to handle that). He said they take fraud very seriously in the UK and considering the amount would love to make front page news busting the guy who too half million dollars in Bitcoin.

So far we have his address, bank account info, real name, and phone numbers he has used. Pretty much all the same info we have on you that we are using to file charges against you. 

Hey I'd just like to say thanks to the fantastic people who are good in this bitcoin community for helping to sort this out and find the guy who has basically robbed a whole load of us. It's great to see people helping each other! If there's anything i can do that would help please let me know.

Skype is also good for international calls.

grrr we need a site that somehow secretly takes bets on the outcome of these things....
my money is on 'zomg i got hacked... sorry guys'
it obviously doesn't work if everyone can see :(

Wow, not implying you're responsible in any way or form: why didn't you leave him negative trust after?

Please contact me via PM. Chainsaw and I will be contacting the local police next week.

Look at the "It's a trap" picture on this guy's facebook page (David Williamson from Edinburgh) posted on December 28th:
https://www.facebook.com/david.williamson.1610?fref=browse_search

I looked through the 12 people tagged in the pic, but couldn't find too much. This guy looks like and talks like the dirtbag that took us all.

Add me: he took 3 btc from me with the promise to pay and never paid. I've been following this thread, just haven't posted til now.

If that is him, it looks like we have a genius criminal mastermind on our hands... he was in the news for calling the cops on himself:

http://metro.co.uk/2011/10/12/drug-user-david-williamson-jailed-after-calling-police-over-theft-of-his-own-cannabis-181981/ (same person in photo)

http://www.deadlinenews.co.uk/2011/08/31/cannabis-grower-goes-to-pot-as-he-reports-crop-stolen/ (same person in photo)

http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/aberdeen/two-charged-over-drugs-haul-1.198301 (no picture on that one but the name, city and year of birth matches)

Update #1: that news article was posted as early as August 2011 and mentioned him going to jail for 10 months, but he registered an account here and began posting in February 2012.

Update #2: very strange how that FB profile is full of nothing but cannabis-related photos, but none of his posts here even mention it (there is some talk of Diablo 3 in the early posts), and that profile has not "liked" anything Bitcoin related... not too sure it's him.

Update #3: Just found a 2nd FB profile of "David John Williamson" (https://www.facebook.com/davidjohn.williamson.3) looks to also be his account based on the pictures. 2 more photos of him there, nothing found on Google Image reverse search and no GPS coordinates given in embedded EXIF data.

Can someone do a "catfish" and message some of his more active Facebook friends, get them on the phone to verify this is the guy we want?

Perhaps he was released early or put on probation.  I wonder if his release date is a matter of public record.

maybe the brother story is true, and projects was using his brothers name here on the forums for shipping ?? not like his bro would know if he's locked up.

name and surname is pretty common though... but yeah the fact someone mentioned something about him paying for his brother, and then that article is interesting..

He didn't sound too excited about taking a pic with a shoe on his head when asked to do so after requesting his first 100 BTC loan.  He may have known that his pictures were published online by the press and would make it easier to identify him.

I looked through the 12 people tagged in the pic, but couldn't find too much. This guy looks like and talks like the dirtbag that took us all.

http://metro.co.uk/2011/10/12/drug-user-david-williamson-jailed-after-calling-police-over-theft-of-his-own-cannabis-181981/

same guy



edit: sorry should have continued reading before posting.


going by the guys facebook posts he is a degenerate Scottish NED who cannot string a real sentence together in English.
I only had a few PM's with projects, but from what i remember he could string a sentence just fine?

Concur on this - he always communicated in a sensible and literate manner.

He's the laughing stock of Edinburgh, a complete muppet.

Just discovered this whole saga with Projects.

I have traded with him in the past, he was always trustworthy and reliable. At one point however, over 6 months ago, I sent incorrect bank details to him, and the payment he sent to me went to a non existent bank account. In this situation, the money is supposed to be returned to the sender, however Projects claimed to have never had the money returned. I was dubious, as I had no way of knowing if he was telling the truth, but he had always been reliable, so I gave him the benefit of the doubt.

We came to an agreement to resolve the situation - he would trade with me at 0% fee until the £1000 was effectively payed back, and then he would keep the money once it was returned to him (Santander are notorious for this exact thing happening, and I've read stories of money going missing for over a year before turning up).

We cleared £300 of debt, and then last month he asked me for a loan, which I declined because I had a bad feeling about it. I obviously dodged a bullet - last time I traded with him, I sent BTC and he payed into my bank the next day. This must have been just before all of this mess unfolded, and I'm sure if I had lent him the money, there would be another 3.5 BTC to add to the total.

This is very sad that a trusted member of the community would decide to pull this scam. I am very sorry for everyone who lost money. I'm glad that he has been tracked down.* At this point I believe that the money was indeed returned to him by the bank, and he decided to keep it instead of resending it to me.

*EDIT: Didn't read the whole thread from end to end, has he been tracked down? Is the guy in the newspaper article Projects?

Same

The last time he came begging me for a loan I told him that my wife had told me NO MORE BTC LOANS because I was getting scammed more than any profit I ever made on interest - and I had agreed with her.

Let's keep this thread at the top so other Projects victims can find it

well looks like I'n a bit late, he scammed me for 3.2 bitcoins, sent to him on December 3rd.
https://blockchain.info/tx/0d4fbb6c20e47d6672aae1eb1c3499f559469e4817c664ca72656bd5c5fda095

What's going on?

Ya know whats strange..... alot of the tard business owners (you know, the ones with a diff idea each week) and long time members seem to have vanished in nov/dec...

not going to name people... but have a think which ppls you havnt heard from in a while, who would often have some tard scheme on the go.

tis the holiday season.. so maybe just a coincidence.. but hmmm

your avatar is very, very fitting!

I'm still trying to work out if it's a man thinking or a oriental guy with a long mustache and short arms?

Any news here?

Who is the one who is filing the official complaint?

i also would like to know if any progress is being made here.  i have a hard time believing that people sent mponey to this guys bank and yet theres still nothing?...

Did anyone find this mother fucker yet?

Any updates people?

it's not looking overly hopeful is it. Was really hoping after this thread started and lots of info came out it might be an easy case.

who is take lead ?
i fear many time scammer come back to take lead. 0 result :/

oh 500+ BTC stolen this scammer projects really did their scamming very well
I think they able scam peoples easily as an so called Hero sorry ZERO Member on forum named "Tomatocage" largest supporter of scammer Projects this ZERO guy Tomatocage submit negative ratings for everyone but they never submit negative ratings for their agents like Projects I am sure 90% of scammed money just took by Tomatocage and only 10% got by Projects as only with Tomatocage supports this guy able to scam too many peoples easily

this guy Tomatocage NOT Hero but 100% ZERO and largest supporter of biggest scammers

stay away from Tomatocage never use this guy as escrow they will surly scammed you Grin   

Wut do you mean by this?  How can someone be fully doxed here and still not be apprehended?  Wut does it take?

Any update Chainsaw?

Is that the only thing that was done?  The FBI online report?
If I recall correctly, they don't tend to act on those reports, merely file them away and use them in statistics.

Unfortunately there may not have been enough money lost for any federal agency to take action.  If TF was a board member of the Bitcoin Foundation maybe the FEDS would have gone after him too.

wow.
500000$ is too little for relevant legal intervention?  i am in the wrong line of work.
 >:(

ring local agencyes in home town. DO NOT file online report. doing so useless.
im sure busy. urgent given to case where call in. Think. If serious urgent you speak. probability thousandes online report each every day.  

english man... don't follow what your saying there.

:(

ring computer crimes department in home country
ring local police stationes in home town
ring police in user project country
if lost large money speak to lawyer.

Things continue to move forward.
I understand why no-one else has publicly filed.

I filed in the UK. I was told they wouldn't move forward until I filed in the states.
I did that last week.

Of course, then the press catches wind of the story.
The whole process is like being dragged through the mud for a few miles.
I talked to them rather than saying 'no comment' - the last thing Bitcoin needs is another cautionary tale about the dangers of Bitcoin.

But it's moving forward.

Thanks to so many of you, I have all the data than I need.
I've got the legal entities involved.

Projects, David Williamson, will face justice.

As I understand it, the length of his sentencing will be determined in part on how much of the funds he defrauded he is able to return.

At this point, if and when I hit standstills, I will throw out-of-pocket money at this, in the form of private investigators and lawyers.

There was another user, jakedeez, I have been watching him as he goes after gonefishing.  I wouldn't mind having his help, the guy knows what sorts of things need to be done.

I hope you understand why I'm not posting tons of information publicly. Rest assured you'll all get an update once endgame has been reached. In the interim, you can continue to contact me privately if you were directly involved or have more information to share.

Chainsaw, how many $ are you out exactly?

edit: about $200,000 USD.

Holy ****

Good News chainsaw.

@Projects if you are watching this thread,it's your last chance to return coins.

I thinkhis chance has sailed.  even if he repaysnow, the lawyers (****ING SPACE BAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!) are probably licking their chops at a nice pay-out after they prove his guilt.
too much has been invested, i think, at this point, for the legal process to turn back.
chainsaw won't want to confirm or reject this because it leaves projects wondering, but this is just mypersonal opinion.

Nice Job.

Is sucks having to swallow our pride and admit we were scammed.  It has happened to all of us.  And it take courage to come forward to admit it.  That is what these scammers pray on and allows many of them to get away with it (TF).

I think now that it is public you have a much better opportunity for law enforcement to pursue it.  Even if you don't get all your funds back just knowing they are going after this guy and hopefully will catch him may give some satisfaction. 

Good luck. 

Wisconsin man loses $150,000 in international bitcoin scam
http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_25057486/wisconsin-man-loses-150-000-international-bitcoin-scam

Ouch...

Thanks for being so forthright about the issue Jamie.

PM me and I'll send you one of our Titan Bitcoins as a consolation.  I hate to hear about people getting burned with anything related to physical bitcoins.

That's incredibly gracious of you - thanks so much!

No problem.

As for Projects...I hope you nail him to the wall.

I have not been online for a few weeks and have been trying to get hold of Projects. Only now have I seen this thread. I had done quite a few transactions with him throughout 2013 andf I always sent first with no problems to him sending after.

I lent him 5 btc in December which he was to repay in full in March!

What is the latest news with Projects? I cant believe he would turn out to be a scammer he had been very trustworthy in the past.

Being intentionally vague, things advanced nicely today.
It might be good to start pondering whether or not each of you intends to add yourself to the case. That way, when that time comes, you'll already know the answer and won't have to worry about time pressure being added on top.

I'm far more optimistic today than I was at the outset.

It may be up to a month before I have a next, concrete update.

What would be required to get in on this case?

Read Chainsaw's posts in this thread.  He did a good job of explaining what needs to be done in his previous posts in this thread.  He also provided a link to the website where you need to file a report with law enforcement in Britain.

Filed my report. Hopefully it helps. Would be great to sort this guy out.

Thanks for the hard work Chainsaw

It's a shame people can change so much...

I sold some BTC to projects a while back (a long time back, actually), and everything was fine.

*sigh*. It's a shame noone can be 100% trusted in this world.

I hope David gets what he deserves (that's the bank name he used, so I'm using it).

Liam

Wow!

Just seen this thread... Very sad. Sold many coins to David in the past and never once had a single problem. My friend was out a lot of money for awhile but it eventually arrived.

Sorry to hear this for whoever has lost out.

Another positive advancement in the case today.
Things are looking more optimistic than I'd allowed myself to get.

I know an update this vague isn't terribly helpful; mostly I wanted those still following to know things are moving forward.

I'd also remind anyone still on the fence, I'd suggest you file sooner rather than later.

cshelswell - shoot me a PM. I should get you in contact with an investigator. So far he is only aware of myself and an individual from Portugal.
I can get you a name.

I'm hoping to be able to be more explicit and public with updates within a month or so.

Unrelated...such a heavy topic needs a bit of levity.
A good friend of mine just released a rather cathartic song about Mt. Gox's failings, Mt Gox Erupting (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=499327.0). (lyrics posted on thread, along with link to song).

When you get hit with so much bad news at once, sometimes all you can do is try to sit back and enjoy the show  ;D

It's time!!!

I've been working with a couple agencies on this case, lining up data, dotting i's, crossing t's.
The case is now ready to get additional claims added on.

Send me a PM with an email address. I'll get you the contact information for the guy putting the case together.
I also ask that you give anyone else you know that might have been scammed by Projects a heads up.

At this point, the work should, hopefully, be easy for others adding on to the claim.
Roughly speaking, you'll have to gather up evidence you have of the transaction and send it.
The person you work with will guide you in all of this.

As a first step, he is just looking to get initial contact - so he can get a rough head count of the number of people involved. So, no need to wait until all your data is organized before proceeding.

TL;DR: PM me with an email address to get you more info, if you've been scammed by Projects (David Williamson). Let others know to do so as well. Try to do this in the next few days if possible.

Thanks!

EDIT: So far, 4 have contacted me. I've gotten them the contact information for the law enforcement agency(ies). I know at least 10, maybe 15? people were affected.  This has been a rapid, good start. Let's make sure everyone that needs to hear this message, does.

Thanks Chainsaw - I'm just about to compose my email to them :)

Cheers

You might want to shoot a quick PM to everyone in this thread to speed up the process.

Chainsaw any updates on this?

saw your letter to the paper, good job on that.
knee cappings now need to take place,  i reko with publicity and donations you lawyer probs get you off.
edit this wasnt to say violence is is the anser but its getting beyond a joke and it beyond a joke stage a loooong time ago.
i guess everyone is happy with the current state of affais :/                 

Any updates on this guys?

I was contacted by the police a couple of days ago. I need to file a report. So things are still happening. I guess we'll find out when they've collected all the information they can.

information ?
his dox was release a while ago wasnt it.
their was even an article in some UK paper from the guy here who went to cops..

but yeah, any updates ????
seems like the guy turned/was/is a junkie

I returned from vacation yesterday to receive a nice surprise. A concrete, positive development in the case.
I'll be touching base with the respective law official and asking a few questions in the next few days - what data can I share without jeopardizing the case, etc.

For now I'll just say I am extremely optimistic that David Williamson will be held legally accountable for his actions.

Nice work. Please keep us all updated with information that will not make things worse.

Good idea to keep it general as you did in your last post.  :)

Great news, this is not very common in the Bitcoin world.

Any news on whether getting money back from him is feasible at all?

Good job :)
I'd say if it went to court and projects is really a junky he'll be on sum bullshit $5/week paymemt plan.....

I can't wait until someone is held liable for theft! I've lost so much money this year to exchanges and scam artists.

I found this in my PM history, he asked for a loan and then sent this:

http://puu.sh/ahpCW/2c4aa0af5f.png


Didn't think much of it at the time back in last sept, was lucky enough to have denied it. Wishing chainsaw the best of luck in recovering funds.

There is progress in the case.

Chainsaw any updates for us?

Does anyone know what happen to Projects?

Someone mentioned he went to jail growing marijuana at home?

You can assume its him, as per location, but at the same time, would also be a common name.  :-\

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-15259996

Anyone who's been scammed by Projects please send me a PM with the following info:

1) Which address you sent coins to & how much & when
2) What you were supposed to get in return
3) How you got in contact with him
4) Whether you are happy to file an official police report with ActionFraud to extend the information on the case

The bitcoin address part is very important. I remember for a fact that at least one fraud involved an address under my control (lost the chatlog unfortunately) and the right address along with a proper report could decide the case.

seems legit a legit scam accusation

I don't think he intentionally scam people.

Getting into jail is probably the reason why he can't respond to lender.

I have to disappoint you there. He took coins from like a dozen people, one person he took for 200 BTC and then walked away. The scamming part is not really a question anymore.

Didn't someone post a link to some news article where we thought he was a heroin addict ?
If true, it explains a lot...

And as the poster above said, its confirmed... he just left... no need to discuss it.
But I wouldn't be surprised if he came back with the classic "I have had health issues" post...

I'm the guy that he took 200 BTC from.
Efforts _are_ ongoing, but discretion remains important.

It wasn't heroin; there was a same-named, same-town individual (Edinsburgh) that made the paper for growing marijuana in his home. I don't know if it is the same individual or not.

You're all free to do what you choose, but I would strongly recommend not giving out any information such as that requested above, unless it is to a law enforcement officials that has provided you with their credentials.

This x 100

I wouldn't be surprised if the real projects is using the forum under another account keeping an eye on things.

Any update on this? Stumbled across this thread and it seemed to stop abruptly.

I remain in a frustrating holding pattern.
A case _is_ ongoing, which is why I haven't shared more details.
I asked for an update a few weeks ago, and the update was that there was not an update since I had last asked.

There had been two ongoing cases against him.
They have now formally consolidated into one.
That case remains delayed, it is just a question of when the delay will be cleared.
Wish I had more to say.

Wow I'm surprised there's still activity on this. I had assumed it had probably come to a dead end. Thanks for still pursuing it.

You're welcome. I'll continue, until the case is concluded.

I know how much this impacted my life. And at least a dozen other people were impacted, too.

It is not about money, but justice.

I have an update.

Initially I worked with a local police department.
They put me in contact with an FBI officer.
In parallel, the UK fraud division routed me to Scotland Yard, then to work with the Edinburgh police department.
In the past year, the FBI handed off its information to the main investigation, in Edinburgh.

About a year ago, Projects' electronic assets were seized and put in a queue for analysis.

Today, I received word from the Edinburgh constable that has been working my case.

David Williamson, and his partner (news to me), have now been interviewed and formally charged.

The case will be viewed by prosecution in the coming weeks, as they determine a path forward.

Sounds positive, Chainsaw.

Is it stated what he is charged with?

"put in a queue"..... there is/was alot of this going on then, eh.  ::)

As for charges, that is the current/next step. Those decisions will be made in the coming days/weeks/months.
For the queue - the evidence was put into a larger 'computer analysis' queue.

I was blessed the case was given to a constable with the right combination of grit, perseverence, and commitment to justice.

A big reason for so many of the delays is that there is no precedent for what happened here.  An Edinburgh department took a case for an American, within the realm of 'Nigerian prince fraud' scheme. As a rule of thumb, those don't get solved.  They patiently took the time to gather and understand the evidence, ask the right questions, and push forward with the case.

This was a huge step in the case.
The next step is critical, as it has the potential to set positive precedents for future cases.

I'll keep this thread apprised of things as they develop.

That's great news. Taking a while to come to conclusion is fine. It's just great this is still proceeding and the law sees fit to continue prosecuting.

PM me if the police there could use another person to add to the case. I am hope some justice will come of this.

I remember that I have been contacted by UK police (I am not from UK) last year asking for evidence / conversation I had with projects.
I sent them all I had but did not hear anything since then. Good to hear that it might not have been worthless :)

Hello

Do you still need a dev?
If yes please pm me for more details
If not take care.

I received an update on the case today - it continues to advance. I'll be emailing those of you that have previously been in touch to see which of you wish to get in contact with the appropriate authority.

Thanks for providing these updates.

I had dealings with projects, so could have easily been scammed.

More developments! I will be reaching out via message to the five individuals here that provided information which led to the identification of the criminal.

Glad you kept going with this. Well done mate.

Yeah i'm looking forward to hearing the outcome. I would be utterly amazed if we saw those BTC back but it would be awesome :)

I also did not hear anything for a long time. I sent some details to an officer in UK (must be) years ago, but never heard anything since that.

Bump, any updates? Please send me a PM if you don't want to post here. Thanks.

No updates. But not forgotten.

Any news?
Maybe its he:
https://www.tagesschau.de/wirtschaft/kryptowaehrung-diebstahl-101.html

No it's not him. This one is related to IOTA scam.
https://portswigger.net/daily-swig/man-arrested-on-suspicion-of-10m-iota-crypto-theft

Glad it's not forgotten - it'd be great to find this guy. Especially now!

Any news guys? He scammed me 3 btc.. :'(

I do not think, this Scammer of a guy is still in this forum. He has scammed people and ran away. If that guy is in this forum, he has changed his identity. That was why you were advised to do transactions with a trusted person. Now that he has ran away where will go and see him to collect you moneys. A community of more than 5 millions people there must be an arm robbers, Scammers so it your duty to sort out yourself from them.

And from the OP thread, this case was since 2013. This is a long period of time. At that time I have not even dream of Bitcointalk in my life. One thing you have to think of is that, is the Scammer still existing I'm this world? And before, you did the transaction with him. Did you ask him where he comes from? Because you can't look for someone on internet or social media and see the person. We pray that God should arrest him.