Anatomy of an BitcoinTalk.org account purchase SCAM.

[rickC137]

Okay, my experience and this write up are part of paying my dues and perhaps it will win my little newbie account some MERIT.

Here are a few things to think about before attempting to buy a BitcoinTalk.org account:

1.  MODS, understand that the restrictions placed on NEWBIE accounts is overly severe.  Some of us are legitimate business people and hobbyists that want to LEARN more about the technology.  Newbie's accounts are restricted from posting as well as restricted from sending PMs to (most) anybody.

2.  This causes a bit of frustration on behalf of the Newbie.

3.  The newbie sees a great number of offers that do not seem legitimate such as Bitcointalk.org moderators leasing signature space on Legendary accounts for stuff that clearly seems "grey."

4.  Newbie reasons, if this behavior is okay from a Legendary Mod, maybe it's fine to buy an account... after all, my intentions are pure.  I'm not going to scam anyone...

5.  Newbie browses Bitcointalk.org looking for accounts that are for sale.  They all seem to be for sale by other newbies and jr. members, reason being that it's "frowned upon" to sell accounts, so the sellers don't want to use their REAL account for fear of getting hit with "negative trust."

6.  Seems reasonable to Newbie.  So Newbie inquires regarding an account.

7.  Seller responds that the account detail must stay hidden until after half of the payment has been made or the account could be "comprimised or locked."  

8.  Newbie feels uneasy, but sends half of the payment (.075 BTC) to receive login detail to verify the account.

9.  Seller confirms receipt of the first funding tranche and shows seller multiple legendary accounts (yassin54, Scott J, Limx Dev) and says "pick one"

10.  Newbie sees that yassin54 is a little spammy, and since Newbie has no desire to run ads, he doesn't select that account.  Limx Dev has a post history in German, and since Newbie is NOT German and/or cannot speak the language to verify that post history is not spammy, he settles on Scott J's account.

11. Seller demands the other half of the payment, an additional .075 BTC prior to giving the login information, stating that he's "been scammed before when a spammer tried to make off with the account before paying the other half."

12. Newbie pushes back, stating that the terms of the deal should not be altered halfway through the deal.  Logins were promised after the first tranche of funding, not after both tranches.  

13. Seller persists, stating something to the effect of: "That's fine, the price was too cheap anyway... I'll just refund the transaction."

14. Newbie smells a scam and says "Okay, thanks.  Please refund the first .075 BTC I sent you."

15. Seller never responds, or refunds the first .075 BTC, and uses the BTC to purchase a donkey for his family to eat.

---

SO!  What did we learn?

A.  If the English is broken, and the account is new... it's probably just some poor bastard trying to scam you to buy donkey meat for his family way far away in the People's Republic of Bumblefuck or whatever.  Probably not a first world country.

B.  Just because MODS act sketchy, doesn't mean that Newbies can.  They can see the admin panel and tell where users IPs are from and safely avoid scammers from third world countries that use clamshell phones for Internet access.  Countries like the People's Republic of Bumblefuck.

C.  Buy a Copper Membership to decrease the amount of time between quality posts that you make.  The more quality posts, the faster you can earn merit and better ranked accounts.  Reputation clearly cannot be bought on BitcoinTalk.org any more than it can in real life.

---

Lastly, a quick thank you to the scammers at BitcoinTalkAccounts.com and John Lock <buyzify@gmail.com> for providing this valuable lesson for a mere $800, which is what I would spend on a nice Sunday dinner at my favorite sushi restaurant in Malibu with a few close friends.



Please remember 3rd world scammers (looking at you BitcoinTalkAccounts & buyzify@gmail.com) to eat your Donkey back to front, starting at the anus.  Ask your wife to show you how.  

[1713467068]

1713467068

[owlcatz]

You are lucky you didn't get tagged for trying to buy an account by actmyname, but I guess this shows you have redeemed yourself for now....

Anyhow, good write up, but the TL;DR should just be :

DON'T BUY ACCOUNTS HERE, UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE TAGGED RED AND HAVE TO START OVER.

Cheers

[rickC137]

You are lucky you didn't get tagged for trying to buy an account by actmyname, but I guess this shows you have redeemed yourself for now....

Anyhow, good write up, but the TL;DR should just be :

DON'T BUY ACCOUNTS HERE, UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE TAGGED RED AND HAVE TO START OVER.

Cheers

Yes, I've learned my lesson and will earn my status the old fashioned way.

I think a lot of Newbies don't speak out after being scammed because they are afraid of MOD retribution or getting turned Red.  I wanted to make sure that other Newbies didn't get hurt and lose hard earned BTC to these losers.

Just a question, why wouldn't MODS take a zero tolerance policy to posts that list accounts for sale?  Perhaps if every account that posted an account for sale were banned, there would be no accounts for sale soon. 

[qwk]

I've learned my lesson and will earn my status the old fashioned way.

Good for you, and 2 merit to get you started

[owlcatz]

You are lucky you didn't get tagged for trying to buy an account by actmyname, but I guess this shows you have redeemed yourself for now....

Anyhow, good write up, but the TL;DR should just be :

DON'T BUY ACCOUNTS HERE, UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE TAGGED RED AND HAVE TO START OVER.

Cheers

Yes, I've learned my lesson and will earn my status the old fashioned way.

I think a lot of Newbies don't speak out after being scammed because they are afraid of MOD retribution or getting turned Red.  I wanted to make sure that other Newbies didn't get hurt and lose hard earned BTC to these losers.

Just a question, why wouldn't MODS take a zero tolerance policy to posts that list accounts for sale?  Perhaps if every account that posted an account for sale were banned, there would be no accounts for sale soon. 

General rule with account sales here - It's allowed, but HIGHLY frowned upon. The only real reason it is ALLOWED, is so that we have better chances of finding and tagging them here, and not on the dark web or some other place like hackforums.

Good lesson learned, keep it up.

[digaran]

The only lesson I have learned with your experience is that even there are idiots in Malibu. I have a hero rank account, it belongs to my brother. it has been inactive for 5 months. if you don't know what to do with your money, you could buy it for $2000. pay me $500 and pay the forum $1500.

I told him to stop posting because he was asking me what to say. facking lol. he was also using my laptop and IP to login.
After you have made your $1500 transaction to my donation to the forum address and paid me $500. I will give you the account.

[akamit]

I would have given you 3 merit to show support as you have now following the right path and abandoned the wrong path.

But personally, I don't like peoples who have nature to underestimate, criticize and those who have racism issues. So that's why I have given you 1 merit.

Since 2012, I got scammed several times online. The scammers were from 1st, 2nd and 3rd world. Just I'm trying to say that scammers are not only belonged to 3rd world but also belonged to 1st and 2nd.

Scammers are very smart and they are out there to scam you, just don't fall into their traps. If you fall into the trap then it's your fault, just don't complain later.

And another thing is, when you will try to play with fire, most probably your hand will burn. That's what happened to you maybe and you paid a huge fee for the lesson.

I joined this forum in 2016 since then I've learned a lot of things. So in last 2 years I haven't got scammed a single penny.

Btw, welcome to the forum.

[actmyname]

You are lucky you didn't get tagged for trying to buy an account by actmyname

INCOMING RED STORM /s

[SaltySpitoon]

Okay, my experience and this write up are part of paying my dues and perhaps it will win my little newbie account some MERIT.

Here are a few things to think about before attempting to buy a BitcoinTalk.org account:

1.  MODS, understand that the restrictions placed on NEWBIE accounts is overly severe.  Some of us are legitimate business people and hobbyists that want to LEARN more about the technology.  Newbie's accounts are restricted from posting as well as restricted from sending PMs to (most) anybody.

2.  This causes a bit of frustration on behalf of the Newbie.

3.  The newbie sees a great number of offers that do not seem legitimate such as Bitcointalk.org moderators leasing signature space on Legendary accounts for stuff that clearly seems "grey."

4.  Newbie reasons, if this behavior is okay from a Legendary Mod, maybe it's fine to buy an account... after all, my intentions are pure.  I'm not going to scam anyone...

5.  Newbie browses Bitcointalk.org looking for accounts that are for sale.  They all seem to be for sale by other newbies and jr. members, reason being that it's "frowned upon" to sell accounts, so the sellers don't want to use their REAL account for fear of getting hit with "negative trust."

6.  Seems reasonable to Newbie.  So Newbie inquires regarding an account.

7.  Seller responds that the account detail must stay hidden until after half of the payment has been made or the account could be "comprimised or locked."  

8.  Newbie feels uneasy, but sends half of the payment (.075 BTC) to receive login detail to verify the account.

9.  Seller confirms receipt of the first funding tranche and shows seller multiple legendary accounts (yassin54, Scott J, Limx Dev) and says "pick one"

10.  Newbie sees that yassin54 is a little spammy, and since Newbie has no desire to run ads, he doesn't select that account.  Limx Dev has a post history in German, and since Newbie is NOT German and/or cannot speak the language to verify that post history is not spammy, he settles on Scott J's account.

11. Seller demands the other half of the payment, an additional .075 BTC prior to giving the login information, stating that he's "been scammed before when a spammer tried to make off with the account before paying the other half."

12. Newbie pushes back, stating that the terms of the deal should not be altered halfway through the deal.  Logins were promised after the first tranche of funding, not after both tranches.  

13. Seller persists, stating something to the effect of: "That's fine, the price was too cheap anyway... I'll just refund the transaction."

14. Newbie smells a scam and says "Okay, thanks.  Please refund the first .075 BTC I sent you."

15. Seller never responds, or refunds the first .075 BTC, and uses the BTC to purchase a donkey for his family to eat.

---

SO!  What did we learn?

A.  If the English is broken, and the account is new... it's probably just some poor bastard trying to scam you to buy donkey meat for his family way far away in the People's Republic of Bumblefuck or whatever.  Probably not a first world country.

B.  Just because MODS act sketchy, doesn't mean that Newbies can.  They can see the admin panel and tell where users IPs are from and safely avoid scammers from third world countries that use clamshell phones for Internet access.  Countries like the People's Republic of Bumblefuck.

C.  Buy a Copper Membership to decrease the amount of time between quality posts that you make.  The more quality posts, the faster you can earn merit and better ranked accounts.  Reputation clearly cannot be bought on BitcoinTalk.org any more than it can in real life.

---

Lastly, a quick thank you to the scammers at BitcoinTalkAccounts.com and John Lock <buyzify@gmail.com> for providing this valuable lesson for a mere $800, which is what I would spend on a nice Sunday dinner at my favorite sushi restaurant in Malibu with a few close friends.



Please remember 3rd world scammers (looking at you BitcoinTalkAccounts & buyzify@gmail.com) to eat your Donkey back to front, starting at the anus.  Ask your wife to show you how.  

#1) Great! Welcome! The problem isn't you, its the spam bots and account farmers. Put up with it for a little bit, and it'll get easier.

#3) What are you talking about? Signature advertisements?

#4) No... I don't think any moderator would buy an account. It is OK based on the rules, but people will probably think its untrustworthy behavior and give you negative feedback for doing so.

The Rest) Use escrow to avoid scams, and walk away from any deal that seems too good to be true, or requires you to do anything you don't feel is right or safe. There is no reason to trust someone with your money, especially when you are using a semi anonymous non reversible currency.

As for point B

B.  Just because MODS act sketchy, doesn't mean that Newbies can.  They can see the admin panel and tell where users IPs are from and safely avoid scammers from third world countries that use clamshell phones for Internet access.  Countries like the People's Republic of Bumblefuck.

What mods are acting sketchy? Also, no we can't see any IPs, and even if we could the scammers in third world countries you are talking about are probably using Tor or VPNs, so it wouldn't help regardless. Just don't trust anyone sketchy to begin with, and you are all set.

[rickC137]

I would have given you 3 merit to show support as you have now following the right path and abandoned the wrong path.

But personally, I don't like peoples who have nature to underestimate, criticize and those who have racism issues. So that's why I have given you 1 merit.

Since 2012, I got scammed several times online. The scammers were from 1st, 2nd and 3rd world. Just I'm trying to say that scammers are not only belonged to 3rd world but also belonged to 1st and 2nd.

Scammers are very smart and they are out there to scam you, just don't fall into their traps. If you fall into the trap then it's your fault, just don't complain later.

And another thing is, when you will try to play with fire, most probably your hand will burn. That's what happened to you maybe and you paid a huge fee for the lesson.

I joined this forum in 2016 since then I've learned a lot of things. So in last 2 years I haven't got scammed a single penny.

Btw, welcome to the forum.

You know what, you're right. 

I wrote that post angry and it may be unfair.  Believe it or not, I've actually started a non-profit corporation to combat racism and inequality as the issues are near and dear to my heart, though we view the issues through a corporate-equality lense for equality in pay, etc.

I hold to the standard that most people are, at their core, good people with good intentions.

Thank you for holding me to a higher standard and much appreciation for the kind welcome to the forum (and the +1 merit!).

[MyLitecoin]

Tbh, if someone is selling an account above Jr, then I wouldn't buy it.

There is no point for someone to sell such a high-level account now that the merit system is in play.

A member-level account can earn the same amount as its sale price in a month of sig campaigns.

A legendary account can earn $500 per week or more... look at those Chip Mixer signature payouts! They're insane!

For someone to ask for a mere B0.15 for a legendary account... you already know it's too good of a deal. There must be something wrong with the account -- like the account has been red trusted or hacked or something.

[rickC137]

#1) Great! Welcome! The problem isn't you, its the spam bots and account farmers. Put up with it for a little bit, and it'll get easier.

#3) What are you talking about? Signature advertisements?

#4) No... I don't think any moderator would buy an account. It is OK based on the rules, but people will probably think its untrustworthy behavior and give you negative feedback for doing so.

The Rest) Use escrow to avoid scams, and walk away from any deal that seems too good to be true, or requires you to do anything you don't feel is right or safe. There is no reason to trust someone with your money, especially when you are using a semi anonymous non reversible currency.

As for point B

B.  Just because MODS act sketchy, doesn't mean that Newbies can.  They can see the admin panel and tell where users IPs are from and safely avoid scammers from third world countries that use clamshell phones for Internet access.  Countries like the People's Republic of Bumblefuck.

What mods are acting sketchy? Also, no we can't see any IPs, and even if we could the scammers in third world countries you are talking about are probably using Tor or VPNs, so it wouldn't help regardless. Just don't trust anyone sketchy to begin with, and you are all set.

All excellent advice, thanks for taking the time to provide it.

Here is the Global MOD signature auction I was talking about:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3020552.0

Again, seems like maybe a grey area like the account trading, but who am I to judge?  I'm just a Newbie for now.

Though, I have contributed pretty heavily to other knowledge spaces like Quora.  I hope I can be as accretive here.

[rickC137]

You are lucky you didn't get tagged for trying to buy an account by actmyname

INCOMING RED STORM /s

Hm.  Seems like if you do this to every Newbie that makes an honest mistake, you'll play a never ending game of whack-a-mole while singularly discouraging further commentary.

I'd rather you didn't, but considering you're a big kid on this playground... I guess you can do what you want.

[rickC137]

Tbh, if someone is selling an account above Jr, then I wouldn't buy it.

There is no point for someone to sell such a high-level account now that the merit system is in play.

A member-level account can earn the same amount as its sale price in a month of sig campaigns.

A legendary account can earn $500 per week or more... look at those Chip Mixer signature payouts! They're insane!

For someone to ask for a mere B0.15 for a legendary account... you already know it's too good of a deal. There must be something wrong with the account -- like the account has been red trusted or hacked or something.

Well, considering I have literally ZERO intention of monetizing my presence here on BitcoinTalk.org via this or any other account, I didn't really think of the cost parameters.  The seller set a price and I agreed to it; and frankly, I thought $1,600 was fairly precious for an account I was going to use for educational & social purposes.

How does a chip mixer make money?

[rickC137]

I've learned my lesson and will earn my status the old fashioned way.

Good for you, and 2 merit to get you started

Thank you qwk & owlcatz!!!  

[SaltySpitoon]

All excellent advice, thanks for taking the time to provide it.

Here is the Global MOD signature auction I was talking about:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3020552.0

Again, seems like maybe a grey area like the account trading, but who am I to judge?  I'm just a Newbie for now.

Though, I have contributed pretty heavily to other knowledge spaces like Quora.  I hope I can be as accretive here.

That is just renting out space in their signature space. People put an advertisement or something in their personal signature space, so the ad shows up under each of their posts. Some accounts have a few thousand posts, so thats a few thousand places where the ad can be seen. It could potentially be seen as an issue if the person advertising was to try to scam people with the advertisement, but a bit of due diligence on the owner's part can negate that risk.

Making consecutive posts like you did here :

Hm.  Seems like if you do this to every Newbie that makes an honest mistake, you'll play a never ending game of whack-a-mole while singularly discouraging further commentary.

I'd rather you didn't, but considering you're a big kid on this playground... I guess you can do what you want.

Well, considering I have literally ZERO intention of monetizing my presence here on BitcoinTalk.org via this or any other account, I didn't really think of the cost parameters.  The seller set a price and I agreed to it; and frankly, I thought $1,600 was fairly precious for an account I was going to use for educational & social purposes.

How does a chip mixer make money?

Thank you qwk & owlcatz!!!   

is against the rules for future reference. If you make a post and later decide you wanted to say something else, use the edit button on the post to change it.

[rickC137]

All excellent advice, thanks for taking the time to provide it.

Here is the Global MOD signature auction I was talking about:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3020552.0

Again, seems like maybe a grey area like the account trading, but who am I to judge?  I'm just a Newbie for now.

Though, I have contributed pretty heavily to other knowledge spaces like Quora.  I hope I can be as accretive here.

That is just renting out space in their signature space. People put an advertisement or something in their personal signature space, so the ad shows up under each of their posts. Some accounts have a few thousand posts, so thats a few thousand places where the ad can be seen. It could potentially be seen as an issue if the person advertising was to try to scam people with the advertisement, but a bit of due diligence on the owner's part can negate that risk.

Making consecutive posts like you did here :

Hm.  Seems like if you do this to every Newbie that makes an honest mistake, you'll play a never ending game of whack-a-mole while singularly discouraging further commentary.

I'd rather you didn't, but considering you're a big kid on this playground... I guess you can do what you want.

Well, considering I have literally ZERO intention of monetizing my presence here on BitcoinTalk.org via this or any other account, I didn't really think of the cost parameters.  The seller set a price and I agreed to it; and frankly, I thought $1,600 was fairly precious for an account I was going to use for educational & social purposes.

How does a chip mixer make money?

Thank you qwk & owlcatz!!!   

is against the rules for future reference. If you make a post and later decide you wanted to say something else, use the edit button on the post to change it.

Okay noted, thank you.  Is there a posting listing all of the "rules"?

[digaran]

Okay noted, thank you.  Is there a posting listing all of the "rules"?

Read pinned threads on top of every board.

[MyLitecoin]

Tbh, if someone is selling an account above Jr, then I wouldn't buy it.

There is no point for someone to sell such a high-level account now that the merit system is in play.

A member-level account can earn the same amount as its sale price in a month of sig campaigns.

A legendary account can earn $500 per week or more... look at those Chip Mixer signature payouts! They're insane!

For someone to ask for a mere B0.15 for a legendary account... you already know it's too good of a deal. There must be something wrong with the account -- like the account has been red trusted or hacked or something.

Well, considering I have literally ZERO intention of monetizing my presence here on BitcoinTalk.org via this or any other account, I didn't really think of the cost parameters.  The seller set a price and I agreed to it; and frankly, I thought $1,600 was fairly precious for an account I was going to use for educational & social purposes.

How does a chip mixer make money?

If it weren't for all of your merits and everyone believing ^, I honestly wouldn't believe a word you just said XD.

No one buys a LEGENDARY level account for "educational and social purposes." You can post as much as you want at the Jr level. There's literally no difference between a Jr account and a Legendary account when it comes to posting (except for IVORY tower posts.)

But then again, anyone can look into Ivory Tower, they just can't post unless they're above some rank (idk what, but I'm dang sure it's not legendary).

That said, you were keen enough to lookup the ranks and picked Legendary, I'm not going to believe that you aren't aware of signature campaigns or the Chip Mixer spam.

I honestly am leaning toward you wanting to buy a Legendary account for some kind of monetary purposes. You're not going to drop 1.6k USD on bitcointalk.org just for prestige.

But whatever. I'll believe your words because the top peeps believe them. And so, you were buying a legendary-level account just to hang out on bitcointalk and learn... mhm.

[rickC137]

If it weren't for all of your merits and everyone believing ^, I honestly wouldn't believe a word you just said XD.

No one buys a LEGENDARY level account for "educational and social purposes." You can post as much as you want at the Jr level. There's literally no difference between a Jr account and a Legendary account when it comes to posting (except for IVORY tower posts.)

But then again, anyone can look into Ivory Tower, they just can't post unless they're above some rank (idk what, but I'm dang sure it's not legendary).

That said, you were keen enough to lookup the ranks and picked Legendary, I'm not going to believe that you aren't aware of signature campaigns or the Chip Mixer spam.

I honestly am leaning toward you wanting to buy a Legendary account for some kind of monetary purposes. You're not going to drop 1.6k USD on bitcointalk.org just for prestige.

But whatever. I'll believe your words because the top peeps believe them. And so, you were buying a legendary-level account just to hang out on bitcointalk and learn... mhm.

Yeah, it's hard to believe that some women will buy a $16,000 purse and some men buy $300,000 cars; but at the end of the day, their functionality is 90%+ similar to a purse that is $20 and a $30,000 Honda Accord.

I have literally had bar tabs more expensive than the Legendary account asking price.

What I've learned is just because something is out of my experiential reference grid, doesn't mean it is impossible, or even unlikely for someone else with different economic resources and a different psychological make up.

That said, I don't care if you believe me or not!