benshawportfolio scam fraud developer

[PondSea]

It is very unfortunate that i have to write this.

This is a guy that sounded great and exactly what i was looking for. But it looks like i have been taken for a ride.

I approached Ben Shaw about 3 weeks ago. On the 8th i have signed a contract for him to design a GUI, connect it up to the backend APIs and compile it for Win/OSX/Linux and Android. He said his price doubled because of the tight schedule.

He was not anon so i let my guard down and sent him 50% based on his previous work.

Payment sent:
https://blockchain.info/tx/151aedeb1e4a84c33ea7948e8d12bf05e1d2a3132b893e68624ba04b2b3a54af

This was stipulated in the contract:

Product: Design of the GUI / visualization (graphs of prices and so forth) GUI connecting to backend APIs Cross compile the package as a desktop app and to ensure it is ‘grandma friendly’. Compiling for the 3 desktop OS and android.
Timeline: 1st of November or agreed extension by buyer
Compensation: £15k broken up into a 50/50 process
Payment method: BTC address 1GNWvckmkBxDUFQj7ruoKshw9JjuKEn4oh
Included: Maintenance (6 months), setup and support
Commencement date: Following agreement of contract and upon receipt of a deposit.
Description: All specifications mentioned via Skype/email will form as a verbal agreement and thus liable to this contract.

Firstly he sent me the following design after a few days of working on it. I told him for his fee i should be wowed not just a prettier version of the mock ups i provided.




I told him they looked crap, but he said it was just a start.

Then he tried to con me into paying the other 50%

[18/10/17, 8:04:35 pm] Ben Shaw: There is a lot to do, i openly admit that. Whilst it can be done and i'll be needing a lot of late nights i would once again recommend bringing someone like Tom on board to concentrate on the coding aspect of this project and i have said i would be willing to sacrifice 50% of my payment to compensate for this.
[18/10/17, 8:07:12 pm] John Davidson: Not to sound like a dick but that is why we paid a higher price than what we would normally do. We cannot pay the remaining 50% to bring on someone to help get things done without knowing what we are getting in the end.

We are happy if you want to share the current 50% prepayment with Tom and we split the remaining 50% at the end.
[18/10/17, 8:08:00 pm] John Davidson: He was ready to take 25% deposit and with the appreciation of the fiat value of the BTC I sent you, that should only be 15-20%
[18/10/17, 8:08:13 pm] John Davidson: Of what we have paid you
[18/10/17, 8:08:56 pm] John Davidson: So if that is the only way to get it done, I would hope you do what you can to make sure it is. How you go about delivering the GUI as stipulated by the contract is up to you.
[18/10/17, 8:10:02 pm] Ben Shaw: Okay, it was just a suggestion John. I'll be in touch soon!
[18/10/17, 8:10:34 pm] Ben Shaw: I'll make a decision on my own regarding whether or not i bring Tom on board, but would you be okay with this if i do?
[18/10/17, 8:11:00 pm] Ben Shaw: (Using the funds you have already given to me)

Every step of the way, he said he had compiled the code and only thing left was the design. Unless he is some crazy genius he would not have been able to get all the API stuff done without the need of the main dev.

He comes back to me on the 24th with the following:



I said at this point i dont give a shit about how it looks, make sure it is compiled, send it to me so QA can be done. He delays and delays.

[30/10/17, 9:55:35 pm] John Davidson: Can you compile a version with the GUI you have shown me?
[30/10/17, 9:55:58 pm] Ben Shaw: I will be doing all of that John, dont fret!
[30/10/17, 9:56:11 pm] John Davidson: Can I get the test version tomorrow to test?
[30/10/17, 9:56:45 pm] Ben Shaw: I'll be passing everything over in good time and when i'm ready John
[30/10/17, 9:57:12 pm] John Davidson: When can I get a compiled alpha to get QA guys to test?
[30/10/17, 9:57:23 pm] Ben Shaw: Before your deadline
[30/10/17, 9:57:31 pm] John Davidson: Ok cool thanks
[30/10/17, 9:57:34 pm] Ben Shaw: our agreed deadline
[30/10/17, 9:57:46 pm] John Davidson: To confirm on the 1st?
[30/10/17, 9:58:03 pm] Ben Shaw: Thats what it says on the contract, yes

Then on the 1st he sends me a invoice for the remaining 50% without showing me any proof apart from the 2 sets of mockups.



I told him to send me proof, he said i am trying to scam him by not wanting to pay. I told him to send me video proof of it, i dont want him to send me the code and i will be happy to pay for it if it is working.

I gave him 24 hours to post the video or to refund me 1.7BTC (i was being nice).

This morning, he send me a video of a compiled version of uglydex from https://forum.supernet.org/t/barterdex-standalone-app-0-3-0-beta/340 pretending as if it were his own.



Note the easydex GUI in the video he sent me.

Anyway here is the scammer https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2208966.msg22360818#msg22360818
Website: https://www.benshawportfolio.com/

I will be taking legal action against this person.

[1715053580]

1715053580

[1715053580]

1715053580

[PondSea]

I have the domain details which contains address and phone number. I will be seeking any legal means of recovery, then i will be setting a bounty.

[akamit]

Sorry for your lose. Did he contact you back to settle the issue?

I was about to contact him to develop a small project for me.
Fortunately I saw your accusation against him.

Just now I tried to check his social profiles/cv, but all the pages/links are dead.
I think he doesn't want to settle down the issue, and disabled all his social profiles.

You should take legal action against him, because the amount is very big.

Good Luck Mate!

[PondSea]

Sorry for your lose. Did he contact you back to settle the issue?

I was about to contact him to develop a small project for me.
Fortunately I saw your accusation against him.

Just now I tried to check his social profiles/cv, but all the pages/links are dead.
I think he doesn't want to settle down the issue, and disabled all his social profiles.

You should take legal action against him, because the amount is very big.

Good Luck Mate!

After I told him i knew the person that did the code in the video he sent me all the designs that he posted before (pretty shit). But at this point i cannot trust what he has put in the zip files so i refused to open them. I will be taking legal action against him and it looks like someone else got scammed as well.

[DawQ]

I'm sorry for your loss but it is obvious that you have a strong case.

I've contacted him before for a project and he asked me 10k to do a similar task. Something about his behavior felt fishy (extreme advertising on subreddits and forums too) and I am glad I walked away from a disgrace like this.

[Kyraishi]

damn, this really sucks.

if you do know his personal details and he isn't willing to cooperate with you then simply launch legal action against him. But before that try to get him to finish the contract first. If he is claiming that you won't pay him, then put the rest of the btc with an escrow.

This is another example why you should only deal with people when you are protected by a trusted escrow.

[benandpond]

Ben here,

I am extremely disappointed with how this has come about. The above client has been the most abusive, threatening, impatient client i have ever come across.

The zip files i have sent over to you Mr Pond do not contain anything out of the ordinary, they are indeed your designs (a 3rd iteration too which you failed to mention on this post).

I find it very very inconsiderate that you have decided to take this out into the public and to the point of revealing my personal information. This has somewhat taken a toll on me and i will no longer be offering my services online due to you having somewhat sabotaged my image and quite frankly, humiliated me.

Admittedly, i sought help with some of the backend work from other colleagues of mine who managed to find someone on Reddit for me. But, we had a very short deadline and i did my best to reach this. The designs in the .sketch file and zip folders i have sent are a 3rd remake and have been done for you which i sent over Skype.

This had been a circus from the start, i should have been a little more tentative in accepting the work as you seemed a little shady from the outset and very keen on keeping anonymous. I would keep that in mind for anyone who decides to use Mr Ponds platform in the future.

This circus of a project has been cut short to an incompatibility with us, but work has been done and sent to you. I wish we could have resolved your issues privately as i would have amended what you was not happy with (like i had amended the design initially). 
 

[Kyraishi]

Ben here,

I am extremely disappointed with how this has come about. The above client has been the most abusive, threatening, impatient client i have ever come across.

The zip files i have sent over to you Mr Pond do not contain anything out of the ordinary, they are indeed your designs (a 3rd iteration too which you failed to mention on this post).

I find it very very inconsiderate that you have decided to take this out into the public and to the point of revealing my personal information. This has somewhat taken a toll on me and i will no longer be offering my services online due to you having somewhat sabotaged my image and quite frankly, humiliated me.

Admittedly, i sought help with some of the backend work from other colleagues of mine who managed to find someone on Reddit for me. But, we had a very short deadline and i did my best to reach this. The designs in the .sketch file and zip folders i have sent are a 3rd remake and have been done for you which i sent over Skype.

This had been a circus from the start, i should have been a little more tentative in accepting the work as you seemed a little shady from the outset and very keen on keeping anonymous. I would keep that in mind for anyone who decides to use Mr Ponds platform in the future.

This circus of a project has been cut short to an incompatibility with us, but work has been done and sent to you. I wish we could have resolved your issues privately as i would have amended what you was not happy with (like i had amended the design initially). 
 

Why not get this into the public? Why do you prefer to settle this privately? Even if you're in the right you have to understand that having the public judging the situation is the most effective way to get this resolved for both parties.

Also, why aren't you on your usual account on bitcointalk(https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=932554)?

Any proof that you're the real ben shaw?

[DawQ]

Ben here,

I am extremely disappointed with how this has come about. The above client has been the most abusive, threatening, impatient client i have ever come across.

The zip files i have sent over to you Mr Pond do not contain anything out of the ordinary, they are indeed your designs (a 3rd iteration too which you failed to mention on this post).

I find it very very inconsiderate that you have decided to take this out into the public and to the point of revealing my personal information. This has somewhat taken a toll on me and i will no longer be offering my services online due to you having somewhat sabotaged my image and quite frankly, humiliated me.

Admittedly, i sought help with some of the backend work from other colleagues of mine who managed to find someone on Reddit for me. But, we had a very short deadline and i did my best to reach this. The designs in the .sketch file and zip folders i have sent are a 3rd remake and have been done for you which i sent over Skype.

This had been a circus from the start, i should have been a little more tentative in accepting the work as you seemed a little shady from the outset and very keen on keeping anonymous. I would keep that in mind for anyone who decides to use Mr Ponds platform in the future.

This circus of a project has been cut short to an incompatibility with us, but work has been done and sent to you. I wish we could have resolved your issues privately as i would have amended what you was not happy with (like i had amended the design initially).  
 

In my eyes, this is some lame ass response/excuse... You're being vague about it all: details? he said she said?!.. present evidence. Otherwise, it's exactly what it looks. 1st refuse, then try to scam with something you did not make and then apparently half present the signed contract and run away with the cash, and trying to delete all your online presence in attempt to avoid consequences of your stealing.
I'm not a lawyer or a judge, but given the presented facts so far, it seems to me that you are in deep trouble.

[benshawbullshyt]

Ben here,

I am extremely disappointed with how this has come about. The above client has been the most abusive, threatening, impatient client i have ever come across.

The zip files i have sent over to you Mr Pond do not contain anything out of the ordinary, they are indeed your designs (a 3rd iteration too which you failed to mention on this post).

I find it very very inconsiderate that you have decided to take this out into the public and to the point of revealing my personal information. This has somewhat taken a toll on me and i will no longer be offering my services online due to you having somewhat sabotaged my image and quite frankly, humiliated me.

Admittedly, i sought help with some of the backend work from other colleagues of mine who managed to find someone on Reddit for me. But, we had a very short deadline and i did my best to reach this. The designs in the .sketch file and zip folders i have sent are a 3rd remake and have been done for you which i sent over Skype.

This had been a circus from the start, i should have been a little more tentative in accepting the work as you seemed a little shady from the outset and very keen on keeping anonymous. I would keep that in mind for anyone who decides to use Mr Ponds platform in the future.

This circus of a project has been cut short to an incompatibility with us, but work has been done and sent to you. I wish we could have resolved your issues privately as i would have amended what you was not happy with (like i had amended the design initially). 
 

You're full of shit.  You realize people are going to take serious legal action against you which can easily be verified with multiple sources having mountains of evidence against you? 

You think you can make up this sob story and be free, but you're going down for grand larceny.  Do the smart thing and refund them. 

[PondSea]

Ben here,

I am extremely disappointed with how this has come about. The above client has been the most abusive, threatening, impatient client i have ever come across.

The zip files i have sent over to you Mr Pond do not contain anything out of the ordinary, they are indeed your designs (a 3rd iteration too which you failed to mention on this post).

I find it very very inconsiderate that you have decided to take this out into the public and to the point of revealing my personal information. This has somewhat taken a toll on me and i will no longer be offering my services online due to you having somewhat sabotaged my image and quite frankly, humiliated me.

Admittedly, i sought help with some of the backend work from other colleagues of mine who managed to find someone on Reddit for me. But, we had a very short deadline and i did my best to reach this. The designs in the .sketch file and zip folders i have sent are a 3rd remake and have been done for you which i sent over Skype.

This had been a circus from the start, i should have been a little more tentative in accepting the work as you seemed a little shady from the outset and very keen on keeping anonymous. I would keep that in mind for anyone who decides to use Mr Ponds platform in the future.

This circus of a project has been cut short to an incompatibility with us, but work has been done and sent to you. I wish we could have resolved your issues privately as i would have amended what you was not happy with (like i had amended the design initially). 
 

Why are you using an alt? This is your main account right? https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2208966.msg22360818#msg22360818

I have the full skype chat history and anyone that reads it, will see how reasonable i have been.

From the onset you said your high fees were due to the tight deadlines. I paid, then you tried to scam me into getting help from a "friend" and paying the remaining 50%.

Then you tried scamming me again by fraudulently claiming work that was not yours, nor would it have satisfied the contract you signed even if it was your work.

In any case, i want a full refund for the 2.2BTC you have scammed from me. If that is not forthcoming i and another party will be pressing charges.

[magneto]

OP, hopefully the developer in question can refund you.

If not then you'll be forced to take legal action, which anyone obviously wouldn't want to do unless forced to, since it is a tedious process to go through just for something petty compared to the other fraudsters.

It's fair to say that OP has the most reasonable case, unless the dev comes out with his side of the story with fully backed proof. At least you only sent 50% instead of losing everything, op.

[PondSea]

OP, hopefully the developer in question can refund you.

If not then you'll be forced to take legal action, which anyone obviously wouldn't want to do unless forced to, since it is a tedious process to go through just for something petty compared to the other fraudsters.

It's fair to say that OP has the most reasonable case, unless the dev comes out with his side of the story with fully backed proof. At least you only sent 50% instead of losing everything, op.

I gave him the choice to do that, he chose to once again try to defraud me by claiming work that was not his own.

He did not complete even 10% of the work set out in the contract and i was good enough to let him keep .5 BTC for his "efforts". But he did not want to do that.

So now i want the full 2.2BTC refunded as well as a refund of another client he has scammed.

[PondSea]

damn, this really sucks.

if you do know his personal details and he isn't willing to cooperate with you then simply launch legal action against him. But before that try to get him to finish the contract first. If he is claiming that you won't pay him, then put the rest of the btc with an escrow.

This is another example why you should only deal with people when you are protected by a trusted escrow.

The contract states clearly everything he needed to do before the 1st of Nov. He did not do that so is in clear breach of contract.

[PondSea]

I love it!

Deleted his reddit, took down his website, instead of paying for domain registration privacy he put "privacy whois" LOL

http://whois.domaintools.com/benshawportfolio.com

Too bad i have already taken screenshots of everything

[Yuuto]

Him taking down his site now is just a confirmation that he is a scammer and he is afraid to be identified. Otherwise, there is absolutely no reason why he should take down his site which is presumably his primary income source within 2 days of this thread being started.

If you still have his personal info it may be a good idea to post it in investigations.

Wouldn't be surprised if he ditched his forum handle altogether.

[akamit]

Him taking down his site now is just a confirmation that he is a scammer and he is afraid to be identified. Otherwise, there is absolutely no reason why he should take down his site which is presumably his primary income source within 2 days of this thread being started.

If you still have his personal info it may be a good idea to post it in investigations.

Wouldn't be surprised if he ditched his forum handle altogether.

Exactly!
As he closed his site then he is probably the culprit.
At the beginning he closed down his social profiles and now he closed his site.

But I am trying to assume why PondSea paid such a big amount in advance. He shouldn't be taken that high risk.
Instead he could used xbtfreelancer escrow or an escrow from here, such as Monbux, Sebastian. It was not a penny game, it was really a big amount in current days.

I am really feeling bad about PondSea's loss. I hope he can recover his loss by any means.

Good Luck Mate!

[PondSea]

Update:

The guy that Ben asked me to hire "Tom", seems to be an alt of Ben.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=897095

Same email/domain format and it looks like that one was scrubbed too.

[PondSea]

Look what i have managed to find. So i have confirmed where Ben went to school, his class mates and confirmation of his photo with his photo on Skype.

Ben i hope you are reading this. I want a full refund or you will be going to jail.

[grewalsatinder]

Look what i have managed to find. So i have confirmed where Ben went to school, his class mates and confirmation of his photo with his photo on Skype.

Ben i hope you are reading this. I want a full refund or you will be going to jail.

Inverted picture: