Vladimir,
Toslti? Wasn't that one of those involved on that BTC "backup" scam?
Is it Baron the same or you confused nicks?
My confusion, I apologise. Will edit my post. And the plot thickens.... Yes, Tolsi was the accomplice Newbie forum user to Hummer. Hummer was the Newbie forum user promoting the scam "Backup your Bitcoin Waller File to your Gmail & Dropbox" app... which would actually send your wallet file to the Scammer thief and delete yoir copy of it! See http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3596.msg50879#msg50879I was wondering about the similarity in the writing style between "BCEmporium" and "Baron".... After 22 pages of this, did anyone at all notice that both accounts are not only brand new... but both appear to have been created exclusively for THIS thread. Baron. Created February 21. Posts only in this thread. BCEmporium. Created February 22. Posts only in this thread. Same writing style. Both defending "Baron" and claiming wrongdoing by mtgox. Are we becoming lazy about spotting suspicious Newbie users who suddenly appear and start posting like mad... all on one thread... all defending some scammer or other...? @Vladimir. I'd love to know why you slipped up and called Baron, Toslti. Does the name Baron remind you of Toslti? Is Toslti such an extremely common name that you would remember it? Personally, I had to look it up every single time I write it because it is such an odd unique name to me. |
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I'll save the taxpayers time and money. Vote for me. I'm so efficient I've already decided the case.  |
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"While we're playing judge & jury" ....is sort of a figure of speech in American English. Sorry, I didn't mean it literally -- like we / you are playing judge & jury. (Probably not a good choice of expression on my part.)
Anyway...
Too stupid to be a thief?
There's no such thing. You only have to have the intelligence of a rodent to steal. To not get caught --- that might require some brains and/or luck. Too bad Baron has neither, apparently.
Why wasn't the trade done on mtgox if the coins were there?
There was no IRC trade. Baron hacked/guessed the password of the innocent victim(s)' mtgox account(s) and made the maximum daily withdrawal allowed --- the US $1000 equivalent amount of BTC --- every day for three days.
Who knows how many other accounts he got.
Yes, of course the withdrawals could happen without the account owner noticing for a month or more. Do you log in to mtgox every day to check that your balance is still there?
Anyone who's depositing $45,000 at a time into mtgox, Jed probably knows. This is still a relatively small community. It's not the NYSE.... not yet.
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By the way, while we're playing judge & jury.... It's very obvious that "Baron" is the thief.
Those three transactions, over three days, are not the transactions of 9000 BTC purchase over IRC. They're freaking odd number amounts. Why would a 9000 BTC sale be divided up into three odd amounts over three days!? Even if they were to be divided for some mysterious reason, they'd be: 3000, 3000, and 3000. Or to be smarter, 3000.01 and 3000.02 and 3000.03
Those three consecutive transactions are equal to the $1000 daily withdrawal limit that mtgox has in place. I bet anything, if you look back to those dates, those amounts match exactly the US$1000 equivalent value in Bitcoin ON THAT DATE. And those are the actual withdrawals he made from the victim's mtgox account -- over a three day period.
We, in this forum, are not stupid.
Baron is stupid. ...and a stupid thief, in my opinion.
If he were really a big time high stakes "trader", then he'd be smart enough to have a basic clue about how Bitcoin works. ....or at least be able to hire someone who's less stupid than he is himself.
Ask yourself: If your $45,000 funds were blocked, what would you do? If you were innocent ... you would not do what wanna-dream-of-being-a-Baron has done. If you were guilty & without shame & dumb as a thumbtack, you'd do exactly what Baron has done --- from beginning to end.
I suggest tracking the IP address Baron is posting from and turning that over to the police as well. Maybe he can continue his trading career behind bars.
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Interesting idea though. Thanks. PayPal has scammed many people I know --- even overdrawing their attached Savings accounts before seizing all their PayPal money -- for no reason whatsoever.
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Unfreeze the money. Stop playing policeman. What happens outside mtgox is unrelated. It's a trading platform, nothing more.
Forgetting what's right or wrong... The fact is.... It might not even be legal for him to do that. We still live in countries with laws, you know. As others have discovered before us, just because it happens online doesn't make us somehow immune from the laws of the land. We don't suddenly get to magically REPLACE those laws with our own. The most we can do is add rules. We don't get to subtract existing laws (unless we are sovereign king in our own nation). Probably the number one most dangerous thing any online money exchanger / transaction processor can do --- from a legal standpoint --- is to allow illegal activity to transact business on your site --- once you are made aware of it. Obviously, it's a very slippery slope. And it's always one were the legal authorities ultimately decide the outcome. I'd bet that that's the legal advice Jed is receiving from his own legal counsel. Just because he's not publicly disclosing everything he knows... yet... Don't go jumping to conclusions... that he's performing his own "secret investigation". It very well could be that the police are doing that. ...and that he's been ordered to say nothing publicly. Again, I have no knowledge about these things. But, knowing him personally, my wild guesses are at least as valid as anyone else's here. I suggest giving him the benefit of the doubt until all the details come to light. And yes, they will come to light. Such investigations, unfortunately, don't happen at the speed of twitter. ....in the real world. |
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Request to send passport scan seems to be quite reasonable. Moreover, mtgox may be legally required to do so. Send the the passport scan than. What's the problem?
If it was my 45k$ on the line I would actually pay a decent local lawyer retainer and fly in to sort things out, than sue for damages. This, of course, might be a problem for those operating under false names, and doing scams.
Exactly. I know no details about this case, but knowing Jed (mtgox) personally, I'd bet he is being extremely prudent and following the advice of his own legal counsel in all jurisdictions. It's easy to criticize, but I trust Jed completely. And I'll tell you this much... few, if any, people in the Bitcoin community have the fortitude to take on the responsibility he has taken on. And for what? Do you think he's getting rich? Think again. He is risking everything... putting his own balls on the chopping block... for you, us.... for the strength and future of Bitcoin. He's a man of very few words. But he's very thoughtful, intelligent, and I believe him to be extremely fair. I can also tell you.... I wouldn't want to be president of the united states, nor in his shoes. What's a good man to do? Let known Scammers get away with all that money, and use your site to withdrawal their stollen cash? And even if you "freeze" their account... Now what? You certainly can't keep the money. Turn it over to the police? Is now a convenient time to get the government / authorities involved. Is there ever such a time? Can you imagine the legal implications and complexities, at this stage in the development and evolution and adoption of Bitcoin? Does Bitcoin, and MtGox for that matter, need that sort of publicity -- both from a PR and from a legal precedence standpoint? I think it's premature. I'd be willing to bet serious Bitcoin that Jed is doing the best he can to make the wisest, most prudent, decisions he can.... with the entire future of Bitcoin in mind. Rather than be overly critical, or cynical, about Jed's intentions. I suggest we say a prayer... for him to have the strength, the fortitude, and the wisdom, to make the right decisions.... not only for the parties directly involved, and himself.... but also for the affects they will have on the entire future of Bitcoin. In short, I bet he really needs our strong loving support right now. |
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Just because I don't like what you're doing doesn't make it wrong, and it doesn't mean I can suddenly take your money.
We don't get to decide for ourselves what is right and wrong, nor do we get to rain our own justice down on others arbitrarily. There has to be an agreed-to process to handle disagreements.
Could someone please explain that to PayPal? They've done EXACTLY that, to me... TWICE. Their email simply said, "There is no appeal." |
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Please forgive me for being a little slow. I'm still on... 1) Someone reported his account to be stolen to mt gox with 9000 BTC on it.
How does one's mtgox account "get stollen"? |
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Ok. I've just joined this thread.... because of the SUBJECT of the thread....
Would anyone care to give us late-joiners an "executive summary" of just what exactly, supposedly, transpired, and what the conclusion was.... so that we don't have to read 19 pages of philosophical non-nonsensical debates.... please?
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You have a tendency to exaggerate.
 Maybe. But he's a very close friend of mine. I've seen the enormous checks he gets for one day on a modelling shoot in New York, LA, Paris, wherever. Also, my other friends, when they meet him, often freeze up in his presence. It's very real. Not my imagination at all. ....just sayin. |
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Is it lawful to be in your underwear?
google times square naked cowboy. as long as he keeps certain areas covered, I don't see why it wouldn't be legal. The underwear idea was brought up because it may generate more publicity. We have a few low level contacts in the media and we were trying to think of ways to get this picked up. He surely would prefer not to be in his underwear or any other ridiculous costume. However, we were hoping that a gimmick like that might make it more likely to get picked up by CNBC or the local NY news outlets. The community as a whole would benefit tremendously and he could earn a higher bounty for his contribution. We were thinking that we could leverage his assets and his prior experience as an underwear model, but if anyone has a better idea, we are certainly not locked in on that one option and are open to other suggestions. We are shooting for next tuesday as a target date. We're looking to do all we can to get this picked up by the mainstream media and if we are successful, hopefully the community that will benefit from it will step up and fairly compensate this brave soul! I happen to know the hottest male underwear super-model in the industry. He also happens to be on the billboards over Times Square, in his underwear, for Target ads. He also happens to be a HUGE supporter of Bitcoin, and anti-The-Fed movements, etc. He also looks hotter than Marky Mark did in his Times Square (and fashion magazine) underwear ads for Calvin Klein... (Remember those?) I think my friend might be persuaded to do such a thing.... in only his underwear and sneakers showing off all his assets, abs, muscles, etc...... for the right bounty. The press could be alerted in advance... and you guys are correct in your instincts.... Lunch hour crowds would definitely swarm like mad... And this whole scene would be totally irresistible to the media. We're talking about HUGE publicity. Thoughts? ( Please email me or call me if it's urgent. I'm finding less and less available time to catch up in the forums, sadly. ) |
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Posting this as a favor to thetenbagger: thetenbagger:hey bruce, u there? can you do me a favor, i wont be at my home comp for a while and i cant for the life of me remember by pw for the bitcoin forums could you post this on the wall street thread for me? thanks http://vimeo.com/20346547the password is "NYSE" i guess the filmmaker guy put it on vimio and pw protected it but the guy who actually did it has no problems with it being publicly viewable so if anyone wants to put it on youtube, they can Done. See http://dl.dropbox.com/u/993053/Download/Temporary/Photos/StopTheFed_24.5k.jpg |
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A Bitcoin Address "DNS" A friend who's brand new to Bitcoin handed me a tiny piece of paper yesterday. He said, "Here's my Bitcoin address." It contained his Bitcoin address in about 6 point type, printed on paper. I smiled and handed it back to him. Obviously, he hadn't TIT, as I always say (Think It Through.... or Thought It Through). A Better Idea for BitcoinAddress.com I thought of this idea just now... Adding a shorthand nickname to the BitcoinAddress.com directory.... and it be sorted by that. So, if I go by "plankhead" all over the internet, I can be listed as plankhead on BitcoinAddress.com This way, people could potentially prA int on their business card... Email: zack@plankhead.com Telephone: 646-555-4321 Bitcoin: plankhead By default, I would give people (1) their top level domain - like eff or epicchange - or (2) their bitcoin forum handle - brucewagner Not sure how I'll handle other requests. Perhaps a registration fee that goes entirely to the Bitcoin Foundation, to be used for Bitcoin promotion, advertising, and evangelizing. |
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The internet, as a whole, is a dangerous place for novices and the non-technical. It's really impossible to come up with a full-proof system to protect every user from themselves.
On the otherhand, even knowledgeable and wise users can be tricked.
Lessons Learned:
(1) Be a bit Suspicious... especially if many people have not reported success in using something.
(2) Don't be the first to try something new --- especially when Bitcoin (i.e. money) is involved!
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The problem with banning "illegal goods" is that.... Almost everything is legal SOMEWHERE. No?
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If Quip helps you, you can just send the 50 Bitcoin to me instead. Thanks in advance. |
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Partly an illusion... Partly real. Just like the so-called "value" of anything. Including US dollars. Or Toyota Camry's. If everyone on Earth who owned a Toyota Camry.... decided to sell it at the same time... then, I doubt very many of them would get "the blue book value" for it. Nevertheless, we have to have some barometer of the value of things. And one of the best baramoters.... is "what has an identical item been selling for most recently". This is true of Apartments in Midtown Manhattan.... and of Toyota Camrys.... and of US dollars.... and of Bitcoins. It's all an illusion. But at the same time, if I can sell one for $x... then there's also some truth to it too. |
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The MtGox Orderbook, according to Bitcoin Charts ( http://bitcoincharts.com/markets/mtgoxUSD.html ), leads me to understand that it would only take ONE SINGLE PURCHASE of $40,864..... to wipe out ALL standing sell orders up to $5.00 per Bitcoin. A single purchase of more that $251,908 would get Bitcoin selling at $1,500.00 per Bitcoin. As you can see, it would only take ONE SINGLE ARAB SHEIK to make ONE SINGLE PURCHASE of Bitcoins.... to make the Last Price fluctuate like a roller-coaster. The same is true of one major sale. When someone I know bought a large quantity of Bitcoins, we could see clearly the huge jump in price it caused on MtGox. That's one guy. One purchase. So, you see, the economy is still very small. It would take ONLY ONE big big player.... Like a rich sheik... or a big time global money player... to try to use Bitcoin to transfer money. He would have to make a big purchase... Then, I would expect, he'll try to make a large sale on the other end. This is going to push the price of Bitcoin up up Up UP UP UP! MY PREDICTION: (1) As the price continues to go up rapidly.... (2) The number of buyers will grow rapidly... causing... (3) The price to grow exponentially.... causing... (4) The number of buyers to increase exponentially.... causing... (5) An ever-increasing price.... Yet..... Much more stability in the price.... (more upward growth with fewer downward swings--due to so many more players) And.... (6) As the so-called Bitcoin Economy (the total value of all Bitcoins in circulation) explodes up off the top of the charts... (7) The online merchants will run, tripping over themselves, to get a piece of that pie... and will all accept Bitcoin.... And then... ( 8 ) The brick & mortar merchants, having seen Bitcoin's success online, will also run to accept Bitcoin as well.... And then... (9) Bitcoin will eventually be used globally by even more users than use Google or Facebook.... That's when... (10) Bitcoin will have come of age. As I tell my friends and loved ones: "We are NOT on the ground floor of this thing. We are in the basement.... one step up the stairs. Buying Bitcoin TODAY is like buying Google stock when it was first launched in the very beginning. You will remember this day.... whether with gratitude....for listening to me.... or with regret.... for not listening to me." Since I have already been contacted by many many people wanting to know how to BUY Bitcoins... including ONE GUY what wants to buy approximately $50,000 PER MONTH of Bitcoin.... When Bitcoin was about $0.20, I predicted that it would be at $1 parity within the year. Friends laughed at me.... and said, "Maybe within a couple of years." Of course, I was wrong. It only took a couple of WEEKS to reach $1. NOW My Prediction: Bitcoin will be at $1000 per Bitcoin before the end of this year. ( I might be wrong. It might reach $1000 a Bitcoin much faster than that. ) Also... The growing value of Bitcoin will NOT deter people from using it in commerce. No one has ever been afraid to ACCEPT something when its value is ever-increasing! No one is afraid of being paid in Gold. EVERYONE will happily want to accept Bitcoin! They can see that its value will grow --- even in the short time they might hold onto it. There will be NO shortage of merchants -- both online and brick & mortar -- who will ACCEPT Bitcoin. The only question is: Will anyone be willing to SPEND them? |
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