Bitcointalk suggested as being the home of scammers.

[Jet Cash]

There is a thread on Name Pros that reports a fraudulent domain name sale by a Bitcoin talk member. Some of the replies illustrate the problems faced  by honest Bitcoiners as a result of its use by scammers and con artists. If we don't want to end up with a reputation like PayPal, we need to do something to counter this, and improve the respectability of Bitcoin.

https://www.namepros.com/threads/scammed-by-unknown-person-3-000-btc-pornography-com-affiliate-org-schoolteacher-com-distrub-com-etc.998177/

[1715285006]

1715285006

[hilariousandco]

"If it's too good to be true then it probably is."

Bitcoin wasn't the problem here, but the fact that he bought something that could be easily taken back from him.

[Jet Cash]

The problem was not doing due diligence before entering into a deal that looked "too good to be true", and falling for the scammers trick to make the victim believe that he is scamming the scammer. The unfortunate consequences of such reporting are that people start to belive that Bitcoin is the new PayPal, and not the valuable secure payment method that it is. If the guy had approached Bitcoin as "intelligent money", then he could have set up the transaction to protect himself. Maybe we should be publicising the advanced features of Bitcoin.

I started the thread because I believe that Bitcoin talk is a valuable asset to the Bitcoin community, but if public perception is that the site is the home of gambling and ponzi sig spammers, and the perpetrators of fraudulent sales, then we will lose the benefits of that asset.

[shorena]

-snip-
I started the thread because I believe that Bitcoin talk is a valuable asset to the Bitcoin community, but if public perception is that the site is the home of gambling and ponzi sig spammers, and the perpetrators of fraudulent sales, then we will lose the benefits of that asset.

So is bitcoin and it wont lose its benefits because people think its "the drug/hacker/ponzi"-money.

PS: I left a neg, not that it matters on a newbie account

[Jet Cash]

Thanks for that. I suspect the account is an alias though - this seems to be the danger when dealing with new accounts. The account is a short term registration for some discouraged practice. Is there a way to check to see if it is linked to an established member?

[olubams]

The issue you raised is really a call for concern and its obvious to even the administrators of the forum and other members of the forum and they have been trying their effort in sanitising the forum. A quick look at the meta section of the forum will show how much they have been trying to build up the reputation of the forum and hopefully they will be successful at it.

[shorena]

Thanks for that. I suspect the account is an alias though - this seems to be the danger when dealing with new accounts. The account is a short term registration for some discouraged practice. Is there a way to check to see if it is linked to an established member?

Admins can see IP addresses, but they usually keep out of these things. It might be possible to reveal something via the posted addresses[1] and blockchain analysis. There are no directly related addresses and it looks like the coins have been mixed though.

[1] 1J8moCzzRg6rdoGv1aqoPJCqrkXhocwNtT, 1NmBxpMrY1wqKsWD8HK6n9ZQF6WP5povFK and 17An4YMbWeXhkg7nnPumdrgHSgVeut1jbY

[Jet Cash]

I haven't been looking at mixers, as I have no need for them. Is it possible to check to see if a payment is being routed to a mixer? I guess it isn't as important to see if it is coming from a mixer, as the payment will still be final when it arrives.

[Lauda]

Is it possible to check to see if a payment is being routed to a mixer?

Not unless you know that the destination address belongs to one.

I guess it isn't as important to see if it is coming from a mixer, as the payment will still be final when it arrives.

Correct.
A stronger policy on sanitizing this forum (as mentioned by olubams) would definitely be welcome. However, it is not possible to predict just how effective that would be. Similar situations would still occur.

[DomainMagnate]

There is a thread on Name Pros that reports a fraudulent domain name sale by a Bitcoin talk member. Some of the replies illustrate the problems faced  by honest Bitcoiners as a result of its use by scammers and con artists. If we don't want to end up with a reputation like PayPal, we need to do something to counter this, and improve the respectability of Bitcoin.

https://www.namepros.com/threads/scammed-by-unknown-person-3-000-btc-pornography-com-affiliate-org-schoolteacher-com-distrub-com-etc.998177/

Unfortunately there is nothing much we can do.The most of scams feed on avarice.As you can see on that Namepros thread, the victim fell for scammer's trick because he thought he would get domains worth of 6 figures for 4 figures and in a hurry sent the payment first and without escrow.

[Jet Cash]

I'm still interested in using 3 party signatures as a form of escrow. @Shorena is one of the most trusted members of this forum, and I have discussed this with her in the past. I'd like to try selling some names for Bitcoin using this form of escrow. I'd be prepared to throw up a list of domain names here and on namepros to see if anybody would be interested. I'm not sure how one could register a person as the 3rd party trusted arbitrator though. Especially to people who aren't members of this forum.

[Joel_Jantsen]

https://www.namepros.com/threads/scammed-by-unknown-person-3-000-btc-pornography-com-affiliate-org-schoolteacher-com-distrub-com-etc.998177/

lol what idiot does it take to buy digital goods such a "domain" transfer without contacting the service ? Yes Bitcointalk is home of the scammers as much as it home of the bubble headed idiots who are too naive to start using the internet.

[coolcoinz]

Only a complete idiot would attack an open forum after paying for something the seller never owned. I could start a thread now and say I'm selling a pound of gold for 10BTC, payment first, and then send him a pound of bricks, whose fault would it be? The author is naive and salty.

[instacalm]

Places where assets of any kind are being traded, unfortunately, always deal with the issue of fraudulent activities. Scammers are here on Bitcointalk just like they are elsewhere, it is simply for the fact that Bitcoin can not easily be reclaimed by requesting a recharge through a bank or similar institution, that the interest of scammers is very high. Bitcointalk can not be called the home of scammers, it is also the home of great discussions, and the home of bad discussions - on Bitcoin. And that is what it's very good at -- the best, in fact.