Bitcoin Forum

Hi folks,

So I bought a $50 Wells Fargo gift card anonymously using bitcoins, and I want to donate to several open source programs and privacy services. I filled the card's registration page (https://www.wellsfargogiftcard.com/index.cfm?pageid=g05) with bogus information and thought I should be able to start using it now, but it turned out I must call 1-877-855-8719 from the US to activate it. I tried using a Skype's free account and a couple of other free online services like EvaPhone and CallingAmerica to no avail. I'm almost certain it's my bad internet connection though because I was able to hear the recorded message but it kept saying I entered the incorrect number of digits. The bottom line is that I need help activating it.

The problem with this, of course, is that you don't trust me and maybe I'm planning to use the card to do something illegal after you use your phone or Skype to activate it. So I thought I'd just ask someone here to do both the activation and the donation itself to be sure nothing fishy is going on. For added assurance you'll have a whole week month to do the activation and donation anytime you wish during it.

So the way we'll do this is first see who'd like to make this little favor by replying here over the next couple of days, and then I'll send the card's details to one of them in a PM. He'll obviously need to be a reputable member of the forum because in theory he can just activate the card and take all the money without donating a penny.

After you're done with the donations there will be $5 $10 left in the card and you can do whatever you want with it, or you can just spend it first thing if you're paranoid, it doesn't really matter. You'll be able to check the balance on Wells Fargo's website to make sure the card really has $50.

So here's the list of receivers with direct links to their donation pages. Note that many of them include paypal which directly accepts VISA without requiring a paypal account.

$5 to Tor (https://www.torproject.org/donate/donate.html.en)
$5 to TrueCrypt (http://www.truecrypt.org/donations)
$5 to AxCrypt (http://sourceforge.net/donate/index.php?group_id=40359&amt=5&type=0)
$5 to Eraser (http://sourceforge.net/donate/index.php?group_id=37015&amt=5&type=0)
$5 to Piwik (https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=6014671)
$5 to the EFF (https://w2.eff.org/donate/)
$5 to 9/11 Truth (http://ae911truth.org/en/home/68-contribute-to-ae911truth/420-donate-ae911truth.html)
$5 to 10 Minute Email (http://10minutemail.com) (scroll to bottom)
$2.5 to Mailnull (http://mailnull.com/cgi-bin/bounce/www.paypal.com)
$2.5 to Scroogle (http://www.scroogle.org/cgi-bin/nb18/0114)

You might wonder why isn't Bitcoin included in the list. From my quick reading I believe Bitcoin is almost perfect from the technical side and hardly needs any more development. But feel free to donate your $5 $10 to Bitcoin though!

I'd finally like to take this opportunity to encourage people here to also donate to some of these awesome programs and services. I sent emails to most of them demanding they accept bitcoins for donations but unfortunately none of them did when I last checked, so it seems we're stuck with usual payment methods for now.

Thanks a million.

What stops you from using the card immediately after one of us activates it?

I am STUCKDONATOR, the director in charge of auditing and accounting section of international bank of Africa Lome-Togo in west Africa with due respect and regards.  I have decided to contact you on a business transaction that will be very beneficial to both of us at the end of the transaction.

During our investigation and audting in this bank, my department came across a very huge sum of money belonging to a deceased person who died on November 2010 in a plane crash and the fund has been dormant in his account with this bank without any claim of the fund in our custody either from his family or relation before our discovery to this development.

Although personally, I kept this information secret within myself and partner to enable the whole plans and idea be pofitable and successful during the time of execution. The said amount was USD$14m (fourtheen million united states dorllars).  As it may intrest you to know, I got your impressive information through my good friend who works with chamber of commerce on foriegn business relations here in Lome-Togo. It is him who recommended your person to me to be viable and capable to champion a business of such magnitude without any problem. Meanwhile all the whole arrangement to put claim over this fund as the bonafide next of kin to the deceased, get the required approval and transfer this money to a foriegn account has been put in place and directives and needed information will be relayed to you as soon as you indicate your intrest and willingness to assist us and also benefit your self to this great business opportunity.


In fact I could have done this deal alone but because of my position in this country as a civil servant, we are not allowed to operate a foriegn account and would eventually raise an eye brow on my side during the time of transfer because I work in this bank. This is the actual reason why it will require a second party or fellow who will forward claims as the next of kin with affidavit of trust of Oath to the bank and also present a foriegn account where he will need the money to be re-transfered into on his request as it may be after due verification and clarification by designation bank account.

I will not fail to inform you that this transaction is 100% risk free. On smoth conclusion of this transaction, you will be entitiled to 30% of the total sum as gratification, while 10% will be set aside to take care of expenses that may arise during the time of transfer and also telephone bills, while 60% will be for me and my partners. Please,you have been adviced to keep top secret as we are still in service and intend to retire from service after we conclude this deal with you. I will be monitoring the whole situation here in this bank until you confirm the money in your account. And ask us to come down to your country for subsequent sharing of the fund according to percentages previously indicated and further investment, either in your country or any country you advice us to invest in.All other necessary information will be sent to you when I hear from you.I suggest you get back to me as soon as possible stating your wish in this deal.

Yours faithfully,
Dr STUCKDONATOR

There's no sign on the card's webpage to show whether it's been activated or not. So for me to do that means I'll have to keep attempting to make that payment 24/7 for the duration of the week because the card will run out of money within minutes of activation. I haven't tried that before obviously but I'm pretty sure it will lock the card or something. I can increase the period if that's the only issue you've got. Would a month be a suitable period for you to take the offer? I've got no problem as none of the donations are really urgent.

brianez21 and Immanual, please show some respect. If you have doubts about the offer for some reason then by all means inquire like GamingG, but what you just said is insulting and uncalled for. I am offering to give someone I don't know my card's number not the other way around. I'm not asking and will not ask for any information or anything in return from him. If you are so smart why don't you try to imagine a way for me to scam the volunteer? It'll surely be a better way of warning people than your rude sarcasm.

The purpose of donation? People donate to things they'd like to support. Or maybe you're inquiring about the purpose of activation. Please elaborate.

That's understandable but again, I challenge anyone here to think of a way for me to scam the volunteer. There's simply none. In fact, I'm the one in a vulnerable position here.

I'm disappointed for not being able to find a single volunteer for such a simple and kind chore. I've raised the bonus to $10 instead of $5. I removed the EFF because they used to accept bitcoins in donations and then stopped which makes them kinda more guilty than the others who never accepted coins to begin with.

Can somebody please take the task now? If nobody does my money will be wasted and those projects won't be supported.

I would do it, but I'm not considered a trusted member seeing as I signed up today :(.. I mean if you'd be willing to trust me, I can do it for you... *shrug*  Up to you though... I wouldn't blame you for trusting a user that JUST signed up, though...but if you feel that you would be willing to trust me, just PM me or reply here :)

I'm sorry prophexy, but you even signed up after I did which means you could've read my post first and came just for it. I really don't mean to disappoint you but I simply need someone who's been around for a while. Thanks for the offer though!

Hey, no problem.  Like I said in my previous post, didn't really expect you to do it.  Just thought I would offer :)

Go buy a Tracfone or whatever they call those anonymous phones if you live in the US.

Bleh, apparently I'm the only one that was stupid enough to offer to help... :x lol

I don't live in the US. I thought that was obvious.

You won't start a war but you'll show that you haven't given this enough thought. For starters, the card is virtual and it still needs activation, which means it's not stolen. Not to mention that I'm willing to wait for an entire month before the volunteer activates it. Second, the volunteer would be able to check the card's balance on the website BEFORE the activation. If he finds it has $51 or $49 he can just declare the whole thing a fraud and not activate it at all. Heck, he can even publish its serial here for everyone to see that I was lying and that he's got nothing to do with it. Sorry to disappoint but that doesn't look like a stolen card scenario.

It's funny but I think if the card was stolen or "hot" or whatever then this thread would provide a very suitable alibi for the volunteer! And to make things more interesting maybe I also signed up as prophexy to "give him" the card and get away with it under the pretense that I've been framed lol

OMG never thought it would be so difficult. This is starting to be depressing...

People here are very cynical for a reason.  Bitcoin has a long history of scams.

lol... you confused me with Atlas because of my sig? :)

Skype works fine through tor, but you need to use a firewall to deny it access to everything except your tor proxy port otherwise it tries to connect directly.
You also need a pretty fast tor circuit, either configure one manually or just keep trying the skype echo test until it works.

Maybe. But people here definitely suffer a severe lack of imagination when they can't point out to how can they be scammed in my case yet insist for some reason that it's a scam. I mean what if this, gasp, wasn't a scam? I'm pretty sure I spent more time here trying to get this done than any self respecting hacker would've had to spend to earn my measly $50.

I think you may have gotten people nervous when stating that you were having difficulty getting past an anti-fraud protection system.  Asking a random person to pose as you in unlocking a card using a method that records the phone number the call originated from (in a forum where people have seriously proposed methods previously used by the mafia to launder money) is likely to raise more than a couple eyebrows, even if no one can figure out what is precisely wrong with what you're proposing.

I never said that. What are you talking about?

That's not necessarily true. Somebody just said skype works fine through Tor. There are also websites which call 1800 numbers for free like CallingAmerica and EvaPhone, but as I initially mentioned apparently the internet where I am currently is so slow that WF's computer doesn't hear the dialed tones correctly and always misses a couple. Otherwise if I were a criminal why wouldn't I just use skype or Evaphone through Tor and get done with this myself?

As far as I know the only purpose of "activation" is to prevent fraud.  Otherwise the cards would be active as soon as they were swiped through the register.

How can it prevent fraud? If the assumption is that nobody can acquire the number other than the owner then it doesn't prevent fraud, while if the assumption is that the number could be copied or stolen from the owner then this could still happen after the owner activates it. I think they enforce activation to track users not to prevent fraud. I also already answered all fraud related questions and demonstrated why this cannot be a fraud case. I'll be happy to answer any specific doubts or scenarios you got.

My problem was with automatic system not "hearing" the virtual dial pad because of my bad connection. As already mentioned, anyone can activate a card anonymously using a free skype account or free websites which call 1800 numbers without charge or even signing up. Tor could be added as an extra layer of anonymity too.

Thanks to everyone here being ridiculously paranoid, I had no choice but to trust prophexy (aka gentooxx@gmail.com and MatthewBTC@Gmail.com) to activate my gift card and do the donations on my behalf. Needless to say, I got scammed.

As soon as he got the card's details on November 2nd, he withdrew all the money to his Serve account (SERVE VIRTUAL ENT INC SAINT PETERSB FL reference#: 24110391306816000124859) instead of donating it directly. Apparently his aim was to prevent me from checking the card's statement to see whether he donated or not.

Then he tried to keep me oblivious to the fact that he's a scammer for as long as possible...

On November 2nd, he sent me a PM saying: I have loaded the balance of the gift card onto a physical Serve AMEX debit card of mine, so I can more easily do the donations.  I'll send proof as soon as I get to it tonight (More easily my ass)
On November 5th, he said: I've just been extremely busy recently. It will probably get done tonight or tomorrow morning.  Stop worrying so much, I'm not one to scam.
On November 8th, after my persistent complains for breaking the deadlines which he himself set, he went into the new low of I am doing you a favour, please remember that.. Anyhow, as soon as I do the donation I'll send you screenshots.. He also mentioned here what I consider to be his first official scam announcement: To be honest, another reason I am holding on to the money is to wait and see if there's any way you can scam me

Frustrated, I gave him 48 hours during which he could either make the donations or refund my money.

So finally, I got this polite Fuck You from him just yesterday: The main reason I have not donated yet is the card that was holding the money got stolen.  I honestly don't give a shit if you believe me or not, but that's the main reason.  I tried to hide this fact from you due to the fact you probably wouldn't believe me, but oh well.
He didn't forget to assure me that he'll do his best to make the donations as soon as he can, of course.

For everybody's lulz, the card's details which can be viewed at wellsfargogiftcard.com are:
Card Number: 4167250048584140
Security Code : 719

Fortunately, I have a way to screw him for that, which he'll find out about soon. I lost interest in donating to the projects now though. At least nobody can claim I haven't tried.

Yeah, teach me to trust someone like you.  You stated IN THE THREAD you were giving the person a month to donate.  I asked for a week, and you flip and pull this shit.

The card was probably stolen anyhow, that's how you're going to try to get me.

This leads to a site blocked for potential malicious attack. What are you trying to pull here?

Yeah, I made the mistake of trusting him thinking I was doing a good thing.  Sorry my card got stolen but I offered to donate $70 instead of the proposed $50.  He also gave a month deadline, and it hasn't even been two weeks.  Like I said, I'm sure its a stolen card and he is going to try and pull something.

Nothing. Just showing I'm not making things up.

It probably got blocked because too many people or bots attempted to access it. It doesn't matter because prophexy acted professionally siphoning every penny on the very first day he got the details.


Right. So I'm the son of a bitch who steals people's money, not you. Perhaps I'm some sort of a modern Robin Hood who steals cards (which haven't been activated yet, mind you), and ask people to donate all their money to charities. Interesting proposal.

Ah, dear prophexy, so you're donating $70 for my charities huh? I'll tell you something. Why don't you post the screenshots here for everybody to see how honest of a scammer you are? But wait, you poor baby can't donate even a penny now because you've just "lost" your precious card, conveniently just after cleaning up my account. And why did you have to transfer the money to your account in the first place instead of donating directly from my card? Of course, because that would make you "more easily do the donations". Why didn't I think of that? And by the time you get a new card you'll probably be busy again, won't you? How unfortunate.


If you're such a clever boy who knew that from the start then why did you break your deadlines thrice and kept making up different excuses each time? It would've been perfectly fine had you made the donations after, say, three weeks. But you didn't. You took all the money on the very first day then got conveniently busy thereafter and kept breaking your promises and coming up with weirder and weirder excuses. Sure, you may have had just enough time to exchange excessively long messages with me back and forth to justify why haven't you made the payments yet, but that doesn't mean that you had 15 bloody minutes to make the payments. You were busy. Yeah, that's it. Just a bit busy.

The only thing worse than a scammer is a stupid scammer who can't even think of convincing excuses.

Your original thread said the person had a month to make the donation.  You decided to change your mind on that, apparently and give me a week and a half?  "I would've been perfectly fine had you made the donations after, say, three weeks. But you didn't."  It hasnt even been three weeks since you contacted me, it's been closer to a week and a half.

"Ah, dear prophexy, so you're donating $70 for my charities huh? I'll tell you something. Why don't you post the screenshots here for everybody to see how honest of a scammer you are?" Which screenshots are we referring to?  I will happily post the screenshots once I make the donations, but that is not possible at this exact moment.

The fact of the matter is you gave a month, like I've said it hasn't even been two weeks.  You dare to call me a scammer, when you haven't even given the allotted time you promised.  Maybe you should re-read your post, and quit making yourself look like the tool that you are.

Obviously, you have no idea how to tell a scammer apart from a non-scammer.  I'm sorry, I have never scammed anyone and never will.  The way you've been acting, and the threats against me you have made in PM REALLY makes me want to tell you to fuck yourself, but I'm not going to stoop to your level.  I'm still going to make the donations, even with you acting like a little child.  Why?  Because I am an honest person and stick to my word, unlike you.  Go ahead and continue your threats and bullshit against me.  I will make you look like the dumbass you truly are once I post the screenshots of my donations.

PS:  Which donations would you like me to make the extra $10 to, you still haven't told me :)

Oh, and also.. I didn't 'lose' my card.  It got stolen, along with my debit card, ID, and credit cards.  I have had to reorder them all.  I am so sorry for your inconvenience.

Given that 70 minus 40 makes 30 not 10, I'd say you should donate them to the Stupid-Scammers-Who-Dont-Remember-What-They-Said-5-Minutes-Ago Foundation.

 
Incorrect.  I was donating the whole $50, plus $10 to two separate companies/charities.  Maybe as I said before, you should reread what I say.  Also, nice comeback?  So, what grade are you in again? Maybe I'll send you some crayons and kid scissors for your birthday.  I mean, I know mommy and daddy can't afford it..they can barely afford the trailer you live in with all the money they spend on meth, amirite?  

Now, can we both act like grownups or are we both just going to act like children?  I have done everything I can to make this right, even though I shouldn't because you offered a month to activate AND send donations, and like I've stated multiple times...It hasn't been nearly that.  Yet, you keep avoiding that point for some reason.. why is that?  Now, who needs to donate to "Stupid-Scammers-Who-Dont-Remember-What-They-Said-5-Minutes-Ago Inc.", again?  :)

Ugh... seeing this thread made me disgusted at this community.

Im not saying that I am innocent in making it better, but I agree.  Any suggestions on what I can do to make it better, because I tried :/...any suggestions are very much welcomed.

All this over 50$?  ::)

Yes...its over $50 he thinks that I scammed him, which I did not.  He gave a month to make the donations, my card got stolen I should have it in about 5 days, and I will make the donations... its only been 2 weeks at most since I accepted his offer.

My main issue is he said I had a month to do it, threatens me in PM saying he will do things to me, and its only been half the time he gave to complete the task...

The month is over and prophexy is still waiting for his little new card. How sweet.

 

Actually, prophexy is not waiting on his "little new card."  I received it quite a while ago, but thanks for your concern! :)  Perhaps if you would've logged in before today and messaged me you would've found out that donations have been made, and I decided to pick the organizations I would donate the extra amount to, since you couldn't seem to decide.

Yet again, thanks for your concern though :)

 

Now, I am ignoring the rest of this thread.  I think I'm going to act the bigger person and ignore the petty insults from someone who doesn't even post on here except to claim someone is a scammer.