Garr255/Werner - Auction shilling

[ThatDGuy]

Hi all,

First, I apologize for taking too long to attempt to resolve this situation. I've been extremely frustrated with myself all day. I have been regretting what I have done since the moment I did it.

I hereby confess to bidding up my own auctions using the "Werner" forum handle. This is despicable, I know. I did this out of pure greed. Scamming anyone was not the priority, getting a few extra measly bitcoins for Cognitive's auction was my goal. I have always acted in the best interest of Cognitive, because I know, believe, and practice my fiduciary duty which comes as a result of handling others' assets. I want everyone to know that I will continue doing my best to run the company, the same as I always have. My track record on the forum has been flawless before this incident, and that's what hurts me most. I'm disgusted with myself when people are questioning whether they can trust me now.

Although some may view this as a petty offence (as I did previously), I do not any longer. As an attempt to at least partially make up for my wrongdoing, I am offering each of the participants in the auction, starsoccer9 and Vezunchik, BTC5 of my own personal funds, which more than makes up for the financial loss due false bids in the auction. I realize that what I have done is unacceptable, and I do deeply regret it.

Being an optimist, I can't help but try to take something positive away from a given situation. I believe that because of this incident I will make an effort to be that much better of a person. Everyone who I have interacted with aside from these auction participants, and Josh Zerlan (Inaba), would agree with me when I tell you: I strive to be a person of high moral conduct.

I apologize to everyone for letting greed get in my way. I know trust takes ages to build, and a few posts to destroy. I hope that everyone will acknowledge my past, and see that I have never acted in an externally malicious way, and have always been transparent, friendly, and courteous in all of my dealings with fellow forum members. Know that I am a man of my word: when I say I will do something, I do it. I regret bidding up the auction greatly. Please know that I have never scammed anyone nor have I stolen anything. I have done tons (probably well over 100) transactions of physical items with users of this forum and not one has gone sour. In most of them the other party was the one who had to trust me.

Again, I sincerely regret what I have done and I apologize for doing it. The small sum of bitcoins I gained from this (until I pay the auction bidders back) was certainly not worth the tarnished reputation. Never again will I allow myself to do something so crooked.

Sincerely,
Garrett

Pleasantly surprised that you came forward with this, and overall did pretty well with it.  BTC5 to the auction victims seems like a good start. 

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[Nightowlace]

Look I don't even know Garr all I know is that he buys silver from me and seems like a good kid. Here are some things I want everyone to think of when posting here asking for all of the things like scam tags, untrustworthy etc.

1. Do not ask for forgiveness for yourself and justice for others. This kid (17 years old) has publicly apologized and offered up 10BTC to the winners of those auctions as a way of reimbursing them when if you look at the bidding thread there was active bidders all the way through not just Werner.

2. Would you want every mistake you've made since the time you were 17 years old labeled to your account and to follow you forever? From his history and cognitive it looks like he also has done some pretty solid things for people.

3. How many of you have ever sold an item on eBay? Now of those people how many of you have ever had a friend bid on your item to help give it a boost? I can assure you most have. It sucks and that's why I hate online auctions most of the time because I feel like this happens more often than not.

He got caught. We are a small community. It was wrong we all can see that. He has publicly apologized and has offered to reimburse this who involved. I think that speaks volumes for a kid his age.

well I guess point number 3 makes it clear I wont be bidding on any of your auctions

Why because I speak the truth? You and I know damn well that when we bid on an eBay item and in the last 10mins of the auction we get bid up dollar by dollar the auctioneer is bidding us up to our max. I've emailed eBay before and cancelled auctions that this has happened. It pisses me off. I hate that shit. It happens all the damn time too.

The fact is he obviously learned this practice was acceptable via whatever means and now he has apologized for it offered damages an people are still crucifying him. I'm sure 99% of the people crucifying him have done something along the way the regret as well and wouldn't want a lifetime tag of it.

[Matthew N. Wright]

He could have said it was all just a joke and was trying to teach us all a lesson.

If that were the truth, he should have said that. Instead, he denied it and made up a story that he was only associating himself with another account because of blackmail (more lies). How many shares of his company do you own that you would need to defend his dishonesty while attacking others? The hypocrisy and corruption here needs to be highlighted. Efforts to cover it up or shrug it off should be spotlighted.

[starsoccer9]

Look I don't even know Garr all I know is that he buys silver from me and seems like a good kid. Here are some things I want everyone to think of when posting here asking for all of the things like scam tags, untrustworthy etc.

1. Do not ask for forgiveness for yourself and justice for others. This kid (17 years old) has publicly apologized and offered up 10BTC to the winners of those auctions as a way of reimbursing them when if you look at the bidding thread there was active bidders all the way through not just Werner.

2. Would you want every mistake you've made since the time you were 17 years old labeled to your account and to follow you forever? From his history and cognitive it looks like he also has done some pretty solid things for people.

3. How many of you have ever sold an item on eBay? Now of those people how many of you have ever had a friend bid on your item to help give it a boost? I can assure you most have. It sucks and that's why I hate online auctions most of the time because I feel like this happens more often than not.

He got caught. We are a small community. It was wrong we all can see that. He has publicly apologized and has offered to reimburse this who involved. I think that speaks volumes for a kid his age.

well I guess point number 3 makes it clear I wont be bidding on any of your auctions

Why because I speak the truth? You and I know damn well that when we bid on an eBay item and in the last 10mins of the auction we get bid up dollar by dollar the auctioneer is bidding us up to our max. I've emailed eBay before and cancelled auctions that this has happened. It pisses me off. I hate that shit. It happens all the damn time too.

The fact is he obviously learned this practice was acceptable via whatever means and now he has apologized for it offered damages an people are still crucifying him. I'm sure 99% of the people crucifying him have done something along the way the regret as well and wouldn't want a lifetime tag of it.

I dont know what auctions you go to but It has never happened to me.

[Matthew N. Wright]

The fact is he obviously learned this practice was acceptable via whatever means and now he has apologized for it offered damages an people are still crucifying him. I'm sure 99% of the people crucifying him have done something along the way the regret as well and wouldn't want a lifetime tag of it.

And now for the moral dilemma that outlines the hypocrisy here. You just described the reasoning behind me making a trolling bet, yet even though I also didn't intend to profit nor actually profit (in fact I paid much more than Garr will ever be able to pay in his lifetime probably) as a result of it, I'm still deemed a scammer or "untrustworthy". Why would that be? Because he's a few years younger than me?

[crumbs]

Look I don't even know Garr all I know is that he buys silver from me and seems like a good kid. Here are some things I want everyone to think of when posting here asking for all of the things like scam tags, untrustworthy etc.

1. Do not ask for forgiveness for yourself and justice for others. This kid (17 years old) has publicly apologized and offered up 10BTC to the winners of those auctions as a way of reimbursing them when if you look at the bidding thread there was active bidders all the way through not just Werner.

Absurd.  A) Not 17, he's an adult -- read the thread.  B) If allowances for being a kid are made, kids should register as "DON'T HOLD ME ACCOUNTABLE, I'S MINOR!1"

2. Would you want every mistake you've made since the time you were 17 years old labeled to your account and to follow you forever? From his history and cognitive it looks like he also has done some pretty solid things for people.

If i got busted @ 18 there'd certainly be a lifelong criminal record.  Anything else?

3. How many of you have ever sold an item on eBay? Now of those people how many of you have ever had a friend bid on your item to help give it a boost? I can assure you most have. It sucks and that's why I hate online auctions most of the time because I feel like this happens more often than not.

Don't have to believe me, but *NEVER, NOT ONCE*.  

He got caught. We are a small community. It was wrong we all can see that. He has publicly apologized and has offered to reimburse this who involved. I think that speaks volumes for a kid his age.

Again, not a kid, and i can't think of a weaker punishment than ... A tag under your user name on some forum?  We're not hanging the guy here!

[nocompare]

The fact is he obviously learned this practice was acceptable via whatever means and now he has apologized for it offered damages an people are still crucifying him. I'm sure 99% of the people crucifying him have done something along the way the regret as well and wouldn't want a lifetime tag of it.

And now for the moral dilemma that outlines the hypocrisy here. You just described the reasoning behind me making a trolling bet, yet even though I also didn't profit (in fact I paid much more than Garr will ever be able to pay in his lifetime probably) as a result of it, I'm still deemed a scammer or "untrustworthy". Why would that be? Because he's a few years younger than me?

Because you SCAMMED people.

If you used a sockpuppet and went "I want to bet 100,000 BTC", and then you "resold" those bets at 1:0.75, then you are not a scammer. People (like the bidders) accepted the new price.

[ThatDGuy]

3. How many of you have ever sold an item on eBay? Now of those people how many of you have ever had a friend bid on your item to help give it a boost? I can assure you most have. It sucks and that's why I hate online auctions most of the time because I feel like this happens more often than not.

I did it for some of my auctions when I joined eBay many years ago, and it ended up biting me: I sold it to myself!
Anyway, it's not worth it on eBay, given the high volume you always get a good price.

The difference here is that there was zero chance of Garr255/Werner biting himself in a forum auction if he wasn't caught later, though.

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[...]  But Garr was a man and unlike most of the others who have made mistakes he dealt with it professionally.

   What's the difference between a self-serving apology & a self-serving lie of a scammer  Do you honestly think a scammer would never apologise if it made him $$$?

i think most of the people here bitching are upset at Theymos for unrelated/offtopic things.

[/quote]

No, the topic is solid -- we're dealing with a con man who stole & scammed.  Where's the problem?

[Nightowlace]

Look I don't even know Garr all I know is that he buys silver from me and seems like a good kid. Here are some things I want everyone to think of when posting here asking for all of the things like scam tags, untrustworthy etc.

1. Do not ask for forgiveness for yourself and justice for others. This kid (17 years old) has publicly apologized and offered up 10BTC to the winners of those auctions as a way of reimbursing them when if you look at the bidding thread there was active bidders all the way through not just Werner.

2. Would you want every mistake you've made since the time you were 17 years old labeled to your account and to follow you forever? From his history and cognitive it looks like he also has done some pretty solid things for people.

3. How many of you have ever sold an item on eBay? Now of those people how many of you have ever had a friend bid on your item to help give it a boost? I can assure you most have. It sucks and that's why I hate online auctions most of the time because I feel like this happens more often than not.

He got caught. We are a small community. It was wrong we all can see that. He has publicly apologized and has offered to reimburse this who involved. I think that speaks volumes for a kid his age.

well I guess point number 3 makes it clear I wont be bidding on any of your auctions

Why because I speak the truth? You and I know damn well that when we bid on an eBay item and in the last 10mins of the auction we get bid up dollar by dollar the auctioneer is bidding us up to our max. I've emailed eBay before and cancelled auctions that this has happened. It pisses me off. I hate that shit. It happens all the damn time too.

The fact is he obviously learned this practice was acceptable via whatever means and now he has apologized for it offered damages an people are still crucifying him. I'm sure 99% of the people crucifying him have done something along the way the regret as well and wouldn't want a lifetime tag of it.

I dont know what auctions you go to but It has never happened to me.

eBay happens all the time.
I literally got an email from a friend the other day who was having a charity auction on eBay and I publicly posted on my FB I was winning an item for this cause and she stated "hey, you cheap ass! Thanks for the bids. I was trying to get more out of you but saw your bids were pretty minimal"
She literally was using her personal account to try and up my bid for her charity and we are friends! That's why I do not put in high amounts anymore. If I want an item bad enough ill put in my max 30 seconds before auction close and then hope for the best.
And just for the record if you review the auction there were active bidders all the way up to 60 when you bid 61. Werner took you from 61 to 63 a difference of 2 BTC you're getting a 5BTC refund. Not to mention you're getting this unit for 58 BTC now. Be happy.

[starsoccer9]

I think this whole thing justifies why we need a court of users who are in no way related or have any interest in the person at hand. They hear the case and decide what happens. Weather it be innocent, a scammer tag, a untrustworthy tag or what else. Since i think its quite clear paid mods cant do there job

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3. How many of you have ever sold an item on eBay? Now of those people how many of you have ever had a friend bid on your item to help give it a boost? I can assure you most have. It sucks and that's why I hate online auctions most of the time because I feel like this happens more often than not.

I did it for some of my auctions when I joined eBay many years ago, and it ended up biting me: I sold it to myself!
Anyway, it's not worth it on eBay, given the high volume you always get a good price.

It's also clear that you can't make the price go up that much; the real bidders have to set the price in the end. The best you can do it create a bit of hype so they raise their max.

So you're saying that the scam wasn't worth it?  What am i missing?

[Nightowlace]

The fact is he obviously learned this practice was acceptable via whatever means and now he has apologized for it offered damages an people are still crucifying him. I'm sure 99% of the people crucifying him have done something along the way the regret as well and wouldn't want a lifetime tag of it.

And now for the moral dilemma that outlines the hypocrisy here. You just described the reasoning behind me making a trolling bet, yet even though I also didn't intend to profit nor actually profit (in fact I paid much more than Garr will ever be able to pay in his lifetime probably) as a result of it, I'm still deemed a scammer or "untrustworthy". Why would that be? Because he's a few years younger than me?

Sorry I don't know you or your situation.

[crumbs]

The late bidding is done by real bidders actually. I do it, and most experienced eBay users do it too.
There are many applications to do it, it's called "sniping". It actually works against the seller (and other buyers that are too psychological), as he does not know your max until the end.

Wrong.  It's called "shilling."  With eBay there's the cost of commission to dissuade you & your shills from running rampant.  Not so on this forum.

[Matthew N. Wright]

The fact is he obviously learned this practice was acceptable via whatever means and now he has apologized for it offered damages an people are still crucifying him. I'm sure 99% of the people crucifying him have done something along the way the regret as well and wouldn't want a lifetime tag of it.

And now for the moral dilemma that outlines the hypocrisy here. You just described the reasoning behind me making a trolling bet, yet even though I also didn't profit (in fact I paid much more than Garr will ever be able to pay in his lifetime probably) as a result of it, I'm still deemed a scammer or "untrustworthy". Why would that be? Because he's a few years younger than me?

Because you SCAMMED people.

If you used a sockpuppet and went "I want to bet 100,000 BTC", and then you "resold" those bets at 1:0.75, then you are not a scammer. People (like the bidders) accepted the new price.

Can't tell if serious. My bet was a prank. I had no intention of accepting funds. I made an illegitimate promise that I had no intention of keeping, and ended up deciding the right thing to do was to keep it anyway given my perception of how it negatively affected the community, no one forced me to make things right (there is no legal ground to do so).

Through my contributions (I founded Bitcoin Magazine, the largest bitcoin business incubator in its history to date, handling tens  of thousands of bitcoins for others, having business loans that I paid back personally when the business failed, etc) I have proven I am trustworthy, I have proven I didn't scam, and I have proven I'm not a scammer countless times and still retain the trust of hundreds of active businessmen, exchange owners, developers, designers and project managers in this community and yet an "untrustworthy" tag is appropriate?

In contrast, Garr made a contract to sell something to the highest bidder in an open and fair auction but deceived others as to the proper price (he admitted to doing this and understands why it's wrong). This makes him "honest" because he merely apologizes for being caught? Do you hear yourself? He is a scammer, he is caught and apologized. Deal with it.

[crumbs]

Yes, people really do think you are a scammer. It is not a joke we all tried to pull on you. You cost a lot of people a lot of money while helping pirate sell off worthless debt.

Goat, what difference does it make in this thread weather Matthew is or is not a scammer?   Didn't you ask me not to shit up this thread by going off-topic?

[crumbs]

[...]
eBay happens all the time.
I literally got an email from a friend the other day who was having a charity auction on eBay and I publicly posted on my FB I was winning an item for this cause and she stated "hey, you cheap ass! Thanks for the bids. I was trying to get more out of you but saw your bids were pretty minimal"
She literally was using her personal account to try and up my bid
[...more tales of joyful thievery]

Look, we get it.  You & your friends scam on eBay.  This thread is not about your scams.

[starsoccer9]

Yes, people really do think you are a scammer. It is not a joke we all tried to pull on you. You cost a lot of people a lot of money while helping pirate sell off worthless debt.

Goat, what difference does it make in this thread weather Matthew is or is not a scammer?   Didn't you ask me not to shit up this thread by going off-topic?

No, I do not think that was me.

And the reason why this is on topic is that Matthew is trying to say cuz he got tagged Garr should as well.

I'm pointing out what Garr did and what Matthew did are not the same.

They are the same tho. Mattew didnt steal anyones funds. He didnt take funds and disappear nor did he not return money someone gave him.

Gar pushed up his own auction requiring me to bid higher and therefor stealing coins that would of otherwise not been stolen. He didnt forcefully make me bid, but he forced me to bid higher to win.

[crumbs]

Yes, people really do think you are a scammer. It is not a joke we all tried to pull on you. You cost a lot of people a lot of money while helping pirate sell off worthless debt.

Goat, what difference does it make in this thread weather Matthew is or is not a scammer?   Didn't you ask me not to shit up this thread by going off-topic?

No, I do not think that was me.

And the reason why this is on topic is that Matthew is trying to say cuz he got tagged Garr should as well.

I'm pointing out what Garr did and what Matthew did are not the same.

Well, just ignore his comments, then -- use that bright yeller' button.  We don't care about him right now, let's stay ot.

[Matthew N. Wright]

Yes, people really do think you are a scammer. It is not a joke we all tried to pull on you. You cost a lot of people a lot of money while helping pirate sell off worthless debt.

Goat, what difference does it make in this thread weather Matthew is or is not a scammer?   Didn't you ask me not to shit up this thread by going off-topic?

No, I do not think that was me.

And the reason why this is on topic is that Matthew is trying to say cuz he got tagged Garr should as well.

I'm pointing out what Garr did and what Matthew did are not the same.

They are the same tho. Mattew didnt steal anyones funds. He didnt take funds and disappear nor did he not return money someone gave him.

Gar pushed up his own auction requiring me to bid higher and therefor stealing coins that would of otherwise not been stolen. He didnt forcefully make me bid, but he forced me to bid higher to win.

I can't believe Theymos actually said that. "No one put a gun to anyone's head". No one put a gun to anyone's head to bet with me either. The hypocrisy is maddening.

Time for dinner!