I was scammed $5000 by Maidak. Been waiting for 6 months. Proof inside.

[andresmm91]

Hello.

So, September last year, I talked to Maidak because I wanted to sell him 41 BTC and receive the money via Paypal.

We talked a little bit, and since I was (and I am) new in the forum, and he had good reputation here, I sent him the 41 BTC ($462 worth each at that time).
He had a few problems, and I had to wait for a few weeks. No problem, I waited.

He then sent me only half of the money we agreed ($9000). That was end of September. Since then, he started telling me all kind of excuses. That someone scammed him, that he lost his job, and so on.

After sending him a lot of messages, he could sent me anoter $3500 (6th day of October). And finally another $500 at the end of November.

He still owed me $5000. Since December 2014, until now, he's been giving me a different excuse every day. Now it's been 3 weeks since he doesn't answer.

I was VERY patient, and never posted anything here, since he had such a good reputation. I mean, everyone can have some problems. But now I'm seeing he scammed a lot of people.

Here's my conversations in skype with him. You can see everything we talked and every excuse he's been telling me for the past 6 months.

From last year until middle of January:

http://pastebin.com/ce5CNWZy and http://pastebin.com/yHfZxPLi

And this one since middle of March:

http://pastebin.com/4Bm2whMp

I guess there's nothing I can do (if there is, please tell me!), but PLEASE do not trade anything with this member.

I also have transcripts from his website chat since first day, and screenshots of the PMs in this forum. If anyone also needs that as proof, I will upload the pictures and post them.

[Quickseller]

Why didn't you do this deal in smaller tranches, with you only sending small amounts each time and waiting until you receive your money to send the next tranche? That is a huge amount of money to be trading at one time.

[andresmm91]

Why didn't you do this deal in smaller tranches, with you only sending small amounts each time and waiting until you receive your money to send the next tranche? That is a huge amount of money to be trading at one time.

Yeah, I know. That was really stupid of me. I needed the money really quick (I'm from Argentina and everything's complicated when trying to withdraw USD), and my only option was to exchange from BTC to Paypal, and then withdraw to my Payoneer card. With all the transactions that Maidak had over the years, I didn't think he would scam me.

And I was really patient, and believed everything he said. I didn't want to ruin his reputation, but now I think it's too late. I mean, I don't think anyone would wait 6+ months as I did.

[Quickseller]

The fact that people are willing to wait so long is what enables people to be able to scam for such large amounts of money. I can't say one way or another if Maidak is a scammer, or if what you claim is true, however my previous statement is still true.

Even if you did not want to open a scam accusation against him, you could have made a post on one of his threads saying that you are currently waiting on $9,000 worth of PayPal from him, and then make various updates when he pays you. This would allow him to maintain his reputation as long as he is quick to pay you, but people will make their own (likely correct) conclusions when they see that it has been a long time since you were due payment from him.

[andresmm91]

Thanks for the reply. You're both right. I guess it's a lesson learnt right?.
It was really stupid from me not to post a warning about it. It's sad that someone decides to scam a lot of members after being so successful for years.
Regarding Paypal, with the money that he did sent, I had no problems. It was really the only choice I had. In Argentina we have such a difficult time trying to withdraw money, or even buying something overseas, that there were nothing else I could do :/.

It might not be a lot, but here 1 USD is worth 12 Pesos Argentinos, so here yeah, it's considered a lot of money.

If he ever decides to reply or do something about it, I'll update, although I really doubt it now. I just hope he's not scamming more people outside BitcoinTalk.

[MUFC]

I can't understand why you waited so long. Had you mentioned something this other guy might not have been scammed https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1077982.0

People may appear trust worthy but personal issues can always arise or people fall on hard times and they may take advantage of their rep for easy cash. Maybe this is what happened. From the thread I~ linked to it seems some of his personal details are known. Your best bet might be to try track him down via social media.

[erikalui]

If you had reported this earlier, then others on this forum wouldn't get scammed. The moment someone delays the payment even for a week, you should either complain or ask him to send the money back, thus cancelling the deal. If the accused user even has a personal problem, that is his issue and not yours. He should be able to refund you the amount in BTC and if he doesn't want to, then he is definitely a scammer. Now since it has been 6 months, he can give any excuse of not being able to refund you the money. Sorry for your loss.

[Twipple]

It is really shocking to see people leave 5000$ with someone even though if that someone is trusted enough for more than a few months. You might be able to ask someone who has shipped something to him for some details. They might not give it to you, but still worth a try.

[andresmm91]

It is really shocking to see people leave 5000$ with someone even though if that someone is trusted enough for more than a few months. You might be able to ask someone who has shipped something to him for some details. They might not give it to you, but still worth a try.

Thanks for the advice, that's exactly what I'm trying to do right now. I don't know if it will be useful for me since I'm located in Argentina, but it's worth the try. I will be updating the thread if something happens.

[andresmm91]

So, I've done a little research, and I think I've found some data about Maidak.

I could find his Facebook, which says where he's from. I've looked up his last name in Google, and the information matches.

I could also find his mother and father I believe, since they are all located under the same address (as well as their telephone number). Also the age matches the age he told me in one of our conversations.

Would any of this help me and all the member who got scammed? Maybe if all of us contact his family with proof of what he's done...

I'm not posting the information here since I'm not sure if it's allowed.

[hilariousandco]

I'm not posting the information here since I'm not sure if it's allowed.

It's allowed, but I'd contact maidak himself first and ask him what's going on and when people can expect their money back. If he doesn't pay then you could contact his family and/or post the dox here. That should be a last resort though.

[xmaxbit]

How could you be such innocent . There is only website escrow which is perfect solution for such kind of transactions . 41 BTC all at once is like horrible transaction , no one would like to do .

[andresmm91]

It's allowed, but I'd contact maidak himself first and ask him what's going on and when people can expect their money back. If he doesn't pay then you could contact his family and/or post the dox here. That should be a last resort though.

It's been 1 month since I'm sending him PMs, Skype messages, emails.. and nothing. So this is kinda my last resource, I can't do anything else.
I'm thinking that maybe if all of us who got scammed contacted his family (with proof), it could help to get our money back...

[brendanjhwu]

On the bright side, you still made a TON of money from just keeping bitcoins in your wallet for like a couple of years.
I feel you though, I was scammed once out of $50. Not as bad, but it hurt.

[V.Lace]

On the bright side, you still made a TON of money from just keeping bitcoins in your wallet for like a couple of years.
I feel you though, I was scammed once out of $50. Not as bad, but it hurt.

it does hurt I was scammed 95 bucks yesterday 

[brendanjhwu]

On the bright side, you still made a TON of money from just keeping bitcoins in your wallet for like a couple of years.
I feel you though, I was scammed once out of $50. Not as bad, but it hurt.

it does hurt I was scammed 95 bucks yesterday 

file a report here? is he a member on this forum?

[PenguinFire]

I am sorry to hear you were ripped of man.  I was scammed for a smaller amount, 100 USD in BTC, a few months ago.  You just have to learn from it, forget about it, and apply what you learned to all future business.  It honestly happens to everyone at some point or another.  Learn from it so you can see you didn't come out empty-handed.

[V.Lace]

On the bright side, you still made a TON of money from just keeping bitcoins in your wallet for like a couple of years.
I feel you though, I was scammed once out of $50. Not as bad, but it hurt.

it does hurt I was scammed 95 bucks yesterday 

file a report here? is he a member on this forum?

yeah I did and I hope the staff and the honorable members come more to my aid and help me get it back.

[Twipple]

On the bright side, you still made a TON of money from just keeping bitcoins in your wallet for like a couple of years.
I feel you though, I was scammed once out of $50. Not as bad, but it hurt.

it does hurt I was scammed 95 bucks yesterday 

file a report here? is he a member on this forum?

yeah I did and I hope the staff and the honorable members come more to my aid and help me get it back.

The staff generally do not get involved in personal scams as thats what this forum is for. They might however be able to add a negative trust to his/her account to avoid him from scamming someone in the future. You should start a scam accusation and post all the information about it.

[V.Lace]

On the bright side, you still made a TON of money from just keeping bitcoins in your wallet for like a couple of years.
I feel you though, I was scammed once out of $50. Not as bad, but it hurt.

it does hurt I was scammed 95 bucks yesterday  

file a report here? is he a member on this forum?

yeah I did and I hope the staff and the honorable members come more to my aid and help me get it back.

The staff generally do not get involved in personal scams as thats what this forum is for. They might however be able to add a negative trust to his/her account to avoid him from scamming someone in the future. You should start a scam accusation and post all the information about it.

I did its right here https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1092790.0

but 5000 is a ton of money to lose, feel bad for the op also