Bitcoin Forum

Hi guys,

Ask a member of community, I jut want to share an idea to prevent fake or scam account come back again and again.
U can see on bitcointalk statistics here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=stats
There are a lot of new registration every month that include a lot of fake and scam account. So my idea is:
+ Allow one account per MAC address. Why ? Its easy to change IP and create a lot of account within 1 computer. Only few steps, so scammer can comeback whenever old account got ban.
+ With MAC address. It isn't easy to change, it need time and some knowledge about computer to done it. So once your account got perma-ban, it mean your conputer also. It can prevent a lot of fake account register by a person with 1 computer.
+ So What is MAC address ? Here is all information about it: https://whatismyipaddress.com/mac-address
Sorry because I don't know how to explain to you but its meaning of MAC address so you can understand.

Good idea, with this one, once you scam, buy new computer to come back  :D. Member will consider before posting or make crime.
If someone want unban, pay a little donation like evil IP at the moment with an explanation about "Why did you get ban ?". There will be purged of fake and scam.
Only one account per people, so less scam, more contribution. Great idea !!!

That won't work you can simply create an account on another device cheap(smart phone etc.), How about we just live with it and just know how to avoid getting scammed by them?..

Yes, it can easy to create with another device but u can only log gin with this or other device that haven't get banned. It not only ban an account, but it also ban MAC address.

Well there are other options that could be used even with your MAC ban idea. Scammer could simply go to any internet cafe and do everything from there. Once he or she got banned, they could simply switch computer or even whole net cafe. Idea is not bad, but simply it would not work, not as good as you thought. Keep thinking, maybe you find some really good solution.  ;)

so instead of reconnecting or switching provider to get another IP, now people have to switch NIC :P
it's still doable and reasonable to buy a lot usb modem to get different MAC addresses
it will be costly but if scamming generate good enough income to cover that, why not?

this is the best way to deal with scammer!
learn about how scammer works and educate ourselves on how to avoid them :D

I know every one have to know how to avoid getting scammed but we need prevent from it. Its punishment for all of them and do you think everytime new account will be work for scamming ?
It also stop ppl using fake account or multiple account.

From a "pros and cons" perspective, it seems like this idea is not bad. It could be tweaked and improved but the general idea of MAC address tracking/banning has potential.

PROS
- Makes it more difficult for scammers to thrive
- Discourages new scammers from joining

CONS
- System development work is needed
- Server hardware resources will be used (minimal)

I won't pretend to know the technicalities behind MAC address banning but the way i see it, we aren't losing much by adding a layer of security through this feature. Hopefully more veterans can chime in on this.

MAC address spoofing is relatively easy.
Scammers don't play by the rules.
Most scammers would probably be using Tails which has the ability to spoof MAC address.
https://tails.boum.org/doc/first_steps/startup_options/mac_spoofing/index.en.html

It will also cause problems for people who use public computers like an internet cafe, library or shared work / flat computer.

It is not difficult to change a Mac address on a computer and most computer have at least two mac addresses anyway (wifi & wired)

It will only cause problems for people who use multiple devices and do nothing for security.

For this reason MAC filtering is not really considered much of a security feature.