Bitcoin Forum

Update - 07-08-2013 - Bounty currently suspended. I'll be re-opening soon under new terms.
Current Bounty
BTC51

Purchase Bounty Shares here (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=248188)

Current USD amount of bounty
http://btcticker.appspot.com/mtgox/51.00btc.png

https://blockchain.info/address/1E36mb8tWuEarA9b99v179CoAkudoadzQS
Bounty is escrowed with John K. and open for donations. Please read below for more details

Bounty Details
I am offering a minimum of 50 BTC for information leading to the arrest of the individual that broke into my house and stole a Batch #2 Avalon ASIC. The burglary occurred at exactly 10:10 AM CST on May 31st 2013, 2.5 days after listing on the forums and eBay. I live in North DFW, in an area with one of the lowest crime rates in America, so this is not a coincidence. I have kept quiet about the burglary while police investigate, but I feel now is the time to take action and provide a little incentive for catching the criminal.

I want to stress that the primary goal of this bounty is not to retrieve my Avalon, but to ensure the criminal who invaded my house and privacy serves due time in prison, and prevent this from happening to anyone else. With that said, I want to encourage those of you that may have purchased a stolen unit second hand to come forward with information about the individual you purchased from. The bounty is available to any individual that provides information leading to an arrest.

Who is eligible, how can you help?
Everyone is eligible.

• Purchased a secondhand Avalon off of eBay, the forums, craigslist? Please contact me. If you are able to provide identifying information on the unit, we can move forward with locating the criminal.
• Provide information on your thieving friend or someone you've seen bragging about stealing an Avalon. I can't imagine someone willing to break into a stranger's home has loyal friends. Surely someone will be willing to rat their criminal buddy out.
• Donate to the bounty and help spread the message to lurking criminals that we intend to make sure they don't get away with major theft. I am not the benefactor of bounty donations, and donations can be retracted after each 30 day period(More details in Full Terms). In the event the unit is returned, as a donator, you will receive a percentage of the Avalon's mining power for the life of the unit(no less than 1 year)

Full Terms

• Bounty is run in 30 day intervals, starting June 19th 2013. At the end of 30 days, I will decide wether to continue for another 30 days or not.
• Donators have 24 hour period after each 30 day interval to retract their donation. In the event the bounty is called off, donators will receive a full refund. If you do donate, please remember to donate from your account(not Mtgox or another online account). This will ease the refund process if necessary.
• In the event the unit is returned, donators will receive a percentage of the Avalon's mining power, equal to the percentage donated to full bounty.
• Information must lead to criminal arrest of an individual connected to the burglary. This must be verified before receiving payment.
• Bounty is escrowed with John K. John has been given specific information regarding the case and should only be contacted if you are uncomfortable with speaking me directly

For those of you with ASICs on order, or coming in soon, be careful! There are criminals out there willing to break into your house and take your property. It's easy to forget how much this hardware is worth, and what people are willing to do, when you paid a fraction of the current value.

Reposted.

Clarification on intent and donations:

My intent is to see that the criminal is placed behind bars. I realize there's a slim chance of retrieving the Avalon, and I've come to terms with that. I want to encourage users that have purchased Avalon units secondhand to come forward and provide information about their units. You are eligible for the reward and you are not obligated to return the ASIC to me.

This sentiment conflicts with the offering of a mining percentage to donators if the Avalon is retrieved. The way I see it, the criminal will be outed by a buyer or a friend turning over information for the bounty. If it's a friend, there's a much higher chance of retrieving the Avalon. In that event, I will be spliting the mining rewards over donators accounts. Donators are allowed to withdraw their donation after each 30 day bounty. I will also provide the option for donators to specify beforehand if their donation is only valid in the event the unit is returned. Obviously, I would like donations to be free of that stipulation but I'm afraid the bounty is going to need to be a bit larger to really attract an informant.

I believe you're a man that has a certain set of skills.  https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTROY_-wjqymlYYPJOyI3akLdtYdgIsgsgbgbW7ogLSFreCK6qkcA

Wow... I wish all the best to you. Speaking as a criminal justice student, the majority of burglaries are by people you know. But being that you listed the unit before your house was broken into, that really leaves open the possibilities. Could you describe the break in? Was it through a window, door, wall? Did they go straight for the unit? How did they know where to find it? Did they search the rest of the house? How do you know it was at 10:10am? Neighbors see a suspicious car? I have so many questions...







Well in that case...

I would like everyone to know that the State in which I currently reside in has a castle doctrine. I keep a Glock 19 under my pillow, a Mossberg 500 loaded with 00 Buckshot next to my bed, a revolver in my desk, multiple rifles around my house, and a Makarov in my car. All of my firearms are always loaded. I am well trained, and equally skilled in all of my firearms. I will not hesitate.

10:10 AM was the time of the last share submitted by the unit accross 3 pools. Funny you should mention protection. I've been training Brazillian Jujitsu for the past 10 years, collegiate and high school wrestler. I can now admit that I had last week off and stayed home with an empty butterfly labs jalapeno box on my front doorstep, waiting for the criminal to return so I could strangle the shit out if him. I'm serious about catching this guy...

How would they know your address just by listing on ebay? It would have to be someone who had gotten your address through other means..or someone that knew what you had already. 300-400$ security cameras hooked up to a  DVR would be good investment ;)

PS: I confirm that I'm the escrow here.

Thanks,
John

I knew it would be a matter of time before something like this happened. That's worth $10k, and people have stolen for a lot less.

Sorry for your loss, and I hope you find the guy.

Have you tried to contact Avalon and see if maybe each Unit has a unique number by which it could be tracked while mining? or something unique to it?

Did you check the pool where you were mining with it, maybe he was stupid enough to test the unit using your credentials/mining address? If he was stupid enough, you could at least get an IP address(from pool) and that would be a start.

I think suggestions like "if someone saw something suspicious in the neighborhood" will not help - the police should be able to take care of that.

I don't know much about avalon but see if there's a way to track it back(maybe avalon developers can help?).

Another thing you could try is inquire every single pool and ask for help by providing the information the day that it was stolen and the week from that day, to see if maybe there was a user which turned on additional 50-60ghs. There might be many of those guys, but by IP you could check and see maybe there's something in your area.

Hope any of this helps.

I've tried everything that's been mentioned over the past few weeks, believe me. I'm throwing a wide net and bounty was last resort.

I am trying to get a Vanity Address with "CrazyGuy" and I will send a satoshi to it for luck.
If that doesn't work, I am out of ideas.  :-[

Are you able to tell us what city/state?

Also how many friends into bitcoin know about it and had your address even those who you know online? (Just kinda trying to see how many possible people were looking at).

And last question.... did you try selling it on ebay or anything that might have given info away?

Yeap, maybe Avalon has some serial numbers on it?
I know BFL units like Jalapenos have serial number stickers on the back.

They have not responded, I can identify the unit if someone comes forward.

That is absolutely insane !!!
It seemed normal that wallets get hacked, people profile each other, but breaking in your house just tops it again.

Who in the offline world did you tell about your Avalon ? Did you go to any bitcoin meetups or conferences ?

I wish you good luck to find the guy !!!! I assume it will be somebody that lives at least in the States and not so far from you ? He probably observed you as well ?! Are there any security cams (CCTV) close  by your home ?

Man im sorry that happened to you!! :(

The invasion of youre privacy and not knowing whats missing is the worst.. I used to stay in a really bad neighborhood so lets just say growing up i went through this a few times! One of my neighbors home was emptied with a uhaul .. literally emptied!



If you havent figured it out yet the camera you took pictures with is embedding the gps coordinates of where the image was taken. You took the pictures at home.., Uploaded to the forums or ebay and that was that!! Take the photos down if you haven't already. Turn the feature off on youre smartphone or camera!


Also you may want to inquire or ask avalon about a unique hardware id.. if you can get youre hardware and give that to people running pools..

If you can see it hashing on the network in a pool somewhere.. Maybe you can offer the bounty to people who run pools!!  But first you gotta see if they have hardware id's that can be read via a script.


I take it you didnt have a camera setup.. I have a multi camera setup in my home that triggers via motion and records video and audio 24hrs a day so just because you dont have security cameras doesn't mean your neighbors dont! Ask you neighbors and offer a reward for footage of that day or even a few days before to see if they were casing youre home ..

Also did the cops take prints ... did the thieves leave cables behind!? If the cops missed it or didnt take prints, have a third party do finger print on the cables and surrounding furniture and what not..


Also are you in the states.. Did you get a power supply by yourself trying to avoid customs issues? Look for youre power supply on craigslist! I believe power supply have a serial on them! Look for the model .. and obviously offer to buy if you find one local and compare serials..
 

Dont take anything for granted and think when and who you have dialoged with about asic's or bitcoin. Especially someone who has been in youre home!  

Really sorry that happened to you! Good luck with the hunt..


 

OK. This is just a little crazy.

It's money, man. Don't shoot somebody over some money. It's one thing to defend yourself and another entirely to kill a man over some fucking hardware.

Criminals deserve jail time, but could you live with yourself for being the sort of person who is so covetous that he'd kill over money? How would you feel? What about the court fees and potential civil penalties when the family sues the shit out of you?

You don't know why he's stealing it, either. Maybe he's got a sick kid. You don't know - how would you feel if you shot a man dead who was desperate to get treatment for his son?

If you're going to shoot an unarmed intruder, at least make it the lower leg.

I have no feelings for liars & thieves.Especially thieves,if I catch someone breaking into my car or house,I WILL SHOOT them,if they die,no great loss  >:(

Its not about the money,its about protecting ones self & family.In most cases during a breakin/carjacking these lowlifes will KILL YOU & have NO remorse...........................

CrazyGuy,I wish you the best of luck & hope you "get your man"  8)

Word. That said, this really isn't a moralic preferences discussion now and most certainly not it's ugly, aggressive cousin political discussion. Let's not derail a thread made by someone like the OP and have him go through yet another dissappointment.

Usually when something like this happens...its someone you know and who knows you were getting this item.  Someone that knows where you live as well.

The only other thing I can think of is maybe they got the geo location from your ebay / bitcointalk pictures   OR its someone who has bought stuff from you in the past on ebay and they have access to your address still.

It's possible they contacted someone who you bought from recently on ebay with a bullshit story about needing your address for something.

Try contacting them through your feedback and purchase history as only a seller you've bought from would have your address.

Worth a shot at least, hope you find them and bring the f**kers to justice. If they happen to fall down the stairs a couple dozen times on the way we'll understand :-)

+1

I once had my car done, on returning to my car I saw the door open, glass on the floor and a pair of legs sticking out....
So I run up power kicked the door on him and pinned him down..

Turns out to be a tramp (who came by after the breakin) getting an apple I had left on the back seat ..


Best we dont go around shooting people ay.. ;)

Who knows you have it and your address?
Have them spied and sort it out
Ask a professional detective dosn't look like an impossible investigation to me....

You would be able to hire a pro for a period with the bounty, might be worth a shot if all other avenues dry up. I would certainly make enquiries for people that specialise in finding stolen property. One that thinks outside the box?

My advice:  Beat the crap out of who stole your Avalon...don't listen to these tree hugging, hippy-hipsters...they are push-overs in real life :)

I was robbed last august of 4 cell phones, a digital camera, and a laptop.
It was my neighbor who I invited over to my party.  I had known him for 1+ years prior to this happening.

Anyway long story short...I called my stolen phone and the guy answered and said "Hello?".  I then knew it was him.   After spending one hour looking for him, i found him trying to trade the stuff for heroin.   I confronted him and he said it was his stuff and then he threatened me.  
I lost it, beat the crap out of him, threw him through the drug dealer's window and sent him to the hospital for 2 days.


Looking back on it...it was great to beat up a scumbag.  I got my stolen property back as well.  On the other-hand...I almost killed the guy and the police thought I was the criminal until they realized he had robbed me.   I could have gotten charged with a felony / misdemeanor on my record for $1k of stolen stuff.  This could have affected my future job prospects for the rest of my life.


Moral of the story:   If you are gonna fight and beat the crap out of someone...Run away after you do it...and Please make sure its the right person.  Police are a pain in the ass to deal with.  Finally, sometimes its just better to let it go.  

Man people are amazing I wish you the best with this. Hopefully someone will come through for you and this should helps others be on the lookout for this type of crap.

Haha, I ran through the scenario in my head a few times while I was waiting for someone to take the bait off my doorstep last week. It usually involved me catching him with a surprised look as he shook the empty BFL box, then applying a firm rear-naked choke for 8-12 seconds. The next 30 minutes would be me letting him go in and out of consciousness as I systematically break each of his major limbs. This of course was a grandiose plan and in actuality I would probably hog tie him after the first choke, then turn him over to the police. I'm not a mean person and everyone deserves a second chance.

Yeah but when that red mist decends you sometimes come round sitting on a dead body eating his still warm liver :-)

^^ sometimes its better to live in a rough neighborhood. The thief gets an ass kicking and gets robbed shortly after leaving youre house and the guy who robbed him will try and sell it back to you when you get home from work not knowing its youre stuff!

Its like youre paying for a unsaid bounty! lolz

 

Literally the worst advice on this topic I have EVER seen. Lethal force is lethal force, in the eyes of the law. If you're going to deploy lethal force, you'd better have good justification for it. If you're shooting to wound, you demonstrate that you did not feel threatened, and therefore were not justified in shooting. And even if you didn't feel threatened at the time, you may very well quickly find yourself on the other end of a weapon that you didn't realize he had.

Breaking and entering is a violent crime. Same category as rape, assault, etc, etc.

If somebody is violent enough to break into your home, you'd be wise to bank on the idea that they're violent enough to be armed and dangerous. Shoot to stop the threat. That means, at minimum, a controlled pair, center of mass. If that doesn't do the trick, move up and put one to the head. Rinse, repeat as necessary until 'threat' drops.

If you go intentionally shooting at people's legs/feet, the DA will have a field day with you!

Nothing a few candles, a pentagram, some blood from a freshly slaughtered goat, a gateway to the stygian blackness of a nether realm, and the whisperings of a ancient and evil consciousness that ravens for our blood can't solve.  ;D

Please tell me you are kidding! If you have a sick kid, you don't go breaking into other people's homes stealing their Avalon Bitcoin mining machines! What is he gonna do? Mine Bitcoins for a week, and then sell them on MtGox (which takes another week)?

Ok guys, I've allowed the thread to get a bit out of control. Please provide any tips via PM.

I prefer a triple tap directly. Don't need to even aim for the head. Maybe even quad tap. The fifth one, if needed would be point blank to make sure the threat really has stopped and won't get back up to murder you and leave your family without a father.

If it goes to court, you have self-defense laws. But at least you are alive, and you might be able to attend your son's graduation.

Lol one maybe two bullets is self defense. 5 will get you in trouble.

The average number of rounds fire in a police shooting ... 17. 

Responsible gun owners should know the laws related to self defense, castle doctrine, stand your ground, etc in their state.

If you genuinely believe that your situation does not requrie lesthal force then 1 shot is just as wrong as 5.  If your situation requires lethal force then it requires lethal force until the target is no longer a threat.  That means aim center mass and shoot until target ceases to be a threat, has left the area, or you run out of ammo.

Speaking as an 11 year Army Veteran shooting with a pistol under combat conditions is difficult.  Even trained Police Officers rarely hit one in 12 shots.  The first thing that happens is you will get a shot of adrenaline likely the largest and most intense dose of adrenaline you will experience in your life.  The bad news is this causes peripheral vision to fade, fine motor skills (like aiming and trigger squeeze) to be degraded and a sensation of time operating at a increased speed.  Many soldiers in firefights will believe it lasted 10-15 minutes only to find out only find out it was 90 seconds.

It can be very difficult to make an assessment under combat conditions if a target is still a threat (and self defense is combat).  If they are still a threat and you hesitate trying to determine if you landed two hits or not it may be the last mistake you make.

Positively identify the threat (make sure the intruder is really an intruder).
Aim center mass (no stupid "shoot him in the leg" nonsense landing body shots is tough enough).
Shoot to stop the threat (continue to engage the target until is no longer a threat).

Laws in Texas are geared towards homeowners. I am armed and prepared to defend with deadly force but I'm hoping it wouldn't get to that. I'd prefer to choke the individual until police arrive.

Criminals tend to visit when you are not home anyways. My best advice is to do like I've done and get an alarm system and closed circuit video cameras. Many of you may be expecting to receive expensive miners shortly and the best way to keep them in your possession is to be proactive in securing your home.

I'd also recommend purchasing additional insurance for your miners. Regular home insurance policies usually have limits on single items like computers or devices used for business and they are always looking for a way to weasel out of full coverage. My Avalon was classified as a business device, which is covered but limited to a certain amount which doesn't even come relatively close to replacement cost.

Did you happen to have other items listed for sale on eBay at the same time as your Avalon? It could be that the thief bought one of your other items to get your address.

Look at the addresses to whom you sent to or received packages from on eBay. It's probably the dude who lives near you.

Instead of going crazy with security, why not get your equipment covered by your homeowners insurance? A camera won't do you any good if your house catches fire or floods.

Yes, I highly recommend anyone with expensive mining equipment do this. I would, but I no longer have anything to insure.

For those interested, I received a settlement from my standard insurance policy that doesn't come close to replacement cost. Standard insurance policies have limits on single items and items used for business. To avoid frustration and extreme disappointment, insure each if your miners for replacement cost and lost income.

Where was Josh when this happened? Does he have an alibi?

He does, or he did at some point. I purchased a 5970 from him a couple years ago. I'm not sure if he would move up from pass through ponzi to breaking into someone's home, but anything's possible.

Sweet, you've now let everyone know you have guns inside your house. So if I wanted to rob I would just wait untill you leave and then do the deed, pick up some nice weapons as well.