Bitcoin Forum

I don't yet have permission from the seller to post the seller's name or any of the PM communications. If I can get permission from the seller, I'll update this post with additional details.

What happened::
Beaflag VonRathburg contacted me to hold escrow for a purchase of 30 Gridseed ASIC units for $4950 worth of bitcoins. I sent out an escrow contract to both the seller and Beaflag VonRathburg.  Beaflag VonRathburg never funded the escrow address, but the seller did not realize this at the time.  The seller sent out the Gridseed ASIC units without checking with me first or looking on blockchain.info to confirm that the escrow address was funded.  Upon checking with the delivery company, the seller determined that Beaflag VonRathburg took delivery of the units. Since then, Beaflag VonRathburg has not signed on to bitcointalk and has stopped responding to any PM.

Scammers Profile Link:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=50087

Reference Link:
None available at this time. This post will be edited to add a link in the future if possible.

Amount Scammed: $4950 (approximately 10 Bitcoins at the time of the transaction)
Payment Method: Bitcoins

Proof of (non) Payment:
Escrow address: 1Ch8jHU3eWkVcpDp7JSiywhNFCMusbdtfW (https://blockchain.info/address/1Ch8jHU3eWkVcpDp7JSiywhNFCMusbdtfW)

PM/Chat Logs:
None available at this time. This post will be edited to add a link in the future if possible.

Additional Notes:
It would be best not to engage in any transactions with this user until they either return the products received or pay for them appropriately.

Update:  Looking at Beaflag VonRathburg's profile, it appears that they were online here at bitcointalk.org as recently as 18:45 UTC today.  They did not respond to this scam accusation thread, and they did not respond to any of the many PM that have been sent to them from both myself and the equipment seller.

It is now clear that this isn't just a simple misunderstanding.  Beaflag VonRathburg is aware that there is an issue and is not interested in resolving it.

Since the equipment seller has the delivery address, the police are being notified of the theft.

Lol, no offense but that is a pretty ridiculous mistake to make on the seller's behalf. Hopefully things pan out for you guys.

There were unusual circumstances involved in this transaction that makes the mistake a but less ridiculous, but yes I think this seller probably learned a very valuable lesson about being very sure before sending the shipment.

Was there ever a resolution to this?

the guy is active these days so lets hope so.
I don't understand how people can let someone else scam them if they have their delivery address.
send yourself in a parcel if you have to!

As far as I'm aware, this was never resolved.  Beaflag VonRathburg did not return the equipment that was accidentally sent to him, and did not send any payment to the member that accidentally shipped the equipment to Beaflag VonRathburg.

Since there was an agreement to pay, and Beaflag VonRathburg did not pay, I still consider Beaflag VonRathburg to be a thief and a scammer.

I have to maintain the privacy of the seller until/unless they give me permission to reveal anything about their identity, but the seller is still active on this forum. Let me know if you have any questions for the seller, and I'll let you know what their response is.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=752670.msg8517647#new

Self-moderated by the scammer and removed my post linking it to this thread.

Sorry to bring up an old topic up but why is this VonRathburg guy still posting like he is invincible or nothing ever happen?.

Because, even though he has -627 trust, some people on this forum are still willing to engage in business with him.  I hope they are being careful.

I have done a decent amount of business with him, and have had 0 issues what so ever.

Just going through my trust - did this ever get resolved?