Bitcoin Forum

I confirmed a screenshot with minerjones on telegram whose username was initially mtmantis and later changed to minerjones on telegram. However, now my 26BTC are gone and also their accounts on telegram are deleted.

The major issue I have here is that I received a screenshot of the BitcoinTalk message I had sent to minerjones which is how I had confirmed that it was the same user from here.

Currently it appears the position being taken is that the telegram account was a scam. This leads me to believe that either his account on BitcoinTalk or BitcoinTalk itself is compromised.

Either way it looks like I’m out 26BTC.  It’s upsetting, but I’m more worried about others on here who could be at risk. I feel like this amount of money can really negatively affect someone should a scam be pulled like this.

Anyway it’s unlikely to be resolved but I also wanted to note that whoever can find this guy and bring him to me can have the 26BTC or whatever else they have on them of equivalent or, if not, highest value if they don’t have the coins on them.  I don’t need the money at all just the culprit. Also, please do so without harming him and if you’re in a jurisdiction that requires licensing for bounty hunting please make sure you do so and consult your attorney before proceeding in all jurisdictions.  In the meantime I have a team working on subpoenaing and following the rabbit hole likely to a vpn, but if not I do know that there will be dire consequences for this gentleman’s actions.

I’ll be moving on as I already lost a half mil here definitely don’t want to waste valuable time!  Please message me about this if you have the culprit otherwise I hope BitcoinTalk can have a security analysis because being able to share private messages from a BitcoinTalk account is very scary.

Best,
Andrew

If you sent from a wallet that can be shared maybe post the trxID. I personally can't help but got help myself (alot less) from user here that somehow could track the BTC to exchange where I had a friend that got the funds locked.

minerjones telegram is "minerjones" the problem with telegram is that there can be many accounts where the display name is "minerjones" you have to look at the profile to see if it is actually the "@minerjones" username.

I am pretty much 110% sure that minerjones would not scam you.  I can also tell you that the legitimate "minerjones" account is still active and not deleted - having talked with him just this morning.

it could also be that the bitcointalk.org dm you sent to "minerjones" and received a screenshot of on telegram was not from the real minerjones.

Wow that’s horrible. I’m sorry this happened to you and even more sorry that such a beautiful museum quality cas coin is gone to a scammer. Hate to say it but when you posted that these coins were going to be part of a 40btc deal I expected a post like this to be made soon after.

Do not make deals off of the forum unless you are 1000% sure you know who you’re dealing with.

also - maybe explain what happened - so I am trying to figure out how you lost 26btc - I know you were selling 2 coins on forums, 1btc  cas and a 25btc cas - you ended both threads stating that they were sold for 40btc in some deal.

You sold 2 coins to someone off the forums correct? if so, how does minerjones become part of it? was he in possession of your coins? Did he receive funds from the buyer? did he send the coins out?

If packaged is still in route - you can do a package intercept with USPS. They will return the package to you for a small fee.

Any chance you'd post the screenshot of the DM you sent (that he sent to you) here? Or BTC addy/ TX ID? Also curious like the other user said how you went from selling something for 40btc to sending someone 26btc. Super interested in how this all happened, hope you keep us up to date!

Thanks,
Jambo

Let me be clear - I don't think minerjones did it, however it's very possible that either his account or this entire forum are compromised.

I'm really lucky to not really care so much about the half mil value as I have been fortunate enough to have a lot of successful businesses operating, but I would like the person caught.

Also, to be clear, I confirmed the username as well as the screenshot validity. :)

Best,
Andrew

Was the coin stolen or was the crypto used to pay for the coin stolen?

Clarify here.

A physical coin can be easily recovered, 26 liquid BTC to a scammer with a VPN not so much (Although still possible).

Either way you should have had a pro facilitating this transaction, this is such nonsense.

This is the PM I received from them and replied:

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

1) I do not escrow on Telegram
2) I would never ask you to ship a coin of that value. Would be a required in person meeting
3) Was the payment address PGP signed?  Should have been... and can always verify here: https://keybase.io/minerjones
4) Can you provide the tracking number for the package? Where was it shipped?
5) My Telegram account always has been and is @minerjones  You should always verify the screen name versus the account name

Weird, and now I get am PM from your stating my Telegram account disappeared?
It's still there.. been chatting with people like MoparMining, Jan Emil, Kryptowerk today... they can all verify this

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


"I hope BitcoinTalk can have a security analysis because being able to share private messages from a BitcoinTalk account is very scary"

You got scammed on Telegram, not this forum.... ???

Can verify MJ is NOT compromised. The photos of some coins of mine he sent today via telegram from @minerjones are proof of that.



I don't think that's possible - do you have screenshots to show for the telegram communication? Like people mentioned before: It's easy to mix up "display name" and the telegram handle (@xyzusername). In this case I think there is no way @minerjones was in any way involved in the communication you had via Telegram.

In any case, sorry for your loss. Just happy to hear it does not seem to affect your life too much.

Looks like both coins were redeemed within a few minutes of you posting this ???

https://chain.so/address/BTC/1GL4KQsBryksJCtzWCGqbgSxfowadf2jTT

https://chain.so/address/BTC/1CAepSnHbASSc8McPA8abDLXvwHGEUju9x

Well, that sounds a bit arrogant to say even if you are a billionaire, half mil$ is not an amount you can disparage. something here sounds fishy for some reason,

1. MJ responded to you on the 25th saying it's an imposter so why did you finalize the deal afterward?
2.  who the hell is shipping cas25 by mail? that's the most outrageous and irresponsible to do.
3. how come you can't intercept the package and retrieve the coins?

I am overly puzzled how can anybody do 26 BTC worth of trades and don't ask for a signed message as proof of identity....  ::)
Sorry for your loss, OP  :'(

This shit doesnt make sense. i  have deals with many scammers before . but this . idk everyones here.
i look at your previous post .



" Shipping: Someone will meet you in person for this transaction as long as you are local to the USA. "


HOw da fuck did you loose 26btc. not common . 

1 - send coin to a address . mailing coin.
2-  peeling you coin and giving him access.
3- your account now its hacked ... asking for bread.

I confirm. Like 30min ago about shipment to my friend.

Have been 6 years community admin on telegram. The place have so much scam. Not even the username can be fully trusted.
Each letter scammers can find one that like almost the same from other alphabet. Have seen so many get scammed there.

Hope you get hold of the scammer and heat him with a flamethrower.

Something is not adding up here. I'm sorry to hear about the loss. But without all the information it's hard to help. Maybe you could post the info you have like the screen shots and whatnot. This community might be able to help but the evidence is needed.

Now that u have redeemed the coin, how much u selling the redeemed coins for?

Did you ship the coins before receiving payment? Sorry for your loss but a transaction of that scale for me would have required an in person meeting

did you have a screenshot of this conversation ? did you saved the image of PM received on telegram?
I think this is the most weird part also because:  
 

Being able to access to PMs is one of the bounty https://bitcointalk.org/sbounties.php regarding forum security...
I don't want to doubt what you say, but actually you were clearly told (to your direct question) that you were interacting with a scammer/impersonator...

This really sucks... sadly this is pretty common on crypto and you have to be always trustless...

I will tell you scammers are very professional and sometimes they are able to make us appear idiots, but it is just because they are professionals scamming people, at some point it happens to all of us.

As you say 26BTC were stolen, I guess you shipped both coins to fake minerjones? or is there any actual transaction? If you have a transaction you could share as many people on the forum can do their magic. If the loss is because both coins were shipped to scammer, then probably police can track better and is going to be very difficult for scammers to sell these coins as they are "marked" as stolen. If this is case, I hope you recover them soon!

Regarding scammers having access to minerjones account, my opinion is they dont and used some trick to make you believe that. It would be interesting if you could share all the details, but I guess as they removed their telegram accounts all data is wiped?? In any case, if they have access to PM is just as "read" because otherwise it would be easier to scam just sending PMs and they wouldnt need telegram...

Thanks for sharing

That is not fully true. Scammers most times try to get you to other channel so they can't be locked out and also so the hacked user don't get alerted.

Best scam setup is to make rule that forward all and then delete the messages when forwarded. Mail scammers almost always do it that way.

Agree, but then why send screenshot from "minerjones" account? that would alert/burn the account anyway... I really believe scammer played on him to believe that. There is another thread for same scammer: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5419224.0;all

Think of all the bitcoin diamond that just got scammed.  R.I.P.

Sorry, this happened to you. It does not feel good. Last year, I had a similar experience losing some bitcoin where a scammer acting as one our member.

So who peeled the Cas 25, you?

I'm calling BS on all of this until you post some evidence. Otherwise, make a scam accusation in the proper section with all the proof you have, so that at least noboby else gets f**ked up the ass, and/or blamed by accident.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=83.0

Form is here - https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=260073.0

I have a feeling you realized how/what you fucked up shortly after posting this, hence the lack of any real evidence. OFC, I could be wrong, but that's what I'm going to assume until I see something of value here besides you making accusations with zero proof... ::)

BTW, your 25 Cas has been peeled & moved, and is now sitting here... Why?  You can't even answer that FFS ???

https://blockchair.com/bitcoin/address/bc1q4c9j5zhqj8cg8myslgfmgamyql3rcs7n2pmvrg

 ::)

my guess is one of 2 scenarios:

1. there was no buyer - you peeled your own coins - and whatever reason you are wanting to claim the funds as lost (maybe to avoid taxes?)

2. your account was compromised and they used your account to send the dm's in question with fake responses to boot.


and in all of this - how was it that the coins were peeled so fast? Did the buyer convince you to peel the coins and give them the keys?


why you would ever give any keys or mail any coins (and for this amount they should NEVER be shipped - there are people here, who would handle doing the person to person transaction and deliver the coin in person) without first confirming a payment transaction - even if they were paying an escrow - you would need to see the txn id showing the pymt was made.

 Right? Ill escrow the 26BTC just peel it for me and send the 25 and mail the coin later?
Sus AF. everything about this is sus tbh.
I'd like to notate OP was a MTGOX team member,
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=31710.0
Somehow came out unscathed feedback wise and had no historical opinion of gox event.
(however made a post accusing MJ?)
Gone from 2016-2021
never bought cas publicly.
So, if he bought them privately, he knows how to.
Shows up randomly accusing MJ of escrow fraud.  
Considering the historical content of OP's interactions.
OP was console scammed and didn't verify.
Or OP is in fact attempting tax fraud.
My personal opinion This probably isn't OP.


edit**
Here another WTF? Head scratcher.

Real OP knows whats going on here, and wouldn't be gullible enough to be scammed I don't think.

This seems likely lacking proof he was scammed.

All I know is they were able to show me the screenshot wherein I asked him if he was 'mjmantis' which was the initial username of the user I was interacting with.  The username later changed to minerjones.  Luckily, Android telegram does not auto-delete you from the chatroom like iOS and macOS do.

Here is a picture.

https://coinxc.com/static/telegram-android.jpg

To be clear, I'm not implying that this is a user on this forum or anything like that.  I am just sharing what happened in hopes to help others in the future.  Because I do have this android phone which I actually don't really use, I will be able to preserve this and provide it to authorities here.

I wish everyone the best of luck and a happy new year!

Edit: I want to doubly make clear, I'm not implying that a user on the forum did this.  I'm not actually sure what's going on and feel like it's better to leave this to others who do this.  I hope everyone stays safe.  Take care.

I would like to see this BitcoinTalk message that you received. (Meaning a screen shot, not simply a copy and paste). The only message posted by "minerjones" is that you're dealing with a scammer.  I am most interested in the actual name used on that message since there are many fake "minerjones" variations.    i.e. with a basic search....
minerjones`
minerjones.
`minerjones
minerjones `
minerjones .
minerjones -
minerjonesalt

nothing can be changed now anyway...
even if it is now about 26BTC what currently has an enormous fiat value, but with Bitcoin everyone is responsible for his own actions and take me now not resent... but maybe you are still in possession of the 26BTC only on a new address... ::)
and with such a big deal i would be even more careful and secure everything double and triple...!

there is also a very well known saying in the Bitcoin/crypto community: 'don't trust, verify'

This screenshot of the bitcointalk message is what is puzzling me.
There's a big chance the OP was actually hacked and his bitcointalk account compromised, from there is very easy a fake message to be made, takes seconds.

So check your devices first.

Possible, but from my experience, it would also state that their password had been recently changed in red letters here:

https://i.imgur.com/wc7Cfbw.png

From the looks of everything this was a classic Telegram scam where "escrow" and "buyer" are same person/account

And again... why would you ship a 25 btc Cas coin?

Do you have the tracking for this package?

Not if it was changed in 2021.

When talking on a secondary platform like telegram or discord, I suggest to ALWAYS ask for a pm on the forum to confirm you’re dealing with the actual person/ escrow. When clicking the “trust” button under the profile you can verify the feedback. When a bitcointalk account is hacked, the password is usually changed, which will indicate a red message saying “ This user's password was reset recently.” This is a major red flag, and I would be extra cautious when this message is shown.

This is not the case for minerjones, so I highly doubt his bitcointalk account was compromised.

Either way, Always double verifiy, especially when handling big amounts.

Stay safe

According to bpip - none of those accounts have been active recently.

In the OG sales thread you stated that for shipping that someone would meet in person. Did this get sent outside of the states?

rasengan - When you contacted me to make this 40 BTC escrow deal and I told you that you would be scammed if you tried to do it over telegram, why did you ignore my advice?  I told you that I was willing to help you to avoid this scenario and you decided to do the exact opposite of what I told you.

My $0.02 on this is that your account was likely compromised if you received the screenshot.  Even if minerjones was a scammer I don't think he would be so sloppy as to provide a screenshot as evidence of his involvement.  I'm guessing the screenshot is from your sent folder, or was a fabrication created by getting the message from your sent folder.  That or this is some sort of attempt at getting sympathy so people will make donations.  Anyway, you literally did what I told you not to do and you allegedly lost your funds as a result.  You can't be too surprised by this.

if the message was in his sent folder but then deleted after being sent - as long as it is still in his "received" folder, it should be possible to recover the actual sent dm - we were able to recover dm's in similar situations in the past - provided either the sender or re cepient still ahve the message it was possible to recover.

...aaand there you have it!


If OP is telling the truth here's the easiest way for this scam to work:

*OP account is compromised in the days prior (my guess is he clicked on a link and was phished out of his forum password) .
*OP is then contacted via telegram by the scammer and is asked to send a message to minerjones on bitcointalk to confirm.
*minerjones sends op a msg stating that it's not him but because op's account is compromised the scammer has the ability to delete the msg and op does not see it.
*OP is contacted via telegram by the scammer with a shopped screenshot.

@rasengan, you can see your IP logs for the past 30 days here:  https://bitcointalk.org/myips.php

Not related, but figured I would mention, as this forum may have been where they got my email (it's similar to my name, so someone just reading the forum might figure it out.  I received a "Google Form" to my email:

https://i.postimg.cc/P52JDLXc/SCam.png (https://i.postimg.cc/P52JDLXc/SCam.png)


Please do not attempt to use the link in the message, I wanted to share for awareness only.   

People obviously follow this forum for nefarious reasons, again, not sure if they put two and two together from here or not.   Obviously I did not fall for this, but again, wanted to share for awareness.

Thanks!
Mark

I've been traveling and just reading this entire thread for the first time. I'm totally confused OP. How did you get scammed exactly? How does the owner of a coin, demanding that the sale would only be in-person, lose 26 BTC exactly? The MJ impersonator seems irrelevant to the degree of difficulty it takes to lose this. You peeled it, sent the funding with no escrow. I'm not trying to kick you while you are down, I just can't quite understand how you actually lost here. Seems hard to believe.

Something just doesn't seem to add up here, smells fishy to me

Never trust, always verify!

It's possible that the rush of making a quick 40btc clouded his judgement and made him blind to the red flags as he was rushing to close the deal.

How did you lose 26 BTC? I thought the deal was for 40.

I tend to agree here, unless OP is just avoiding taxes etc ...

Seclog would usually show a password reset by email if it had been hacked - All it shows is he woke up:, so either it's him or his pass was highjacked... ???

December 16, 2022, 11:10:10 PM - rasengan - woke up (https://bitcointalk.org/seclog.php#:~:text=December%2016%2C%202022%2C%2011%3A10%3A10%20PM%20%2D%20rasengan%20%2D%20woke%20up)


They've both been peeled and funds were combined then split up a bit.. ::)

When they get the link via dm and click it - they literally give the “hacker” their pw - so no meed for the “hacker” to change it - the people never realize their is even an issue until after they get screwed - at which time still there is no need for “hacker” to change the pw then.

This is true in the cases where they want to steal your account, but if you are infected with Troyan Horse with keylogger then they know your password and don't want to change it, just steal info.
If that was the ca se and if the hacker is not that smart the OP should check his login history for weird/unknow IP addresses here:

https://bitcointalk.org/myips.php

Just to be on the safe side.

Wow that is really too bad, what an awful way to end the year. Its a good thing that 26 BTC doesn't mean so much to you, as you have made it seem. Hopefully a really great learning lesson for you, you must not deal on here or online in exchanges very often. Keep your head up, and next time be sure to verify exactly who you're dealing with and make sure to take extra caution next time you ship out coins with this kind of magnitude. For me 26 BTC would literally change my life and I would not have taken any chances simply by trusting someone who appeared to be Minerjones on telegram. MJ is on discord anyways, next time you should ask around first before taking any actions.

 This is quite scary....so just by clicking on the link will give the hacker all the info?

  Is it possible this user was using LastPass manager that was just hacked?

   https://www.komando.com/security-privacy/password-manager-hacked/871018/

   DOnt understand why people use these at all!

   Just write and store on a piece of paper or booklet....treat a password just like a private key IMO...never store on a browser or any program period.

Putting words in MMs mouth but no, the link redirects to a fraud site that looks correct asking you to login. You put in your credentials and then it forwards you to the correct site so you think you have logged in but they now have your username & password.
It's really just phishing at work. BUT, when you have your info here tagged to your Twitter / Instagram / Discord / Telegram and so on it makes you a slightly easier target since someone now knows what services you use.

Which is why I have "I DO NOT TRADE on Telegram or Skype or Discord." Right there as my personal text.

-Dave

So basically what minerjones confirmed to the scammer, the scammer confirmed with the victim and here is the missunderstanding. It happens very often on most forums, the OP is the only one at fault here, he just went blindly trusting minerjones, even it is not his fault.

I didn't confirm anything to the scammer... just the OP
OP did not trust me... they trusted the scammer...

Then let's just let this thread die in 🔥🔥...

🤷‍♂️

No evidence equals no proof, which equals no scam IMO.

I'm completely at a loss as to what your statement meant. The ambiguity therein has make us not understand what is been said, whether to you or to another different person. Would you mind explaining it again?

Saying horrible is even putting it mildly. 26 BTC isn't a mean amount. That's a substantial amount of cash to lose, even in today's world, it's huge.

Don’t think the story can be solved before OP write more.

Thought it was the payment for the coins that was stolen. Later I could see it was the coins. And then they was claimed.

The Telegram usernames are unique and scammers can't copy and use the same usernames as someone else. That's why they will attempt to use a similar username that the victim won't notice and use the person's real username in the BIO field. Those who aren't familiar with Telegram won't know the difference and will misinterpret the BIO for a username.

---

Can the admins recover and find the content of deleted PMs? I know they get the PM's content if a PM is reported, but I wonder if theymos can see something more... If something like that was possible, it would be easy to prove if a PM was sent, from, and to which account.

This pretty much sums it up. However, while I do trust MJ, he may want to clear this up beyond doubt and only theymos can do that. Hence I support Pmalek point/request.
But it's really up to MJ, I think that he should ask theymos, if he considers it necessary.
Again, for me it's clear. The lack of proof of identity (i.e. signed message) was the root for disaster (if there was indeed a disaster).

There are no deleted PMs.. this has nothing to do with on forum activity.
The OP was scammed on Telegram... PMs/messages/chats were deleted there

Still has not provided any txid, shipping, etc...  Still guessing they peeled themselves or had the scammer get them to peel them and send them the funds... Pretty convenient that they were swept almost the same time they made this tread


Correct.. there has been no proof or evidence they were sent a PGP signed message from me (or the scammer)
And even if it was PGP signed by the scammer, it would not check against my key

The displayed name can be the same - that is why one must check the username - I agree - but they have to go into telegram users profile to do this.

As for dm’s they can be recovered even if deleted by one party, if the other party still has it in their inbox/outbox.

Hello Rasenga,

I apologise for writing to you out of nowhere, but I think I fell for the fake minerjones scam too, I read your story and it was very similar to mine as I was also scammed from a fake minerjone on telegram because I thought it was the real one. Send me an email at teresah.ashworth846gmail.com if you fancy having a chat about this, I will like to hear more about what happened because I also lost a huge sum of money and I need to speak to someone desperately!


Thank You
Teresah Ashworth

I feel sad for your loss even though you did not provide any evidence, 26BTC is a really huge amount that I can collect in about 10-20 years, Telegram is not a good platform for you to do any transactions through, as anyone can message you and impersonate the username of another person, and he can delete private messages between you and him in seconds, and you will not be able to recover them. I do not know @minerjones, but what I see is that he is a member who enjoys a lot of positive trust in his account. It is certain that the scammer who stole your money imitated his username on Telegram and contacted you. It would have been better for you to carry out your dealings through the forum away from Telegram or any of the other platforms, as the forum has private messages that you can communicate with whomever you want through.