Bitcoin Forum

Some may remember this mixer (bitwhisk.io). For the others, it was a mixer that decided to stop its activities about 3 years ago (see here (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3206015.msg33291017#msg33291017)). Sometime later, the site had been taken over to make a scam (see here (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5177643.0))

Today, I wanted to scrap some SERP and revisited the domain name and this is what you can see when you access the site.


https://i.imgur.com/LFtC4JO.png

I wondered if it was not fake. Like some people, it reminds me about Bestmixer which has really been seized by Interpol and the Deutch (2 years ago (https://www.europol.europa.eu/newsroom/news/multi-million-euro-cryptocurrency-laundering-service-bestmixerio-taken-down)) and it had more or less the same page.

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

However it seems that this background is not unique, I remember having seen this homepage style before. I found other sites with more or less the same image/text

https://i.imgur.com/rCb3HoG.jpg

It could be that the FBI was after bitwhisk.io, but by the time they catch it, the domain had changed ownership. What do you think?
So finally, a scammer possibly in trouble for something he didn't do  >:D  ;) ;D

Could be fake. The one on BestMixer was just a plain image: https://archive.is/sBZZy

Bitwhisk's "seized" page has an animated background and actual HTML text. Maybe the FBI hired a new web developer?

Bestmixer was seized by a European agency, Bitwhisk domain displays an American agency. I doubt they have the same devs
I believe there is no strict decision on what to do. If you look for other examples of seized domains, you can see several different designs.

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

and some looking like Bestmixer are also used by US agencies, perhaps when there is a collaboration with Europe, I didn't check all of them but
for example, Wikipedia has an example

https://i.imgur.com/RaX0IYO.png

Politie means "Police" in Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands

What if it was the FBI who bought the domain all along after the first shutdown just to net some money launderers? ;D

Or the scammer, after scamming a huge amount, is just trying to play games to make people think that the website was seized yet it's just their way of exiting the scam.

That was a joke. :D

What I'm saying is that I find weird that they both look the same, but were made in completely different ways (one is a single image, the other an actual HTML page) like the latter is trying to make you think they had the same fate.

Ah ah, I wouldn't be surprised coming from The US since the IRS Goes Undercover as A Bitcoin Trader (https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2021/09/01/irs-undercover-on-a-bitcoin-and-cryptocurrency-trading-site-in-180000-sting/)

If it's a scam exit it doesn't make really sense. I mean if the goal is to scam, the scammer should let the website alive to scam more until the domain name expires or until it doesn't worth keeping it online. That's what they usually do.
Or he scammed so much that he was happy with it and decided to get some fun?

edit:
warning
In the original post, I accidentally posted a wrong URL redirecting to a copy of Bitcointalk
bitcointalksearch.org/topic/bitwhiskio-is-online-again-is-it-a-scam-attempt-by-someone-else-or-a-comeback-5177643#msg52275809
instead of
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5177643

I'm sorry  :-X I just figured out now

Well Well Well

I did some digging, and it turns out ghostmixer.cc has been "seized" too
Same seizure banner just like Bitwhisk.io

This site was reported to have shutdown before, it was brought back to life again according to this post (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5181500)

You say this was a joke, but you could be right. When BestMixer was seized, europol issued a press release (https://www.europol.europa.eu/newsroom/news/multi-million-euro-cryptocurrency-laundering-service-bestmixerio-taken-down). No such press release was issued for the seizure of Bitwhisk.io.

My understanding is that when a property is seized, a lawsuit and/or criminal complaint needs to be filed. I have been unable to locate anything to suggest either has been filed.

Absent a public statement from the FBI and/or the DA for the Eastern District of Virginia, I think the evidence suggests this was an exit scam.

Sorry if this sounds like a stupid question (I feel stupid for asking) but what does the FBI have to gain by seizing a dead website and also then announcing it? Would it not be better to seize it quietly and then collect all the data of people trying to still scam from it,,, or am I missing out the big picture from all of this police work? :)

I am also inclined to the hypothesis that it is scam case, when seizing occurs, the decision is recorded in the Official Gazette and you can apply a request in the local or high court and therefore the process must be archived.
I don't know how the FBI or other agencies work, but there must be a an official link.

The strange thing is when seizing takes place, why not include a link to the decision or any official document to prove it is a legal seize?

Looking up the IP points to 2 IPs that both belong to Cloudflare.
bitwhisk.io.
    172.67.135.29
bitwhisk.io.
    104.21.26.9

The Whois lookup is showing as private.
So I doubt it's been seized as *usually* when that happens they drop all privacy and point the domain to government IPs / servers.
Not always but usually.

Just my view.

-Dave

@leea

When they make an announcement, it's too late. They have already everything they need including the servers and its data (that's mean customers IPs and much more)

When Bestmixer has been seized in 2019, they started to investigate 1 year before. In fact, it started 1 month after the launch of the mixer. So we can say since the begining. They collected 1 year of email support, BTC addresses, IPs, transaction details,...
I remember months later they arrested a guy with a ton of cash, BTC wallets, luxury watches, and IICRC gold

Yes,,, I see now. So they already did everything they needed to obtain the information, but still it does not make sense for them to announce the seizure if they can continue to catch and collect.

Or perhaps they only do it when they need to close the case and move on. But I always feel like the enforcement seem to think too short term and announcing such things lengthens the work they need o do later on.

It is highly likely that the owners of Bitwhisk abandoned the site because they knew they are being tracked and the scammer took over the site. But i cannot find any reports regarding any arrest in this case. Their domain is seized and if you get many reports of scam they usually seize the site.

Here is a thread here in scam accusation regarding the comeback   Bitwhisk.io 2.0 - Don't send you coins there. A scammer is behind the comeback.   (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5178761.0)

1) Because a site is seized doesn't mean they arrested the owner.
2) If the domain name is owned by someone else, they can't seize the website/domain


No

I knew it, I even posted the link in the original post


They may not be able to collect more data. Either because the server doesn't store data for a lifetime and they clean every x months. Or if you mean to keep the website alive to catch more, then it's not possible otherwise they'll have to run the website for a lifetime. It means the investigation will never end, and the agency becomes the website owner. What people will say if the FBI runs a Bitcoin mixer?

for some reason (probably due to private registration) it's not possible to check DNS history for that domain, only last changes.
The last update is on 24.09.2021, what may be the reason for the change is registrar, owner or hosting changes. so there was definitely some change almost a month ago.
For example, if it is an exit scam, it's very easy to copy the "The domain name Bitwhisk.io has been seized by the Federal Bureau of Investigation..blah, blah.." page and upload it on any free hosting. even when it all goes over CloudFlare, it can seem quite realistic.

Unfortunately, but I think it might be true.
As far as I know, the owners of crypto mixers are not able to check who is using them, so they are at risk that their services are also used by criminals who launder money.
The police and all secret services are not interested in the fact that the owner of such a project helps them consciously or not consciously.
I am afraid that in the future all mixers will be in the hands or under the full control of secret services.

There is a plain image on weleakinfo.com so...

Am I the only one who thinks that the text "You are not anonymous" wouldn't be written by FBI and the website in reality isn't seized?
Also, almost everytime I have seen seized websites, there was always logo on the seize image. Bitwhisk is the exception in this case

Curious, do they track the signature campaign managers and/or participants of bitcoin mixers too? Managers are usually the ones who are in touch with the owners...
Imagine if FBI guy works here as a sig campaign manager :D

Just remembered the story of Gal Vallerius who was arrested on Beards Festival.

In my opinion, this page does not look real either. I have seen several websites closed by various services and the picture has never looked like this. The most popular FBI image (which probably many here associate with various types of money extortion scams) is:

https://i.imgur.com/ij1YzNV.png

(Original after Silk Road sizing)

The you are not anonymous tag line was displayed on the BestMixer website when their domain was seized. I don’t think this specifically is an indication that the site was not seized. However, my previous post (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5365749.msg58184196#msg58184196) does make the argument that this is an exit scam.

Really? I think that kind of message done via that way seems a little unethical for FBI. I really couldn't expect that they did something like that because that message looks like a threat against that website users. Idk, that's just my idea, such a message from them looks childish.

Yeah, I saw the previous post but at the same time there isn't a press release written on each domain that becomes seized. Usually only the famous domains are mentioned, idk if BitWhisk was belonging to that group (I knew that mixer but what was their traffic and mixing volume).

I still think (like you) that it's an exit scam and this Seize banner was made just to make it scam less scammy.

There's nothing we can do if they do prefer that way.For me it doesnt matter whether this one is fake or showoff or real but still these kind of seizing is very common.FBI or regulatory bodies could

really make out such decision on everything which doesnt abide with the law or totally against with the basic principle.They would really make out corresponding actions or move

if they seem that it is really having violation or being a threat or something connects or correlated to that.

I always believe that in general,,, enforcement works well and does what it is supposed to do to protect people,,, but over the years after reading and seeing stuff even in my own country, I now believe that enforcement is sometimes doing only what their salary-payer tells them to do.

Sometimes arrests are arranged, because if we talk about law-abiding, they do not need to look at crypto. Fiat dealing crooks are plentiful in the sea :)

Mixers are even more strange because they itself are not criminal acts.

You might argue such a message is childish, but I think the purpose of the message on the BestMixer domain was to make criminals think twice before attempting to mix their bitcoin.
The FBI does not necessarily need to issue a press release, however they do need to initiate some form of litigation against the owner of the domain. The US government needs to either initiate a criminal complaint or a civil forfeiture case. They can't just take the domain and not allow a process for the owner to challenge the seizure.

Are not criminal acts? Thats not how government been looking or does have impression about mixers thats why we've seen some mixers/tumblers had been seized because they do really strongly
believe that criminal funds or something like that do really goes first on this place which means they are part of the crime which is wrong or isnt correct.

There would be always that good and bad side but overall it is just the users or the community are the ones who had been really taking advantage its bad side.

This mixer hunting would really continue on future years to come because government wouldnt definitely stop.

Yes,,, I do not think mixing is a criminal act in itself right? They look at mixers not because mixing is a crime but because criminals use mixers. Dealing with criminals is the crime. It is like in a casino,,, they have to do extra money laundering steps because the goverment believe criminals use casinos to wash their dirty money.

So the casino itself is not illegal,,, but knowingly allowing criminals to wash money there is.

Mixing has to stay ahead of enforcement and this encourages even more advanced mixing.

However, casinos have legal regulations that they have to follow and thus can function. For governments, not knowing who is using the mixer because they have no control over it is already a money-laundering suspicion. It doesn't have to be a criminal, but they just need to know who it is and this can be an excuse to close the mixers. Possibly, they will create similar legal regulations as casinos have and then mixers continue to work.

Then the government has to regulate mixers,,, and make it the law to do so. If they want, they can try. You have to prove a crime first before you can call it a crime. We all know the state can make up any excuse it wishes to do what it wants.

On the pretext of protecting people. But taking away our right to privacy is the most sinister crime governments are not held responsible for.