[BOUNTY] Info leading to criminal arrest in ASIC Theft. Escrow via John K.

[CrazyGuy]

Current Bounty
BTC50

Current USD amount of bounty


https://blockchain.info/address/1E36mb8tWuEarA9b99v179CoAkudoadzQS
Bounty is escrowed with John K. and open for donations. Please read below for more details

Bounty Details
I am offering a minimum of 50 BTC for information leading to the arrest of the individual that broke into my house and stole a Batch #2 Avalon ASIC. The burglary occurred at exactly 10:10 AM CST on May 31st 2013, 2.5 days after listing on the forums and eBay. I live in North DFW, in an area with one of the lowest crime rates in America, so this is not a coincidence. I have kept quiet about the burglary while police investigate, but I feel now is the time to take action and provide a little incentive for catching the criminal.

I want to stress that the primary goal of this bounty is not to retrieve my Avalon, but to ensure the criminal who invaded my house and privacy serves due time in prison, and prevent this from happening to anyone else. With that said, I want to encourage those of you that may have purchased a stolen unit second hand to come forward with information about the individual you purchased from. The bounty is available to any individual that provides information leading to an arrest.

Who is eligible, how can you help?
Everyone is eligible.

• Purchased a secondhand Avalon off of eBay, the forums, craigslist? Please contact me. If you are able to provide identifying information on the unit, we can move forward with locating the criminal.
• Provide information on your thieving friend or someone you've seen bragging about stealing an Avalon. I can't imagine someone willing to break into a stranger's home has loyal friends. Surely someone will be willing to rat their criminal buddy out.
• Upvote on reddit. The bounty needs as much exposure as possible to attract an informant.
• Donate to the bounty and help spread the message to lurking criminals that we intend to make sure they don't get away with major theft. I am not the benefactor of bounty donations, and donations can be retracted after each 30 day period(More details in Full Terms). In the event the unit is returned, as a donator, you will receive a percentage of the Avalon's mining power for the life of the unit(no less than 1 year)

Full Terms

• Bounty is run in 30 day intervals, starting June 19th 2013. At the end of 30 days, I will decide wether to continue for another 30 days or not.
• Donators have 24 hour period after each 30 day interval to retract their donation. In the event the bounty is called off, donators will receive a full refund. If you do donate, please remember to donate from your account(not Mtgox or another online account). This will ease the refund process if necessary.
• In the event the unit is returned, donators will receive a percentage of the Avalon's mining power, equal to the percentage donated to full bounty.
• Information must lead to criminal arrest of an individual connected to the burglary. This must be verified before receiving payment.
• Bounty is escrowed with John K. John has been given specific information regarding the case and should only be contacted if you are uncomfortable with speaking me directly

For those of you with ASICs on order, or coming in soon, be careful! There are criminals out there willing to break into your house and take your property. It's easy to forget how much this hardware is worth, and what people are willing to do, when you paid a fraction of the current value.

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[CrazyGuy]

reserved

[pikeadz]

Copy of the police report with personally identifiable info stricken would be nice.  Otherwise you could just be a guy out to get a free avalon "returned" to him in a roundabout way, or worse, have a fake donation site set up.  Just saying, the more info you provide (within reason), the better for all.

[CrazyGuy]

Copy of the police report with personally identifiable info stricken would be nice.  Otherwise you could just be a guy out to get a free avalon "returned" to him in a roundabout way, or worse, have a fake donation site set up.  Just saying, the more info you provide (within reason), the better for all.

I don't have a copy of the police report on hand, but I'll see what I can do. The donation address is escrowed with John K. and I have explicitly stated that the goal of the bounty is to get information leading to an arrest, not retrieve my Avalon.

[twitami1]

That is seriously the suck dude--I hope you catch the bastard.

[Dalkore]

I wish you my condolences.  Stay focused and hopefully someone will step forward and help out your situation.  Man!

[kibblesnbits]

Anything else taken or just the Avalon?

[pikeadz]

Copy of the police report with personally identifiable info stricken would be nice.  Otherwise you could just be a guy out to get a free avalon "returned" to him in a roundabout way, or worse, have a fake donation site set up.  Just saying, the more info you provide (within reason), the better for all.

I don't have a copy of the police report on hand, but I'll see what I can do. The donation address is escrowed with John K. and I have explicitly stated that the goal of the bounty is to get information leading to an arrest, not retrieve my Avalon.

Cool.  Hope you find the fucker and share who he is with us.  Upvoted the reddit thread and am always on the lookout for Avalons on ebay and other places.  If any are sold from the DFW area anytime soon, there's a good chance it will be yours.

[Viceroy]

a guy in austin offered to sell an Avalon that was not his.  perhaps this is your guy?

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=227232.0

[TheSwede75]

I really hope that the person responsible gets jail time and a hefty Avalon sized fine. Also; I have never seen a thread be so well matched with forum avatar...

[CrazyGuy]

Anything else taken or just the Avalon?

Just the Avalon, left behind a few FPGA miners. He obviously wanted to be in and out very quickly. I've since moved what's left to a remote location.

[GigaWave]

Did you post your address up publicly something?

[CoinHoarder]

I'm very sorry to hear this CrazyBlane, it is quite unfortunate.

Good luck finding the perpetrator.

[gbx]

Yeah, I'm sorry to hear that... This is some crazy wild west territory we're in, but this is the first I've heard of someone being physically robbed from to get the coin.  

Here's my thoughts based on your information.

1.  How many people knew you had this box?  They're all suspect IMHO.  Including the original shipper...  Avalon I presume?

2.  Concerning eBay.  Who have you done business with in the past that might look at your "items for sale" link that are related to bitcoin.  Buy any riser cards?  Any bitcoin paraphernalia that would give someone a shipping address on your box based on a previous purchase?  All suspect IMHO.  I don't see how a random passer by on eBay would be able to obtain your address without buying something or selling something to you.

I also see how anyone would brag about a having a "stolen" Avalon.  And if they did, there's honor among thieves...  unfortunately.

I hope you catch the bastard!  I do!!!  I'm sure you've run down all these options... but I'd be looking for people I'd done business with in the past that might be within 0-8 hours drive from where you live.  Chances are, the thief is mining with that and not trying to resell it.  So you might need get some good suspects and then social engineer that situation for a while to get any answers.

You need a home alarm system, a mean dog, and a gun safe loaded to the gills my bitcoin brother...

[logicbomb666]

Holy crap, I hope this mystery is solved.  To think someone specifically targeted the miner and broke into a home to steal it?  That's crazy. 

I am also in the north DFW area, so I will keep an eye out.

[dropt]

It's someone you know.

[bitcoinstarter]

I hope you find this guy that totally is horrible.

[Xian01]

It's someone you know.

It's gut-wrenching to think that, but it is plausible :|

What are the odds ? How was his address obtained ? Did he put it out there ? Need more info.

Either way, good luck recovering your rig and finding the perp. That's just awful, and peculiar, to have such a specifically targeted robbery

[omgitm]

no security cameras?

you might have better luck going around sniffing wifi packets, good 'ol wardrivin'

[01BTC10]

This is sad. You need to think how the thieve got your address. It might might be someone you know personally.

[CrazyGuy]

no security cameras?

you might have better luck going around sniffing wifi packets, good 'ol wardrivin'

I had a Foscam right in front of the Avalon. Unfortunately, it's buggy and resets every once in a while, pointing upwards. I have a video of my ceiling fan during the burglary.

[infoporter]

How would someone know your address from posting an auction? You need to figure out who knew you had this thing in your circle of "friends". Most likely you can ask around and see who gives a tell.

[ShroomsKit]

Just like everyone else i'm wondering how thet got your address. Can you tell me how that is possible?

[maco]

Think about? Who did you recently give your address to? and how public was your address, name, and phone number?

Sometimes all they need is a NAME from your eBay listing, and that's how a crime can start.

Hope you find the person. This does suck, and its crazy that someone would really do that.

Current Bounty
BTC50

Current USD amount of bounty


https://blockchain.info/address/1E36mb8tWuEarA9b99v179CoAkudoadzQS
Bounty is escrowed with John K. and open for donations. Please read below for more details

Bounty Details
I am offering a minimum of 50 BTC for information leading to the arrest of the individual that broke into my house and stole a Batch #2 Avalon ASIC. The burglary occurred at exactly 10:10 AM CST on May 31st 2013, 2.5 days after listing on the forums and eBay. I live in North DFW, in an area with one of the lowest crime rates in America, so this is not a coincidence. I have kept quiet about the burglary while police investigate, but I feel now is the time to take action and provide a little incentive for catching the criminal.

I want to stress that the primary goal of this bounty is not to retrieve my Avalon, but to ensure the criminal who invaded my house and privacy serves due time in prison, and prevent this from happening to anyone else. With that said, I want to encourage those of you that may have purchased a stolen unit second hand to come forward with information about the individual you purchased from. The bounty is available to any individual that provides information leading to an arrest.

Who is eligible, how can you help?
Everyone is eligible.

• Purchased a secondhand Avalon off of eBay, the forums, craigslist? Please contact me. If you are able to provide identifying information on the unit, we can move forward with locating the criminal.
• Provide information on your thieving friend or someone you've seen bragging about stealing an Avalon. I can't imagine someone willing to break into a strangers home has close friends. Surely someone will be willing to rat their criminal buddy out.
• Upvote on reddit. The bounty needs as much exposure as possible to attract an informant.
• Donate to the bounty and help spread the message to lurking criminals that we intend to make sure they don't get away with major theft. I am not the benefactor of bounty donations, and donations can be retracted after each 30 day period(More details in Full Terms). In the event the unit is returned, as a donator, you will receive a percentage of the Avalon's mining power for the life of the unit(no less than 1 year)

Full Terms

• Bounty is run in 30 day intervals, starting June 19th 2013. At the end of 30 days, I will decide wether to continue for another 30 days or not.
• Donators have 24 hour period after each 30 day interval to retract their donation. In the event the bounty is called off, donators will receive a full refund. If you do donate, please remember to donate from your account(not Mtgox or another online account). This will ease the refund process if necessary.
• In the event the unit is returned, donators will receive a percentage of the Avalon's mining power, equal to the percentage donated to full bounty.
• Information must lead to criminal arrest of an individual connected to the burglary. This must be verified before receiving payment.
• Bounty is escrowed with John K. John has been given specific information regarding the case and should only be contacted if you are uncomfortable with speaking me directly

For those of you with ASICs on order, or coming in soon, be careful! There are criminals out there willing to break into your house and take your property. It's easy to forget how much this hardware is worth, and what people are willing to do, when you paid a fraction of the current value.

[CrazyGuy]

Just like everyone else i'm wondering how thet got your address. Can you tell me how that is possible?

It's possible they purchased something from me in the past, but I also had my house listed for sale. I never gave my address out publicly but I'm thinking it wouldn't have been hard to find me. Unfortunately, there is no short list of suspects here. I'm trying to throw as wide a net as possible with this bounty, and hoping someone is going to turn the thief in.

[ShroomsKit]

Just like everyone else i'm wondering how thet got your address. Can you tell me how that is possible?

It's possible they purchased something from me in the past, but I also had my house listed for sale. I never gave my address out publicly but I'm thinking it wouldn't have been hard to find me. Unfortunately, there is no short list of suspects here. I'm trying to throw as wide a net as possible with this bounty, and hoping someone is going to turn the thief in.

Right. Sucks. Good luck.

[threedrules]

maybe because im dutch but the first thing i thought that john stole something.
maybe change the subject like -> [BOUNTY] Info leading to criminal arrest in ASIC Theft. Escrow via John K.

[r3wt]

maybe because im dutch but the first thing i thought that john stole something.
maybe change the subject like -> [BOUNTY] Info leading to criminal arrest in ASIC Theft. Escrow via John K.

dude i thought the same thing and thought, "damnit this place is really going to hell in these tough times."

[titomane]

Hi

I'm no detective, but has to be someone you know or someone who did business with you in the past. I'm sure.

luck miner

[SLok]

How trustworthy is your package deliverer? Had any service men or other "strange eyes" in the house lately?

[coinnewb]

This does suck big time.  I'm sorry and hope you catch the intruder.

[silverserpent]

THAT SUCKS! my condolences too.
usually theft associated to someone you know (somebody you told/trust might have carelessly mentioned it to another)

sometimes, just an email address (around long enough) can link to a name or an address; so can a long-used/cross-site username.  a quick search for username showed all sorts of info... localbtc, 75013?

did you post (publicly disclose) when you received your Avalon?

[Eric Muyser]

Do you have any kids?  

[ABitBack]

Just like everyone else i'm wondering how thet got your address. Can you tell me how that is possible?

It's possible they purchased something from me in the past, but I also had my house listed for sale. I never gave my address out publicly but I'm thinking it wouldn't have been hard to find me. Unfortunately, there is no short list of suspects here. I'm trying to throw as wide a net as possible with this bounty, and hoping someone is going to turn the thief in.

So have you had any viewings?

[dogie]

Few ideas.

1) Identifiable codes/marks/IDs on the unit? Could ask Avalon if they'd have any record of such?
2) Clarify the position of ownership if someone discovers they've bought a stolen unit. By law it would be returned to you and they'd be out of pocket, so you'll need to give them a real incentive to report it [other than legal]. Sucks but its the truth. Ie you'll make sure they wont be out of pocket
3) Your mining details. When someone plugs the unit in, surely it will mine for a few seconds to your account, sending a few packets and location. Although I guess they could config offline first.
4) Get in contact with Avalon. They may have other methods of tracking or identifying the unit even we don't know about yet.

[threedrules]

or gps codes extracted from pictures you posted?

[xinyou]

Sucks. Wish the thief good jail time

[CrazyGuy]

Just like everyone else i'm wondering how thet got your address. Can you tell me how that is possible?

It's possible they purchased something from me in the past, but I also had my house listed for sale. I never gave my address out publicly but I'm thinking it wouldn't have been hard to find me. Unfortunately, there is no short list of suspects here. I'm trying to throw as wide a net as possible with this bounty, and hoping someone is going to turn the thief in.

So have you had any viewings?

About 7 while it was in my home. Police have all their info and are investigating. Nobody coming in knows what these machines are for but I'll admit I was a bit naive to think no one would consider robbing me. Risky and I figured I'd have it sold and out of my house by the end of the weekend. It's a hard lesson to learn but hopefully something good will come of this. I hope this at least gets people thinking twice about posting "my ... ASIC arrived" responses(like I did). A lot of us are very excited and want to share with everyone but it's not always the best idea...

[ZeroPAiN]

Ahh man I'm sorry.
I too live in the DFW area.

My condolences out to you.

[goxed]

Sorry to hear that. I will install my backup D-Link camera and point to the avalons. All images ftp'ed to a remote server.

[dogie]

And get home insurance. And mugging insurance (usually the same thing). And health insurance.

You'll sleep so much better knowing if your house blows up, or there are riots (I lived on the main street of the London riots, just 12 months earlier), or you blow up (and took the tube journey of the London bombings 400 times), or get mugged (living in the ghetto ftw) - you're covered. Just give it them, that's why you have insurance.

But saying that, I do leave a loaded bear trap by the door when I go to work.

[silverserpent]

Sorry to hear that. I will install my backup D-Link camera and point to the avalons. All images ftp'ed to a remote server.

make sure on UPS too, as routers, modems, etc. probably be cool to setup notification/instant remote video access also

[jelin1984]

sorry to hear that friend

[Bitcoinorama]

Sorry, just throwing this out there, but are you 100% sure they knew what they were taking?

I mean it might just have looked like an important black box, a pc tower that's well engineered and thus may have valuable data?

Was anything else taken, was there any sign of rummaging throughout other areas of the house?!

Dd you brag about your new toy to anyone local? Would they have understood it's purpose?

Any contract workers, cleaner, handyman recently?

[MrMochi]

How did they get in?
Was it a forced entry?

My condolences none the less.
I hope this is not the start of more burglaries like this.

This is a problem with film equipment as well.
You can't leave it at a hotel for instance.
Because somehow word gets around.
And your gear will be long gone by the time you return.

In most of those cases the equipment isn't found again.
Even when the perpetrator is known.
The goods are shipped internationally within the day.
Rare and valuable items (which can't be sold instantly) disappear into a cellar or go to the bottom of a lake.

So if this an organized gang.
I'm afraid your chances are slim.
However I'm pretty sure it's an individual you know.
Someone who got to you trough your auction.

I hope you find your man and avalon.

[worldinacoin]

The Bitcoin community isn't big, I guess there is still a chance to catch that guy.

[escrow.ms]

I doubt he will even sell it, he can just mine bitcoins and earn from them as there's no doubt the guy who stole it or got it stolen from your house knows alot about bitcoins and is not a regular theif.

sorry for your loss.

Ps id you have taken some pic of your asic otherwise ask avalon if they can provide some unique identification of your machine.

and  i was confused about escrow money, you said john.k is escrow and you paid him.

That address already had 30 bitcoins from many days ago  
(Fee: 0.0008 BTC - Size: 7613 bytes) 2013-06-05 05:28:26

[ooxtcoo]

maybe the big avalone devices which cost big money, should have some protection in the firmware.
it should be easy to make a OTP chip, which is programmed one time and cant be changed.
after every first start of the box, it should send a location positions email to the owner written into the OTP area of the chip.

this way, nobody can change it, without changing the chip itself.
the tief would need some programming skills to caputure and discard the send packets.

it also would be possible to make some authentication system, with a key.
only the owner how knows the key, can calculate the unlock code to unlock the device and start using it.

maybe to produzers should think about such protection for the expensiv devices!

2 years back, we used dm3 box to unlock nokia phones.
we where first in the world unlocking this phones, the programmer of this box, made a authentication system
via sms, if box was not used after 30 minutes anymore, it auto locked it and it was only possible to reactivate it
when entering a new calculated key.

this box was worth a million of euro if not more!
if box got stolen, noone would be able to use it again!

it was better protected then the nokia system itself.
so someone how would steal the box, would be faster to crack nokia directly instead of stealing the box and cracking the box.
it was a perfect protection!



i have some alarm system made by my self.
every window, every door have automatic hidden alarm, it calls my phone number without any visible signals
to the robber.
at the moment he enters my builing at this moment i get a phone call.
(shure there are also ways to disable that alarm, but i have something other too)
i have a wlan cam how record always if there is a change on the picture with date and time.

simple every computer cam can do it with free software.

[muyuu]

Get a gun and conceal-carry it.

[bcpokey]

How would getting a gun help someone whose home was robbed when they were not around?

Anyway, my condolences man, that is pretty crazy, that people are targetting Avalons. Pretty sick, but in these times, a device that can sell or generate tens of thousands of dollars is basically like a big pile of cash. Good on you for trying to bring them to justice, I think this community could benefit from a few more scammers/thieves/robbers getting some of whats coming to them.

[pajak666]

It's someone you know.

+1

[Bitcoinorama]

It's someone you know.

+1

+2, has to be. You've unwittingly mentioned you $1,000 a week printing press...

[JordanL]

That really sucks, hope you find the prick.

Yeah, I'm sorry to hear that... This is some crazy wild west territory we're in, but this is the first I've heard of someone being physically robbed from to get the coin.  

Here's my thoughts based on your information.

1.  How many people knew you had this box?  They're all suspect IMHO.  Including the original shipper...  Avalon I presume?

2.  Concerning eBay.  Who have you done business with in the past that might look at your "items for sale" link that are related to bitcoin.  Buy any riser cards?  Any bitcoin paraphernalia that would give someone a shipping address on your box based on a previous purchase?  All suspect IMHO.  I don't see how a random passer by on eBay would be able to obtain your address without buying something or selling something to you.

I also see how anyone would brag about a having a "stolen" Avalon.  And if they did, there's honor among thieves...  unfortunately.

I hope you catch the bastard!  I do!!!  I'm sure you've run down all these options... but I'd be looking for people I'd done business with in the past that might be within 0-8 hours drive from where you live.  Chances are, the thief is mining with that and not trying to resell it.  So you might need get some good suspects and then social engineer that situation for a while to get any answers.

You need a home alarm system, a mean dog, and a gun safe loaded to the gills my bitcoin brother...

I don't see how the guns would have helped... but the dog and security system sure could have!

Few ideas.

1) Identifiable codes/marks/IDs on the unit? Could ask Avalon if they'd have any record of such?
2) Clarify the position of ownership if someone discovers they've bought a stolen unit. By law it would be returned to you and they'd be out of pocket, so you'll need to give them a real incentive to report it [other than legal]. Sucks but its the truth. Ie you'll make sure they wont be out of pocket
3) Your mining details. When someone plugs the unit in, surely it will mine for a few seconds to your account, sending a few packets and location. Although I guess they could config offline first.
4) Get in contact with Avalon. They may have other methods of tracking or identifying the unit even we don't know about yet.

Holy crap you are smart, that's brilliant. Perhaps the mining pool could help trace his IP. I would attempt to pursue that for sure if I were the victim.

The Bitcoin community isn't big, I guess there is still a chance to catch that guy.

Hopefully he can narrow it down more than that!!

[gbx]

I don't see how the guns would have helped... but the dog and security system sure could have!

Well, I would assume that the burglar had cased the house.  Probably went to the door, knocked, and pretended to be either a salesman or looking for a fictitious person or address if the owners were home at the time.

A CC firearm may have been helpful for the worst case scenario.  And only with proper training and use would it have been helpful.  But the worst case scenario would have been if they were home during the invasion or came home during the invasion.  I would suspect that there has been some unusual activity in this neighborhood prior to the burglary.

I know my girl doesn't like to answer the door when she's home alone.  I always encourage her to answer the door, because, that's usually how a home invasion starts.   http://atlantablackstar.com/2013/01/10/georgia-woman-who-shot-intruder-hailed-as-model-gun-owner/
 

[John (John K.)]

I confirm I am managing the bounty here.

Thanks,
John

[gogxmagog]

its too bad you got burned bro, but the lesson here is; never advertise your wealth and assets. it is an invitation to thieves. you wouldn't tell them how much money you have in the bank would you?

i hope you catch the greasy bastard tho. mebby when you do, head over to blackhat forums with a different bounty to have the thief's identity stolen, bank acc. emptied, life destroyed.

also i hear you can feed the bitcoin economy over at silkroad by purchasing assassin for btc

...just a thought or two...

[Bitcoinorama]

I wouldn't advocate violence, and that assassin crap on Silkroad is bollocks, or at lead I hope it is.

You're a fool for promoting your wealth publically, you earned your attention, but no one deserves this.

Hope you catch the guy, presumably by when he next tries to switch the unit on, as it attempts to connect to the last configured pool, although he may well read these forums.

Count yourself lucky this didn't happen with you, or any family present, could have got messy if he was determined...

[Bitcoin Megastore]

The Bitcoin community isn't big, I guess there is still a chance to catch that guy.

Hopefully he can narrow it down more than that!!

Hopefully he understands that thief might be checking this forum daily. Since that is quite possible, I suggest to not reveal any plans here nor
write about police investigation and other stuff. Proceed by asuming everyone are suspect, including myself. Another suggestion would be to
check all security cameras around your neightbourhood, maybe even wider. Someone living around might be having camera recording traffic 24/7
or something else and thus accidentaly a proof of robbery that might lead to thief arrest.

[pleasuretek]

It's someone you know.

+1
stay away from people that do drugs (eat pills, do coke, etc), if you have hardware like an avalon, don't let people know what or where it is. If you have told them about the purchase, be forever waiting for a shipment.

[culexevilman]

This is sad. You need to think how the thieve got your address. It might might be someone you know personally.

sucks man， I hope you get your machine back, *off to secure hw*

[rammy2k2]

yea, its some1 you know for sure, NO burglar in this world would steal just the avalon if he gets in ...