International bitcoin scam costs investor big

[exstasie]

Definitely not a smart move on his part.  No different then the kind of scams you see with real money these days either.  There's a sucker born everyone minute as they say!

[escrow.ms]

@Phinnaeus Gage You forgot to mention TF bro.
Unknown guy from a unknown place who bought master donator and became trustworthy and scammed more than 10x of the amount Project stole from these peoples.

[calim]

It's amazing how many people will say, "That's stupid" and "Will never happen to me."  Go read the scam accusations forum, it's littered with, "I was stupid..." and "This never happens to me..." 

Read the article again, clearly he is still a proponent of BTC, and seems to have gone out of his way to make sure the article wasn't a negative piece on BTC. He's also keenly aware of the mistake: “My mistake was paying money (in the form of the digital bitcoins) first, which exposed me to more risk,” he said.

Given the sensational nature of media, this could have been written with BTC in a much poorer light.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

@Phinnaeus Gage You forgot to mention TF bro.
Unknown guy from a unknown place who bought master donator and became trustworthy and scammed more than 10x of the amount Project stole from these peoples.

Vetted trusted members don't count! 

[Chainsaw]

is this based on the same story?

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=393593.msg4922396#msg4922396

Yes, it is based on the same story. The person in the article was me.

The press reached out to me after seeing the police report filed. 
The reason I spoke with them was precisely so that the article would not be yet another cautionary tale against the perils and dangers of Bitcoin.

I wanted to be clear that the scamming occurred because of a trust-based error on my part, not because Bitcoin itself is inherently evil.

[Bitlibber]

These characters are screwing it up for the rest of us.  There ought to be a filter to help keep it honest.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

Not our David Williamson, but wanted to share to lighten the tone for a sec or two--enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCzTYrnOg-8

[bitcoiner49er]

Chainsaw, that sux.  

Here's a question to everyone:
What kind of escrow would you trust?

I have seen this over and over in the Bitcoin community. I'd like to pioneer some type of escrow service, but what will get you to trust the escrow?

[Chainsaw]

Chainsaw, that sux.  

Here's a question to everyone:
What kind of escrow would you trust?

I have seen this over and over in the Bitcoin community. I'd like to pioneer some type of escrow service, but what will get you to trust the escrow?

M-of-N escrow. No single party. Even heavily trusted members, escrowers can drop the ball with single party escrow.

Multiple trusted parties with a majority vote allowing release of funds.

[Chainsaw]

Not our David Williamson, but wanted to share to lighten the tone for a sec or two--enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCzTYrnOg-8

And now, for my final trick. Watch as I make 201.7 Bitcoins...disappear!   

[RodeoX]

I like the idea of physical BTC, but they are far easier to counterfeit/scam.  

I'm glad I'm not that guy from Wisconsin.

[subcoin]

So, technically, he only lost about $1k...
$150k was unrealized profit, since he didn't convert those 200BTC to fiat.
Rather than saying he lost $150k, it should say that he didn't make $150k.

[Entropy-uc]

Escrow Escrow Escrow...if the amount carries sufficient counterparty risk such that there is more than $120,000 USD at stake, then you need to do multiple escrows or deal with them person to person, preferably with armed guards and during the business hours of YOUR bank in a downtown area in a first world nation...

Escrow with who? A trusted member here?

(I agree, and I'm sure all the victims feel a bit daft, but hindsight is a wonderful thing. Projects really was a trusted member.)

Rassah

Is that the same Rassah that admitted to knowingly accepting stolen coins?  That doesn't meet my definition of trustworthy.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=447668.0