Bitcoin scams

[koin]

There is also a third option: an actual SEC agent who's never used the Internet before,

that would be rare: "SEC staffers watched porn as economy crashed" http://articles.cnn.com/2010-04-23/politics/sec.porn_1_sec-employees-sec-spokesman-john-nester-inspector-general

[fcmatt]

There is also a third option: an actual SEC agent who's never used the Internet before,

that would be rare: "SEC staffers watched porn as economy crashed" http://articles.cnn.com/2010-04-23/politics/sec.porn_1_sec-employees-sec-spokesman-john-nester-inspector-general

everyone needs a distraction now and then ;-)

[Richy_T]

The scammers smell the greed (not everyone here is greedy, of course but it's a fairly high proportion). Plus since Bitcoin is fairly new, they can wrap up old scam in new clothes and people think it's somehow different.

I'm not that worried though, it will sort itself out in time. Like others have said, it's a bit like the Wild West. At least these scammers are just asking for money and not demanding it with guns like the government does.

[Bitcoin Oz]

There is also a third option: an actual SEC agent who's never used the Internet before,

that would be rare: "SEC staffers watched porn as economy crashed" http://articles.cnn.com/2010-04-23/politics/sec.porn_1_sec-employees-sec-spokesman-john-nester-inspector-general

They could browse MPEX and combine work and play.

[fcmatt]

There is also a third option: an actual SEC agent who's never used the Internet before,

that would be rare: "SEC staffers watched porn as economy crashed" http://articles.cnn.com/2010-04-23/politics/sec.porn_1_sec-employees-sec-spokesman-john-nester-inspector-general

They could browse MPEX and combine work and play.

Heh. Well played sir. Nothing says fun like the internet and romania.

[koin]

They could browse MPEX and combine work and play.

actually looks like mp is like a brilliant chess player with future moves planned well in advance.

the sec probably has tight porn filters enabled after that huge embarrassment a couple years ago.  so they couldn't investigate anything on polimedia.us site even if they wanted to!

[SEC agent]

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=83794.0

Is this acceptable to the community? (To be clear, this is an incomplete list as far as I can tell)

How much money needs to be stolen before the community accepts that there is a problem?  Some of you get it, others still want to be part of the problem, apparently.

[Foxpup]

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=83794.0

Is this acceptable to the community? (To be clear, this is an incomplete list as far as I can tell)

How much money needs to be stolen before the community accepts that there is a problem?  Some of you get it, others still want to be part of the problem, apparently.

Bitcoins (along with gold, and dollars, and many other things) are valuable. Criminals try to steal, embezzle, or otherwise fraudulently obtain things that are valuable. Sometimes they succeed. This isn't a problem with Bitcoin, or the Bitcoin community (or gold or dollars for that matter). It's just a fact of life. If you really are an SEC agent, you would know that already, and you would also know that it's your job to make some attempt to actually investigate these crimes instead of just complaining about them, since most of us here are mere private citizens who have neither the authority nor the ability to do so.

[SEC agent]

Yes, people get scammed with anything of value. Sane communities try to stop the scammers; this community actively promotes them and allows them to thrive.

Look at the disclaimer over the lending forum and tell me this forum doesn't promote scammers.

[Foxpup]

Yes, people get scammed with anything of value. Sane communities try to stop the scammers; this community actively promotes them and allows them to thrive.

Look at the disclaimer over the lending forum and tell me this forum doesn't promote scammers.

It doesn't. Anything which can be proven to be a scam is deleted on sight (though this is rarely noticed as nobody except moderators can see deleted threads). Moderators do not (and should not) delete things which are "likely" to be a scam when there's no real proof, to avoid inadvertently ruining the reputation of honest borrowers. People are considered innocent until proven guilty.

[Hydrogen]

Why shouldn't the forums (and bitcoin overall) be shut down? Why shouldn't a central authority be set up to tackle the frauds that are so endemic in this community?

Central authorities do little or nothing to eliminate real frauds.

Healthcare fraud in the United States amount to something like $100 billion a year.

If you added all fraud from government programs it would be much higher.

The collective fraud of central authorities is much worse than the fraud contained in bitcoin or other alt currencies which are still in their infancy.

[mufa23]

At least you got some people to reply, OP.

[yrtrnc]

At least with Bitcoin you can see clearly when and where the theft has happened.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=83794.0

Is this acceptable to the community? (To be clear, this is an incomplete list as far as I can tell)

How much money needs to be stolen before the community accepts that there is a problem?  Some of you get it, others still want to be part of the problem, apparently.

[jasinlee]

Something the SEC Agent seems to have forgotten. The government agency he happens to work for is a  9-5 gig. You were posting at the asscrack of the night 12-3amish and would have had to been on EST. And they dont generally allow overtime. Unless your working off the clock in which case you risk losing your job.

[jasinlee]

That was me, I was unloading my thoughts

[SEC agent]

Warning: Moderators do not remove likely scams. You must use your own brain: caveat emptor. Watch out for Ponzi schemes. Do not invest more than you can afford to lose.

The first line in the disclaimer shows how complicit the moderator's are in the criminal acts performed on this forum. The amount of mental gymnastics it takes to ignore this fact is, quite frankly, amazing.

In the eyes of the law, this makes them conspirators. Not to mention this forum could face penalties under the RICO act for protecting and promoting the criminals that fill the lending and securities forum.

[Hydrogen]

Warning: Moderators do not remove likely scams. You must use your own brain: caveat emptor. Watch out for Ponzi schemes. Do not invest more than you can afford to lose.

The first line in the disclaimer shows how complicit the moderator's are in the criminal acts performed on this forum. The amount of mental gymnastics it takes to ignore this fact is, quite frankly, amazing.

In the eyes of the law, this makes them conspirators. Not to mention this whole forum could face penalties under the RICO act for protecting and promoting the criminals that fill the lending and securities forum.

Shouldn't you be arresting the banks and ben bernanke for causing the economic meltdown of 2008?

When will glass-steagall be re-implemented?   

When will the criminals who repealed it be brought to justice? 

.

[jasinlee]

Working late again I see.

[Bitcoin Oz]

You can get scammed with bitcoin. The government prevents you seeking justice wild west style. 

[Foxpup]

Warning: Moderators do not remove likely scams. You must use your own brain: caveat emptor. Watch out for Ponzi schemes. Do not invest more than you can afford to lose.

The first line in the disclaimer shows how complicit the moderator's are in the criminal acts performed on this forum.

No it doesn't, for the reasons I already explained. It's not even a disclaimer in any case: where does it even say that anyone is disclaiming liability of anything? It's just a warning and a reminder that brain use is required. Normally such warnings would not be required, but since we're potentially dealing with the same people who apparently can't drink coffee without burning themselves and then suing everyone who didn't warn them that hot things can cause burns, it pays to play it safe and just include stupid warnings for stupid people.

In the eyes of the law, this makes them conspirators. Not to mention this forum could face penalties under the RICO act for protecting and promoting the criminals that fill the lending and securities forum.

Warning people about potential scams makes one a conspirator in the eyes of the law? What crazy law are you talking about here? And you've got a long way to go if you think that simply refusing to censor lawful communications based on unproven accusations of unlawfulness counts as racketeering.