PSA of bitcoin SCAM by operators of Cryptothrift.com

[yomofo]

update: cryptothrift is also trying to raise capital https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=579787.0
(i've received a refund after the owners saw this post on reddit.


I have been scammed for bitcoins by the operators of http://www.cryptothrift.com via the website’s escrow process.  When a buyer bids and wins an auction on the site they have the option to pay the seller directly or via escrow where the site will take a 1% fee.  The site directs you to send btc to the site’s wallet where they hold the btc until you confirm receipt of goods purchased.
 
On April 9, 2014 (approximate date depending on time zone), I won an auction for a gift card.  I sent 0.05750356 btc ($25usd at the time) from coinbase to the cryptothrift’s receiving wallet address. I used the site’s escrow option.

Cryptothrift’s wallet address for escrow: 1G5g6bCRAPSctQpZ7SkTF1Zqe2iv3nHiUz

https://blockchain.info/tx/615f95d424585c2a6ce87ed981bd7f46bf81da5caa5dd34e14741be16257526c

screenshot of proof of purchase: http://imgur.com/a/dvwVA#0

After approximately 48 hours with no receipt of goods I pmed the seller and received no response.  I initiated the process for a refund.  In the “personal information” section of cryptothrift I had filled out my refund wallet address when I first registered to the site.

My blockchain refund wallet address: 19enjgKCNHhtAYjRcGHUBjYgMTzj3Yggp3

Screenshot of “personal information” section: http://imgur.com/j3Zbr9q

Soon I received an email that the site had refunded my escrowed bitcoins.  However, they “refunded” my bitcoins to the wrong wallet address.
Screenshot of refund email response: http://imgur.com/SoNvQj0

I emailed cryptothrift the next day inquiring about the refund address problem.  The site responded that the refund was made out to the address I specified.  This is a lie.  The site refunded the btc back to their own wallet deposit address.

Cryptothrift’s wallet address for escrow: 1G5g6bCRAPSctQpZ7SkTF1Zqe2iv3nHiUz

https://blockchain.info/address/1G5g6bCRAPSctQpZ7SkTF1Zqe2iv3nHiUz


Screenshot of 2nd email response: http://imgur.com/kDQwNgg

All my further emails to cryptothrift support have been ignored with no response.

The site has no way to look up historical refund support tickets.  This is deliberate imo.  I discussed my experience with other users and they also believe http://www.cryptothrift.com is a scam operation that defrauds its users.

TLDR: http://www.cryptothrift.com uses its “escrow” feature to scam users by “refunding btc” to its own deposit address, effectively keeping the escrowed bitcoins.  I suggest people to stay way from this scam site.

[paulthetafy]

Just to put some closure on this, not only have we provided a refund, but we have also provided as much proof as we possibly can that you simply entered the wrong address into the refund page.  We intentionally don't use the address in your profile for refunds as there is no way to guarantee that address is still active and we would hate to refund to an address you no longer have access to.  All screenshots of emails depicting this are now linked to the reddit post so I won't include them again here.  I'm aware that we don't show a refund history on the site yet, but this is a feature that is planned for later this year. 

I realise that it took a while for you to receive your bitcoins back, but please see this from our perspective too.  We had no idea the address was wrong until you lodged a support ticket 2 weeks later.  We then took a few days holiday over the Easter weekend and then came back to your reddit post today.

cryptothrift handles several hundred thousand dollars a month in sales,  processes as much as 100 refunds a month, and often holds tens of thousands of dollars worth of BTC in escrow on any given day.  We really are not in the scamming business, and hope this matter is now closed.