Bitcoin Forum

What happened: Plagiarized Whitepaper


Profile Link: ANN -- https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5118476.0
https://web.archive.org/web/20190309044354/https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5118476.0

Profile Link: ANN https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5053948
https://web.archive.org/web/20190309050904/https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5053948
Many accounts are blocked. Registration from 21-22 April, 2018
farm

Website Link:- https://www.marcoin.cc/
https://web.archive.org/web/20190110061102/https://www.marcoin.cc/

Whitepaper: https://www.marcoin.cc/whitepaper.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20190110061100/https://marcoin.cc/whitepaper.pdf

No links to copied resources no team

White paper copied from https://dropil.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Dropil_White_Paper.pdf

https://i.ibb.co/VMN4H3p/2019-03-09-09-56-27.png (https://ibb.co/XF4RyVk)

https://i.ibb.co/Gvw9NLt/2019-03-09-09-58-05.png (https://ibb.co/FbvXCM0)

https://i.ibb.co/42brh39/2019-03-09-09-58-57.png (https://ibb.co/8byZ1tT)

https://i.ibb.co/K5qtR1j/2019-03-09-10-00-46.png (https://ibb.co/518Qt7W)

https://i.ibb.co/WVJzBBQ/2019-03-09-10-01-35.png (https://ibb.co/y4jkggD)

https://i.ibb.co/rc5RDtG/Screenshot.png (https://ibb.co/GtC4zJv)

https://i.ibb.co/m5bPMGF/2019-03-09-10-05-22.png (https://ibb.co/B2cYStK)

https://i.ibb.co/HXt5Ptz/2019-03-09-10-06-18.png (https://ibb.co/g6SkWST)

https://i.ibb.co/qxHvcF0/2019-03-09-10-07-19.png (https://ibb.co/8XyHf4z)

https://copyleaks.com/compare-embed/compare-two-files/0c075f09-07ae-4d52-b462-f5b98c3f2405/8430202/1/1?key=pg8I02HDVdh0RXdmjcys

 no team
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5053948.msg47231334#msg47231334
https://i.ibb.co/Rgz6mvY/2019-03-09-10-13-48.png (https://ibb.co/Twm0SvY)
The question was not answered.

Another find. Copied from white paper https://lightpaycoin.org/files/lpc-whitpaper-v1.2.0.pdf

https://i.ibb.co/Mkh0dNC/Screenshot.png (https://ibb.co/7tzmhy1)
https://i.ibb.co/3swng9s/Screenshot-1.png (https://ibb.co/VNdsfcN)

https://i.ibb.co/sFP9k0G/Screenshot.png (https://ibb.co/cNvhMGH)
https://i.ibb.co/8BYBQ3S/Screenshot-1.png (https://ibb.co/ZJ2Jbsk)

https://i.ibb.co/d0dsHkW/Screenshot.png (https://ibb.co/99Fmdy8)
https://i.ibb.co/ZWJm0Fm/Screenshot-1.png (https://ibb.co/LnP53c5)

https://i.ibb.co/sgbSJVW/Screenshot.png (https://ibb.co/j8bKZrJ)
https://i.ibb.co/pRx3hQK/Screenshot-1.png (https://ibb.co/fn2CD9N)


The outcome the whole document -- plagiarism

Good catch.
Arbitrage bots and masternodes, what a toxic combination.

That's 3 of the most compelling keywords rolled into one scam.

Masterarbitbot Coin: the new lending platform with a double bonus affiliate program, driven by AI technology.

You lend us your money, we keep it and give you these sweet coins in return.

I can't believe that two exchanges actually list them as well. It just shows that when you pay an exchange to list your coin, they will do it without any reservation about the legitimacy of your project.

Arbitrage is a legitimate investing strategy, but the fact is that it is very rare to ever come across legitimate arbitrage investment opportunities, especially when they are offered in a token form in an initial public offering of a project. If a project claims they can make much more than what banks are able to give you in terms of interest, or even guarantee interest, without even looking at the whitepaper you know that they are most likely a scam.

Simply looking at their site design and the repeatedly used template is also a giveaway sign - I've yet to seen any legitimate projects utilise such a heavily repeated template.

It'll be interesting to see how Crex24 and Cryptobridge responds, perhaps they'll delist, perhaps they'll not. But investors should pull out when they still have the chance to.

To be honest few exchange need only listing fee. They never care about project or the concept behind the project. As you know once a coin listed on exchange then slowly will increase market volume of that coin. That's why ICO's are targeting to add their coin fee worst exchange in order to attract investor's. But eventually investors get scam due to continue dump coin price. So it's really better to stay away from this kind of projects.

Don't need to search red flags any further.

---

I didn't go into details, but virustotal showed this result:

https://www.virustotal.com/#/url/d0107ffb44e094d68192d1955a47b8cadf3c31db654440e6233eb63302a94de3/detection

https://i.imgur.com/8FbXCOO.png

Perhaps OP should redact topic with warning or something.

Thank you. I edited the title of the topic.
DT, please mark this account too.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5053948.msg48049308#msg48049308
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=1932205     CucakRowo

https://i.ibb.co/r6jzZ34/2019-03-10-21-30-58.png (https://ibb.co/Z8jFhSW)

Whitepaper Plagiarism
For whitepaper plagiarism, i'll leave it to Muzoff (MARC CEO) (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=1555442) for answering it. Or perhaps, you can visit their discord channel and asked your question.

No Team
Already answered in thread, I think you need further investigation before taking a conclusion.
https://i.imgur.com/tsNWqxD.png (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5053948.msg48843335#msg48843335)
My explanation above, also answering your conclusion Nutilda
https://i.imgur.com/lgePGlC.png (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5053948.msg50082559#msg50082559)

Virus in Website
I hope you lovesmayfamilis (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=1982152) as OP, already checked link that already provided by Marlboroza. if you don't check that link, here, i'll provide you full screenshot.
1 red status from 68 green status

https://i.imgur.com/QYkNRv7.png (https://www.virustotal.com/#/url/d0107ffb44e094d68192d1955a47b8cadf3c31db654440e6233eb63302a94de3/detection)

And additional information, all wallet link are connected to MARC Github (https://github.com/MarketArbitrageCoin)

My job in there is to manage MARC thread. And I think i already answer your questions (except for Whitepaper Plagiarism.. As i said above, i leave this answer to Muzoff as Marc CEO).

And one more thing, i hope you guys (lovesmayfamilis (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=1982152) & Nutilda (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=317618)) can define about :
- What Is SCAM ( https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/s/scam.htm & http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/scam.html)
- What is PLAGIARISM (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plagiarism)
The definition of these two things no need to be debated, coz i believe you guys already know what the difference between those 2 things.
That's why, when i make scam accusation, I always cautious and have strong evidence when issuing allegations that the project is a scam projects.
For accusing scam to some projects, i will need some proof like this :
- Victims
- Action from scammer (delete discord, fake team, kind like that)

Here's for example :
- Possibility Scam (ZeosX) (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5101770.msg49403631#msg49403631)
- 1 Node -SCAM + Delete Discord- (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5098371.msg49269153#msg49269153)
- SMIGG Coin -Fake Team+Plagiarism- (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5059597.msg47401996#msg47401996)

And btw, you don't need to threaten me  ;)
https://i.imgur.com/AFQdAHq.png

Additional information about Cryptoflow (CFL) :
Cryptoflow Term And Conditions (https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/524270393205325825/525031645795975168/Terms_of_Service.pdf)
Cryptoflow only list project that has KYD passed.

What is wrong with the link provided
marlboroza? Here everything is as it should be. Your whitepaper was written by the author of your project? Is she unique? Do you want to claim that your document is not plagiarism?
Why there are no links to social networks? No information about your confirmed team member? Is he the only one?

OK, so lets review the new shit that has come to light:

1. Plagiarism count stands. Copying material word-for-word without accrediting it to its original source is plagiarism -- this definition is not debatable. Your dev or whoever wrote their white paper will need to explain themselves here.
2. Website designers were caught using an image from Dropil. Whether or not it is the direct fault of the developer/team is besides the point.
3. Your developer "Denys Westerholt" as identified by KYDcoin.io (https://review.kydcoin.io/marketarbitragecoin/) is as good as anonymous. There is absolutely zero information about "Denys Westerholt" on the internet or the marcoin website.
4. GitHub doesn't have anything to do with website content.

I went ahead and ran the URL checker directly through ForcePoint and these were the results:

https://csi.forcepoint.com/Report/Index/92d44ca2-0e42-4ef2-9127-aa0d009a91eb

Though it rates 106 / 147 links as malicious, they could be false positives associated with WordPress; I'm not entirely sure and somebody else will have to chime in about this.

5. We have heard this story a hundred times before:

"MARC is a distinct arbitrage system which will trade on many exchanges with swift and smart trading strategies. It is designed to facilitate crypto trading based on leading algorithms developed in-house to give you optimal profit as well as minimizing the risk."

It's always bullshit. Professional arbitrageurs don't attempt to raise money like this. In the crypto world, 10 times out of 10 "arbitrage" is a cover for "Ponzi scheme" if not outright scam.


This process isn't for you, and its a preventative measure to stop a scam before it happens.

I understand you're just the bounty manager or project promoter but the actual developer will have to come here and respond before I remove my posts about your project.

[quote author=nutildah
This process isn't for you, and its a preventative measure to stop a scam before it happens.

I understand you're just the bounty manager or project promoter but the actual developer will have to come here and respond before I remove my posts about your project.
[/quote]
thanks for your unerstanding.
Agree, let Marc CEO explain about that whitepaper plagiarism.

What is there to explain?

Plagiarism - check
Masternode - check
Arbirtrage bot - check
No team - check
Easy money - check

5 red flags.

Why don't they use their own coin to generate their own profit then? They will be rich in no time.

I'm intrigued how they passed KYD.

Whatever picture Jeremy McAlpine is talking about they have copied from their website it gone now as it is nowhere to be found of MARC's website. In the Discord chat he is talking about this two bots being used in MARC's website as well as one of dropil's insights page which as of now is currently "under maintenance".


Did Max|Marc replied anything after that about the plagiarism in their ICO's whitepaper? I just couldn't believe Jeremy McAlpine forgave them quickly and see it as a "misunderstanding" on their part which I myself cannot see how a plagiarism of a whitepaper as a misunderstanding.

So... seems some freelancer copyied Dropil's WP and sold it to the team. Maybe probable, maybe an excuse, but at least something more or less probable. Don't think the malware thing is intentional.

Platform should be up and running in around a week. Price of MN so far "survived" this scandal surprisingly good. 8)

Statment from Lead-Dev (on #main chat MARC Discord):


"
muzoff Today at 2:01 PM
I have to explain situation around whitepaper

My fault is that I took the help of unverified people. But at that time I was still very trusting. But each time we encounter incompetent or fraudulent actions, we did not give up and found a solution. So thanks to @TechnikPTO  and @unclear, we solved one of the most difficult tasks - we secured our blockchain, which was vulnerable because of the actions that the people I hired to develop earlier. There were a lot of people who wanted to deceive me. Someone even got it. So it was with WP. I was offered a beautiful and informative WP with exclusive copyright. And I agreed, because at that time my WP was very meager in content and only reflected my zeal to embody the project.I'm really sorry for that.

So I have already started writing WP v2 where there will be no plagiarism, and all sources will be indicated.

P.S. I also want to express a special thanks to friends who always support me and our project in any difficult moment @JaGend and @shey-MARCoin

Sorry to @everyone one more time and thanks for understanding"

So lets get this straight, the project head hired untrustworthy

- content / wp writers
- graphics designers
- blockchain developers

Sounds like he doesn't give a Flying V about his project!

I just mention it because commenting began anew in the ANN thread.