Stolen bitcoins, help!

[DannyHamilton]

The user "themad2403" over at hackforums.net has admitted to being the thief

So whats the next step?  Any chance of getting him prosecuted?

Unfortunately, it is currently unlikely that he will be prosecuted.

The only reliable information we've acquired so far is a facebook account (that was quite possibly created with false credentials), and an email address (that was also probably created with false credentials).

The name and possible address that I've received are not reliable.

The search engine that turned them up specifically states in its response:

0 Public Record Matches

and

The email address may belong to one of the following people based on the name and location obtained from one or many of the social network profiles found.

It is quite likely that the name on the Facebook profile is a fake, and the search results are just a variety of people in the state listed on the Facebook profile who happen to have what is a very common name.

There just isn't enough there to find and prosecute him.  I continue to hope that more information will turn up in time, but at the moment, this thief has managed to hack and steal without revealing anything more about himself than his hackforums.net userID.

I'll speak with law enforcement, just to see if they are able or willing to get involved, but without additional information this isn't likely to progress much further.

[hensi]

Well do you really think that a thief would use the same bitcoin address to scam different people? It takes less than a second to generate 100address. and even if you catch the thief there are very less chances that you would be able to get the btc back. Stay alert in the future Best of Luck

[spazzdla]

Well do you really think that a thief would use the same bitcoin address to scam different people? It takes less than a second to generate 100address. and even if you catch the thief there are very less chances that you would be able to get the btc back. Stay alert in the future Best of Luck

If he can prove it who stole it.. he can take them to court and they will garnish his wages to pay the person back.. yes it will be Fiat but he will get the money that was stolen.

[DannyHamilton]

Well do you really think that a thief would use the same bitcoin address to scam different people? It takes less than a second to generate 100address. and even if you catch the thief there are very less chances that you would be able to get the btc back. Stay alert in the future Best of Luck

You'd be surprised at the stupid things that many thieves do. This particular thief has already used this address several times.  This is easily confirmed. Your advice is invalid, unhelpful, and a complete waste of time.

[hensi]

Well do you really think that a thief would use the same bitcoin address to scam different people? It takes less than a second to generate 100address. and even if you catch the thief there are very less chances that you would be able to get the btc back. Stay alert in the future Best of Luck

If he can prove it who stole it.. he can take them to court and they will garnish his wages to pay the person back.. yes it will be Fiat but he will get the money that was stolen.

Well the courts and the government do not take generally mess up with the bitcoin thing, at least the Indian government doesn't. And what if the thief is from another country? Then there is almost no way that you can drag him to the court and there is no way you can provide a "solid" proof about who stole your bitcoins.

[hensi]

Well do you really think that a thief would use the same bitcoin address to scam different people? It takes less than a second to generate 100address. and even if you catch the thief there are very less chances that you would be able to get the btc back. Stay alert in the future Best of Luck

You'd be surprised at the stupid things that many thieves do. This particular thief has already used this address several times.  This is easily confirmed. Your advice is invalid, unhelpful, and a complete waste of time.

There is no way you can prove it to a court that who stole your bitcoin. I bet you 10BTC that you cannot get the bitcoins back even if the thief is standing in front of you.

[Noruka]

this is why i always feel really scared to use any online bitcoin wallet service. I feel safe storing on paper / offline wallets. Even coinbase i dont like bitcoins staying there. Im my mind its easier for a hacker to commit efforts to scam people from online services with the potential for massive gain than to target me individually outside of simple virus/scams.

I hope everything works out for you guys.

[DannyHamilton]

Well do you really think that a thief would use the same bitcoin address to scam different people? It takes less than a second to generate 100address. and even if you catch the thief there are very less chances that you would be able to get the btc back. Stay alert in the future Best of Luck

You'd be surprised at the stupid things that many thieves do. This particular thief has already used this address several times.  This is easily confirmed. Your advice is invalid, unhelpful, and a complete waste of time.

There is no way you can prove it to a court that who stole your bitcoin. I bet you 10BTC that you cannot get the bitcoins back even if the thief is standing in front of you.

You stand that thief right in front of me, and I'll take that bet. 

[DannyHamilton]

Well the courts and the government do not take generally mess up with the bitcoin thing, at least the Indian government doesn't.

The U.S. government does.  Just ask Trendon Shavers, Marcus Walls, Pascal Reid, Michell Espinoza, and Charlie Shrem.

And what if the thief is from another country?

And what if he's not?  There is no way to know until we try to find out.

Then there is almost no way that you can drag him to the court and there is no way you can provide a "solid" proof about who stole your bitcoins.

What does the country have to do with providing proof?  If the thief is a U.S. resident, I'll contact his local police.  If the thief is not a U.S. resident, then I'll do whatever I legally can to attempt to recover the funds.

[boopy265420]

Person who does activities like this they use all information fake , that's why it is hard to track such transaction especially person. It is better to be sure and verify well to who you send money.

[DannyHamilton]

Person who does activities like this they use all information fake , that's why it is hard to track such transaction especially person. It is better to be sure and verify well to who you send money.

Please go away.  You don't seem to have any idea what you are talking about and aren't contributing anything useful to this discussion.

Nobody "sent money", it was stolen.  The victims computer was hacked, and his private keys were stolen.  The thief then used the private keys to take the money.

[RockHound]

Damn Hackers! Feel bad for your client, have you tried forwarding this tread to Nic Cary/Blockchain/info Support?

Don't know whether they'll be able to assist in tracking, but worth a shot?