Bitcoin Forum

Quite a few scammers are registering users very similar to those of admins or global mods and then ask for money via PM.
This could clearly differentiate whether a PM came from the forum, it's staff or theymos.

Well it does already state staff/moderator/admin etc under your name (amongst other details) and you can clearly see all that when you get a message from one of you guys, but maybe something more prominent could be displayed in some way, but for some people there's nothing that'll stop them from being scammed.

I share your opinion. But this is just a simple measure that could prevent some from being scammed(like this poor guy here (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=665923.0)).
And it can be done quite easily in the new forum software, the PMs from forum/stff can be colored in a different shade in the message list.

To be fair, that guy just learned a very expensive lesson. Always verify who you're dealing with -- no matter who it is.

I personally think it'd be unnecessary, but I don't see any harm in adding the feature.

I saw that, but I think any amount of preventative measures just wont help some people. He sent money to a newbie named theymo5 with 0 posts 0 activity and 0 feedback which would've all been clearly visible in the PM. Maybe having moderator's names or messages in red or shaded differently somehow or perhaps a red warning stating this is a message from staff could be implemented, but not everybody would be aware of this so I think the niaive will always be exploited in some way unfortunately.

Mny places just shade the message slightly with a certain color (usually green or yellow). That could work here.

Or simply just change both the username and position text into a bright color.

There could be a filter put in place where new usernames can not be closely related to a certain set of usernames (such as ones from Admins, Mods and highly respected members).

For example, if 90% (can be changed) consecutive letters are included for Theymos, the username would be blocked.
90% of 7 letters is 6.3 round down to 6 letters.
If 6 letters of Theymos are included within Theymos, the username would be blocked.

Therefore, the usernames:
Theymo
Heymos
Would be blocked. Would be a algorithm placed on the new registration form.

Although I would say the user is at fault for not properly checking the user's profile, this method seems like it could work. But I doubt it will ever be implemented.

The purpose of the filter would be to prevent users from using common known usernames as a way to scam other individuals.

I really do hope what I posted would be implemented. It is not a hard filter to add and would make the moderators/admins jobs easier.

The PHP code below would be the ultimate solution. It is a bit hacky and I did it quickly but it will provide the idea for developers who understand PHP.


Basically just checks the variants of the submitted usernames against a blocked usernames array.

No offense, but I don't think this should "staff exclusive". Many traders who have auctions get imposers. They will PM the "winner" to say they have won the auction and you can send the BTC to address: .. There has been many successful scams like that for a lot of BTC. If somehow the "reputation/title/posts/activity" etc would be more clear, it would be great already I guess. Basically it should be clear if you get a PM from a newbie.

The solution I posted above could be used with all members, even though it may reduce the amount of available usernames significantly. Filter percentage could be moved up in value.

This is an excellent idea.

The forum could display a banner, or even change the theme colours when a message from the admin or moderators is read.

Trying to restrict similar usernames would be futile, IMO.

There could have been more people being scammed by that user as there are lots of bidders. And they won't be asking for escrow since they though its theymos they're dealing with.

ohmy smart scam though.

Btw a quick fix on the current forum could be: show a message above the PM if the activity is less 30: "This member is new to the forums, make sure it is not an imposer." or even only the first part of that. Newbies can still PM this way, but at least there is a fair warning. If an imposer tries to get 30 activity I think they will be caught quickly.

This scam has definitely not been the first of this kind (and not the last.) I know bitcointalk is not and cannot be responsible for scams, but if there can be a quick fix to prevent this type of scams, that would be great right ? :)

I was thinking the Administrator's name be in red, and Moderators in blue, and their messages be tinted.

It already shows you all the relevant info when someone messages you ie Member status/rank, activity, posts, avatar, trust etc. If someone messages you with all those at zero but a similar username and you get scammed... well, I just don't think there's much you can do for some people.

Lol, I know it shows all that and I wouldn't personally fall for a scam like that. But still I don't really agree with the "oh well you are too stupid to get scammed, that's your own fault" attitude that the bitcoin community has many times.

I think a slightly bigger message above the PM content will make it much more clear that the PM is from a newbie and not really a trusted seller. If you never had a PM before there is even no way of knowing that there "should be an avatar, stars, positive trust, etc". I think a message like that could help against this type of scams so I see it as a good thing.

I completely agree with you!
It shouldn't be that hard to highlight those PMs in some discrete, but noticeable way(visible on phone and tablets as well). I think the highlight should be applied on the PM list.

Highlighting would be nice but still I don't think it can be seen very easily in phones. Like 'Vod' said, displaying a banner would be great ( like a banner that shows when the person is banned ) . They will spend some time reading it as it is unusual.


+1.

Kindly,
      MZ

Something like this (although colors could be debated) sounds like an easier solution than the "block similar names" option.

Need more suggestions/opinions!

   -MZ

 i think could be useful to spread their nick name...
so we can defend ourselves...

if you have some scammer nick,
give it us plz!!!

 ;)

You can see a few impersonators in the first page of https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=mlist. If you search, you will get many more.

   -MZ

This is not only an issue with the forum administration/staff, it is an issue with people pretending to be anyone who is potentially owed money. People frequently send PM's from imposter accounts pretending to be from someone who is selling some item.

This could be more easily solved by preventing anyone from sending a PM until they make at least one post somewhere; this would give people more of an opportunity to spot imposters and give them negative trust feedback accordingly.

Pretty good idea Cyrus , I really like it .
Developpers could simply make each user group have it's own name color . Let's say Administrators Purple , Moderators Green , Staff Blue etc ..; that could solve the problem .

~ Madness

i found similar thread...

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=938401.0

che if you have some delas with the users reported...

take care!!!

As I've mentioned before this isn't exactly foolproof and they'll just make the post in some obscure sub to try avoid detection. I don't think we should add this restriction just to stop the minutely tiny amount of people who try imposter scam. Their stupid names are usually the biggest giveaway anyway.


But most newbies won't be aware of the colour scheme/this feature so I'm not sure how useful it will be. Also, people impersonating staff is very rare and them successful scamming from it is either rarer.

I also like this idea "the scheme of colors" for each rank. Why not each rank has a different color? from newbie member >> to staff member.

Yeah that could work too , I was just giving an example ;D
But I don't seethe use of Coins under our names if we add that to be honest

~ Madness

i never minded coins,
under nick name.

i think are not so useful.

It is very rare but the scammed amount will be high. I don't value how many impersonating accounts are created, instead, I prefer how much amount was scammed. If you check the forum auction threads, you can see what I meant and in some threads, there are photos of the messages.

I think, like Gmail & other popular services, send 1-3 emails to newly registered users to educate them the features and related, a bot dedicated to message newly registered users one or two messages which include links to important Meta threads especially stickied ones would help them. A thread should be made about impersonators and this color scheme. I can't say this would prevent from impersonator-scamming but this would decrease a lot of scams.

   -MZ

It will not remove the scam but I'm sure it will drop the scam attempt to the various newbie. As you know someone has tried to scam the users, through pm, that pointing at auction (Advertise on this forum - Round 000) and a couple of users have lost their  bitcoin.So at the end this function can prevent the scam attempt, because it doesn't exist a solution that works at 100%

We're working on ways to make admin, moderators, and thread starter's usernames appear more prominently so that users know when an admin or mod contacts them or if the thread starter is making a new post in a thread.

Maybe add OP somewhere.