Bitcoin Forum

Since scammers continuously scamming with similar usernames, so I have decided to change my Telegram username to @COOLCRYPTOVATOR

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I was quite surprised when yesterday I received a PM, an impostor trying to scam someone. The PM discussion is below.


I was more surprised when seeing the scammer's telegram username. The good thing is @MiLkz asks me to make sure if I am on the conversation with him on telegram. But the real concern is scammer used I (i) instead of l (L). It's just a matter of capital latter and small latter.

My telegram username is: @Coolcryptovator
Scammer telegram is: @CooIcryptovator
Looking it same, but when you copy-paste to search it will show two different users. I have sent PM to the scammer. It's been requested everyone, before dealing with me via telegram just make sure you are talking with me by sending a forum PM. I have added this to the telegram bio. I will not be responsible if you aren't dealing with me via forum PM.

You have to get agree with me that the guy who have created this account with this username is quite talented. Usually people check difference like additional numbers or extra alphabet but its really hard to detect the difference when the difference is in for a specific alphabet. Honestly you can't stop these scammers who always looking for opportunities to complete their scam game.

Anyway, Thanks for letting us know about this and I don't think its gonna be a big issue for them who prefer to use forum PM rather than telegram. I will suggest you to add a line on your service management thread about this and hopefully that's gonna help thread visitors.    

Nah the scammer isn't that smart as it is just a common trick used to scammed users on twitter most especially verified account or fans based account with wide range of audience. I must admit it took quite some time for it to get to telegram as until @Coolcryptovator observation, I haven't seen any complain similar to yours from telegram.

Impersonating isn't something the forum is new to, I have been in similar situations and I'm sure others have had similar experience too most especially if you're offering a service or selling any goods on the forum, which is why I had to input a warning previously on all my service thread until the attacks died down.

Another media you can use to combat this scammers is to inform your clients to confirm they're speaking with the right person through DMs on the forum. I'm glad the scammers were not successful as scenario like this kind of paint you bad until the air is cleared.

I would assume you created your telegram account after your profile here on the forum, reason for the similar names, so anyone contacting your forum identity should rightly go through this channel before getting into deals on other platforms. Also, for a scammer to attempt an impersonation, they usually have to message first, they check around to find a newbie asking some questions or requesting help on other platforms and then message them with bogus offers using fake identities. Someone sending unsolicited messages (using whichever identity) should be a huge red flag.

You can report a scam account impersonating you to this profile on telegram https://t.me/notoscam
You can also consider sending an email to abuse@telegram.org about the relevant details.
These should get the fake account taken down to protect other members from such scams.

OP Did you noticed he tried to scam anyone so far or someone reported this to you?

It is very easy for scammers to make fake telegram accounts, and it is not easy for everyone to recognize fake accounts.
They copy profile picture, BIO and they use almost identical usenames, or they write username in BIO field :)

Best thing is to report him to telegram directly and they may ban him.

Always happens when you are one of the highly trusted members in the community especially if you have a couple of service you offer in the forum. They will look for all avenues of trying to make use of your name to scam innocent partners.

Is there a possible way to report profiles that impersonate or scam in telegram like on Twitter?
I am not a regular Telegram user but I could help report the profile if it's possible so that it gets deleted

Is it just for the person being impersonated or anybody else can report?

I believe it should be possible
The first option (https://t.me/notoscam) appears to be not very active as I'm still awaiting a reply to my message after some hours.
To report an account which is impersonating someone else, you can use the second option:
• Send a email to abuse@telegram.org with all the relevant information; In the title and also in the content of the mail, including the username of the impersonator; According to their FAQ, telegram does not locate profiles through screenshots.

The email account is human controlled, so they would not work as they were programmed, to only attend to specific complaints, but would check out any abuse based on information given. Considering that an impersonated person may not be aware of the scam activities, they should consider reports from third parties.

Hello if used this feature of reporting will the account associated be turn down even so he already changed username again to escape his crime? I never knew this way but its good to know that we can report them anf telegram could do such thing. What will happened on these account reported and found guilty? Will his account never gonna be able to message again or the user will be labeled as scammer? Even keep changung username? Thanks for this information very useful.

Till now I haven't received any claim about the scam. But scammer has been trying hard to scam, today I have received DM from a user who received an offer from the scammer about selling PayPal. I notified him just to deal with me via the forum with a sign message. I don't even have a PayPal account.

I think it will not work, everyone is allowed to open account whatever username. Telegram wouldn't prevent them is there is no existing username. But most likely if reported by many users then it would work.

Yes, if that is reported of few telegram users it will surely have a mark after the user name and it would be marked as "SCAM".

Just try it to report and ask the community to report too (just like what I'd did). Upon checking both telegram accounts, you and the impersonator it's clear that there's an impersonation because of having the same profile photo which is the same as your telegram account. Meaning to say, there's an intention to act like you and might to scam people because you're a campaign manager and quite popular here in the forum.
https://i.imgur.com/PVvuwnh.png

Have sent a message to @notoscam, but not yet getting responses. I will ask the community if I can report it successfully. Just now another person contacts me via telegram who was going to deal with the scammer. When that person asks the scammer to send him PM via forum then the scammer refuses to do it. Then he comes to me via my profile telegram username. Then I forward this thread to him.

That's the reason why always I have been suggesting peoples send me a PM regarding any financial deal with me, and suggest them to do the same with other forum users as well. I just want to encourage people for good practice, so they could use it with other users as well and would save their funds from scammers.

It seems to me that someone intentionally trying to use your reputation for his/her evil wishes. Good thing is that you have detected the activity before anyone get scammed. Although its not easy to say thst someone will not put his foot on this trap but you did good by informing the community about this attempt. I think this scammer is following your service thread and targeting them who will be interested to use your service.

Based on current situation i will suggest you to continue your service related discussion through forum PM untll you get the result of telegram report submission.

Coolcryptovator is trusted among the community and it's very easy for someone to get paid first if they can impersonate him. That's the goal. There are a lot of such cases. That's why it's always better to neglect dealing through telegram. There are even impersonator of people who even didn't share their telegram here  :D

Use
Signed
Messages

This is a good point and no one has monopoly to a name, but unethical practices, like dubiously looking to make your name and account look like that of another as well as sending messages which imply such impersonation can create a very strong case to get a user restricted.

I have also been waiting for a reply to my message for about 24 hours now, could have been that the account is currently inactive, but the message was delivered already, so maybe not.
You could try the second option, emailing them with all relevant details. Refer to my previous reply for some of the requirements you would need to make a comprehensive complaint.

This is the best safety practice regardless of where the communication was initiated, unfortunately many new members are not aware of how to sign a message, and also to verify one.

In this case where your official username can be impersonated because of the use of an I for an L I guessed for people with the similar usename I think the best option for you is for you to be the one contacting first in Telegram and not your buyer/client since all of this will be avoided. If you did it this way I bet it would avoid the confusion if someone will contact them with a similar user since they already know who are they talking with.

Hi Coolcryptovator, Few days back I received a PM from your telegram handler for sending the skrill first and I agreed on that as you had good reputation but I insisted on the telegram guy to send me a PM over bitcointalk as it would e fair then to open a scam accusation if the trade failed. The telegram showed me the bitcointalk link and said that I can check the telegram handler name here and in your bitcointalk profile and to be amazed both were same, yet I insisted on him to send me a PM over bitcointalk.

I believe you had lost or changed your Telegram account as the one mentioned over your bitcointalk is used by some scammer.

https://i.postimg.cc/pp98jBX6/photo4915719228984764582.jpg (https://postimg.cc/pp98jBX6)

https://i.postimg.cc/jLGf4JDd/photo4915719228984764583.jpg (https://postimg.cc/jLGf4JDd)

Good practice, you just saved your assets from a scammer. I never exchange anything on the forum like skrill. Even I don't have a skrill account. That's why I have been suggesting always to deal via forum account. So you can at least create an accusation with valid evidence. Telegram becomes a safe haven for scammers, so verify any pieces of evidence of Telegram is quite complicated. Anyone able to use my forum information on the telegram since its public. But no one can sign a message from my stake address and can't send you a PM from my account unless it's hacked. So better practice is to ask also sign a message from stake address via forum PM

I always appreciate your posts about scammers on this forum. Normally, a stranger should be treated like a stranger, also so far private key or any other sensitive information are not part of a deal, which should not also be part of a deal,  I do not see the reason why deals should be done on any other platform than this forum, it even makes it more official and also transparent. And about signing a message, this is a very good idea, I have two bitcoin wallets, I imported the address of one wallet to another wallet to sign a message with it, the other wallet rejected the address, which means only the addresses generated by a wallet can be used to sign a message, else it will not work. That means if I want to make a deal with someone on this forum, I can ask him to use his staked address to sign a message and send me, if he does and it verifies, it means I am dealing with the owner of the account because if anyone else use the staked address to want to sign a message, the signing will not be approved by the wallet the person/scammer used which is different from the owners wallet and will not verify. And asking the user to use today's date to sign the message will be the best to avoid manipulations.

My bad, someone claimed on the telegram that he sent $250 to the impersonator. I wrote a note on my profile about that impersonator, and there is two BTC address for escrow funds. But don't know how that person falls into a trap and lost $250 worth of ETH. Even I change my telegram username still impersonator could scam peoples since the forum username exists the same. I don't want to request the admin to change my username of the forum. What else can I do to prevent that scammer? Reporting to the telegram team isn't working.

Sorry to hear that but it's not your fault @Coolcryptovator.
You are offering your services on this forum and anyone who want to trade with you must contact you here or request a signed message from one of your known addresses.
Also keep in mind that someone could try to scam you or blackmail you by claiming he got scammed and blaming you for it.

My advice is to abandon this tg username and create a new one. Not sure if telegram allow exporting/importing the contact list, tough.

Changing the telegram name wouldn't help here. Because then scammer directly will take my current username. Scammer providing my profile link to the victims. But sadly, they haven't bothered to read the profile.

Anyway, I am not gonna fall into their trap if they falsely claim a scam. Because I clearly wrote the note and added a BTC address. They were supposed to read my profile.

Another one TG fake. Be careful guys!

@CooIcryptovator - FAKE
@Coolcryptovator - Real Coolcryptovator

Always confirm via forum PM before the deal with the telegram.

https://i.imgur.com/nKswogl.png

https://i.imgur.com/yr5Vort.png



P.s. I've worked with real Coolcryptovator for the Betller project signature campaign and this guy is professional in doing the perfect job

The usernames look the same, at least to my eye. Which of the letters is different or fake under the impersonator's username?
How the hell does telegram allow 2 people to register with the same usernames?  :o

Not the same

@CooIcryptovator - FAKE
@Coolcryptovator - Real Coolcryptovator

Thanks, I noticed that it's slightly shorter than small L, It looks like capital i. It's so hard noticing the difference under normal conditions  :D
Looks how close it is. Small L ----> l I <---- Capital i

Edit, this is even worse on my  Opera browser Linux

What my Firefox shows
https://talkimg.com/images/2023/07/19/Zlu5C.png

What my Opera is showing
https://talkimg.com/images/2023/07/19/ZlA2b.png

Great, you caught the scammer. He has been scamming multiple peoples and always trying to scam. Since you worked with me, you got it easily. But sadly who hadn't worked with me they can't realize it so easy, and that's how some peoples getting scam. It's surprising that even I wrote a note on my service thread and profile as well, but some peoples didn't read and fall into the scam trap. I am not sure if it's true, but I have received a few claims like that.

The thing is quite a lot of people do not verify or double check if they are dealing with the correct user and all your efforts to warn then is imo the best you can do, people need to start taking responsibility, it's quite easy to send funds to the wrong people via crypto and lose it, but it's easier to do your utmost best at "being your own bank", applying safety precautions and protocols, take responsibility of your funds and protect it from scammers.

Having said that, coolcryptovator I'm sorry your name is being used to perpetrate all this, I know you're not the one losing funds, but it's still somewhat annoying based on your good reputation on the forum, I do hope people follow the warning you have given and stop falling victim to this scammers and put a stop to all this.

Your details have been explained in your bitcointalk profile so it is clear that there is no more negligence from any user and try to avoid telegram conversations if you are unable to verify properly.
I am sure these scamers will continue to roam to ask for funds in the campaign that will be managed. It is the concern that the funds requested are large, not a little, so it is better to chat from forum messages that are much safer.

Sorry to hear another person scammed today. Sadly he found me after getting a scam from my profile. This is the problem people don't think much before sending funds. But once get a scam they start investigating. But it won't help to refund the money. I feel sad every time when someone scams me by an impersonator of mine. Because I have exposed many scams but scammers using my reputation to scam people.

So I have decided to change my Telegram username to @COOLCRYPTOVATOR. At least it wouldn't look the same as my profile Telegram username. But still doubts it won't help much since my forum username still in with the small letter.

I am not sure how is smart to change your TG username, now you just leave your old original username free, so any scammer can take it.
Now they can impersonate to be you using full name without the need to use tricks with "l" character.

To be honest, i would rather trust the account in lower case than your current.

AFAIK, once that username was generated and created, there's no way that can take it.  It will always be there and as I saw, there's two Coolcryptovator user name in telegram now, the all upper case and the lower case username.
https://i.imgur.com/Ctb4FwM.png

I'm trying to replace the uppercase username with a zero number, it also looks similar to the real Coolcryptovator that could be used by impersonators.

I think the only way is to contact first on Bitconintalk before dealing on Telegram.  

I don't know how they get scammed but I think, they don't blame you because if they had further research they won't end up like this.

As you can see, you can find only two for now
@COOLCRYPTOVATOR <- which is newly created by the original owner
@coolcryptovators <-- probably another one created by a scammer, there is a letter "s" at the end of the username.
So, regular previous @coolcryptovator is free to register for now.

Any account on Telegram is connected with one phone number. So, if you change your username, your old haven't phone number in the back, so they are deleted from the database and it's free to register by a new user.

I know that, but the last person who got a scam had visited my profile and just match the username instead of copying the Telegram username from my profile. That drives me to think to change the username in all capital letters instead of a small letter. Because it's very easy to impersonate with a small letter. I know even it's possible impersonating by capital letter as well with 0 instead of O, but it's readable by the way. Because 0 (ZERO) won't match with the letter O, it looks quite different.

To be honest when I deal with anyone via Telegram I just ask them to deal with my forum account when they are sending funds. I do it to teach them how often Telegram scammers scamming us, and they appreciate that as well.

Is it just my eyes, or you changed your forum username from lower case to upper case? I never paid close attention to the caps on the name before, but today when I saw it. I kind of felt there was some change, though not so sure.

Is it possible for one to do so too, or it's only on request from the admin?

You are right, my username has been changed from Coolcryptovator to COOLCRYPTOVATOR. I have requested to admin a few days back due to Telegram impersonator and today I received PM from admin "Done". So I believe there is a low chance to impersonate. I will make a reputation thread with BTC signature soon when I sit on my PC. Thanks to the admin theymos since username change possible only by admin.

Wrong. I have talked with Telegram support, once you change your Telegram username, then your previous username will release for others. So anyone would take it after 15 minutes you left.

I hope that there's less people that will fall for scams by impersonation of your username but I think that it won't fall to zero anytime soon because people are dumb and nervous, the best combination that the scammers want when they try to scam people. I hope Telegram has some way where they are advising users to ask for a signed message for proof of identity.

if you already want to win against your impersonators, I suggest you take all similar tg usernames if it is possible. It is better to be in your control, you will reduce the possibility of fraud in this way.
will be more effective than using all capital letters.
someone has already written that there is a risk of possible impersonating using 00 instead of OO.
Also, I am not sure how much your potential client is informed about your change from coolcryptovator to COOLCRYPTOVATOR, there is always a risk.

Taking possible all usernames is quite hard, let's assume how many usernames would generate this way.
1. C00LCRYPT0VAT0R
2. C0OLCRYPTOVATOR
3. C0OLCRYPT0VATOR
4. C0OLCRYPTOVAT0R
5. CO0LCRYPTOVATOR
6. CO0LCRYPT0VATOR
7. CO0LCRYPTOVAT0R
8. COOLCRYPT0VATOR
9. COOLCRYPTOVAT0R
10 COOLCRYPT0VAT0R

All the above usernames are fake and it's hard to take all the usernames since you need a unique mobile number to take a Telegram username. Not sure if more fake usernames would generate in this way. Any reasonable members should realize the difference between O & 0 if they are familiar with the Telegram scam. It's hard to prevent Telegram impersonators, changing forum username was my little try to prevent them.