Would like to respond to a topic about Leasebit.com

[bbjc]

I would like to reply to this topic, but obviously I can't since I'm a "newbie": https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=301651.0

I have signed up for a lease with Leasebit for a few miners.  I did it well aware that it could be a scam, but if it is I would only be out a few hundred dollars, which isn't a significant amount of money to me.  I currently have no idea if it's a scam or not.  I'll just let you know my experience so far.

As per the website, I printed out the lease, signed it and sent it in with my first payment.  This was almost a month ago.  They then sent me signed documents back, and I had to send them a paper with my bitcoin address printed on it.  Why I couldn't email it to them I have no idea.  I received the documents back on the 22nd.  My miners were supposed to be up and running on the 25th, then it was pushed back till Nov. 1st.  The owner claims they were finally running Nov. 4th.

I have sent many emails to them, and while the owner replied, he seems a bit shady.  I asked how I could see the current output of the miners.  He said they were working on an iPad app.  That seems strange, since the best way to do it would be using a website or an iPhone app.  I then asked to see some sort of proof that the miners existed, such as a photo, and he replied that he would have to talk to "legal and security" about it.  That makes no sense.  He has failed to get back to me about that, and I certainly haven't seen any proof that these miners actually exist.

On the Leasebit website it says they are using "Golden Nonce" chips which are made by HashFast, but I contacted HashFast about this and they say that they have no relationship with them.  The owner then went on his Twitter and said they weren't actually using them.  Their claim of using "Golden Nonce" chips still remains on the website however.

I honestly don't think it's possible that they have access to the amount and speed of chips they would need for this endeavor.  I knew this going into it, but as I said before, it's not a significant amount of money to me if I lose it, and if they actually can produce miners that start at 1.25GHash/s then it would be pretty lucrative considering the current price of Bitcoins.  Also, thanks to the increase in the price of Bitcoins, I should find out sooner if it's a scam or not, because the "surety" payment of $9000 worth of bitcoins will be reached by the end of the month, and I should receive my first bitcoins the 15th of December.  We shall see.

Now for the really strange part.  He hasn't actually deposited my check, and he's had the check for almost a month now.  I've asked him about that, and he's said they have it and they'll deposit it.  If I was a scammer I would have that check in my account the same day I got it.  That's the confusing part about all of this.  I have no idea.  I'm leaning hard towards this being a scam, but I can't figure out what this guys actual plan is.  I'll keep you updated if you're interested.

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[gamefixer]

I'd be interested to see if this pans out as well.

Thanks for the post.

[Aussieboy]

I too am gonna take the risk and purchase one or two contracts with Leasebit.com.

Looks like our man Rowan A Salter is an author of accurate predictive books. At a quick glance it appears he likes to write about Financial and Futures type material. So yeah in my opinion it all ties together. Leasebit.com if indeed created & published by this man (author) Rowan A Salter - well i dare say is legit.

Recognized as a modern Jules Verne He was signed by AIRBOOKS LLC in December of 2008 to write Depression 2015.

Depression 2015 is a chilling journey for the reader into the United States bleak economic future. Rowan  A. Salter lays out the progression of events that will result in the Greatest Depression. The reader will learn what will happen and when. It is the Authors desire to Sheppard a chosen few through what he believes will be the most traumatic events of the future economy. This book also will be released in limited issue and available for the first time in advanced readers copy. If you are over 45 and don’t buy the mainstream Medias story lock stock and barrel; you need to read this book. If you don’t, the Author believes you soon won’t have any resources to worry about.

Rowans is the writer of previously sold out book TELOMERE.
All of the Authors works explore social adaptations in the context of finance and investment. Each book places the reader into the future thereby giving his readers and investment public what they most covet most hindsight!
Each work makes bold predictions at different distances in the future.

Rowan is 51 years old and lives in Santa Monica with his wife and children. He has created other literature under various pen names.
The Author was honorably discharged from the U.S. navy after qualifying for the BUDS program in 1982.
His financial career reached its apex when he was the Chief Investment Officer for the Hedge Fund Liquidium Capital in 2008.
The Author writes and speaks Korean and is currently working on his latest epic KTOWN which speaks to the economic rise of a united Korea after the Depression of 2015.

http://rowanasalter.com/wsdindex.html
http://blogs.forbes.com/people/rowansalterarnott/

[bbjc]

Ok, well now I'm sure Leasebit is a scam.

[jfrenchy]

Ok, well now I'm sure Leasebit is a scam.

what happened?

[bbjc]

The post above is obviously and undoubtedly by the owner of Leasebit, or a shill.  Why would a legitimate company need to do this?  The owner hasn't cashed my checks that I sent him.  He told me that my check had to be returned because it is not "payable to the company".  I made them out to Leasebit LLC like he told me to.  I then asked who the correct payee is.  He replied "I apologize similar names."  I have no idea what this means, but after repeated attempts to contact him, he has yet to respond to me with the correct payment information.

I leased 5 miners.  Using current market prices, and current hashrates, my miners should have produced almost $30,000 worth of Bitcoins so far, and my "surety" payment should be paid off in another week .  Either my miners don't exist, and he can't produce, or this was some sort of Ponzi scheme, and now with the huge increase in Bitcoin price it's screwed up his plans.  Either way, it doesn't matter if he refuses to cash my checks, I have proof I sent them, and we have a signed agreement.  I will continue to send him monthly checks with the payment information he gave me.  If I don't receive my share of the proceeds, I will take him to court - hard.  My family is very wealthy (own and operate large oil refineries) and I have access to some of the highest quality lawyers in the country.  I have no problem spending a considerable amount of money pursuing this.  I live in NJ, but we have a vacation house in San Diego, so traveling to take legal action against someone in California would be more of a vacation than anything else.

Honestly, I hope this guy actually comes through and is legitimate.  However, there are some fraud accusations against this guy relating to other ventures that you can find online.  If he can get me proper payment info, and prove to me in some way that these miners actually exist, I'll be more than happy to withdraw my comments.  If he's a scammer though, I have no problem making his life very difficult.  I'm on the verge of launching a campaign to let bitcoin enthusiasts and the internet know to stay away from Leasebit and Rowan Salter.

[tnathe]

BUYER BEWARE!!!!

I will post my email thread with my interaction with him...DO NOT purchase something they cannot even tell you what they have, nor show LEGIT pictures on their website.  They CAN NOT prove the miner's operational status to you, not even through a weekly report via email.  Any startup should at least be able to grab you output from the logs and email to their customers!

EMAIL THREAD:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It isnt the first payment or even the second and third payments that cause stress, it's the remaining 50 plus payments I'm legally obligated to pay by signing the contract.

Your website clearly states the machines "use 3 Golden Nonce ASICs".  The Golden Nonces are manufactured by HashFast.  Why arent you disclosing the hardware you guys use?

Bitcoin IS new and risky and one reason it is so risky is because of startup companies taking clients money and never delivering.  You are doing very little to prove to your new customers you guys have what it takes to run a successful business.  I wish you luck and hopefully I will start seeing positive reviews about bitlease.com in the bitcoin community.
________________________________________
From: Rowan Salter
Sent: 11/8/2013 11:15 AM
To: Tyler Nathe
Subject: Re: Someone submitted your Contact Us form
Our equipment is not Hash Fast though they have a good product. Hold off till your comfortable. Generally speaking if the $149.00 first payment causes such stress it is not a suitable investment. Bitcoin is new and risky. We appreciate your consideration.
Sincerely,

Rowan Salter

Tweet us @leasebit
http://leasebit.com

Please return new LeaseBit leases via hardcopy with funds attached to:

LeaseBit
Attention:Rowan Salter
1223 Wilshire Blvd
Suite 747
Santa Monica, CA 90403

On Nov 7, 2013, at 6:06 PM, Tyler Nathe <tylernathe@hotmail.com> wrote:
Thanks for the response Rowan but number 3 didn’t really answer my question.  Do you guys currently have the mining equipment on site or are you waiting for shipment from HashFast?  Do you have any actual pictures of the equipment on site if so?  That would certainly be reassuring.
 
I’m sorry, but without at least a weekly report of the miner’s performance I cannot in good conscious submit a 5-year contract for a piece of equipment I have never seen or know how it is performing.  A report could be as simple as an email stating the average hash rate and the number of bitcoins it has mined during that period as well as a cumulative total.  
 
It would also be to necessary to provide addresses in which the miners are collecting bitcoin payments on so we can see how the miner or farm of miners are doing as a whole.
 
Your business model sounds GREAT, but without some sort of verification process for us the clients it would be extremely risky for us to commit to such a long term contract.    
 
Thank you,
Tyler
 
From: Rowan Salter [mailto:rowan@leasebit.com]
Sent: Thursday, November 7, 2013 7:38 PM
To: Tyler Nathe
Subject: Re: Someone submitted your Contact Us form
 
1) we will thru an Ipad ap within 90-120 days.
 
2) we cant specify what has not been built yet. Any representations would be goals not promises
 
3) This concept is workable but has enormous risk. As you don't have to capitalize  the miner  you may judge it worth it.
 
We can promise to do our best. This is a frontier product in a new financial territory.
 
Sincerely,
 
Rowan Salter
 
Tweet us @leasebit
http://leasebit.com
 
Please return new LeaseBit leases via hardcopy with funds attached to:
 
LeaseBit
Attention:Rowan Salter
1223 Wilshire Blvd
Suite 747
Santa Monica, CA 90403

On Nov 7, 2013, at 9:33 AM, Tyler Nathe <tylernathe@hotmail.com> wrote:
Dear Rowan,
I have yet to receive a response to the following questions:
     1. Will you provide a way to view live miner stats or send daily/weekly reports of the miners productivity?
     2. Do you have a set schedule in which upgrades will take place and how much processing power will be added on each upgrade?
     3.  Is the hardware currently on site?  

Unfortunately in the bitcoin industry there appears to be a lot of scams going on, even from large reputable dealers such as Butterfly Labs which leave their paid customers habging for months with no product and by the time they do receive product it is too late to make any money from mining since it is outdated hardware.  I just need to know that my investment is safe with leasebit.com.

Thank you,
Tyler Nathe
________________________________________
From: Tyler Nathe
Sent: 11/6/2013 2:26 PM
To: Rowan Salter
Subject: RE: Someone submitted your Contact Us form
Thanks for the response Rowan.  If you could, please answer my questions I sent to the solutions@leasebit.com email address yesterday so i can remit my contract and payment to you ASAP.  I know in the bitcoin mining world "time is money".
Thanks again,
Tyler Nathe

Locked and held

Sincerely,

Rowan Salter

Tweet us @leasebit
http://leasebit.com

Please return new LeaseBit leases via hardcopy with funds attached to:

LeaseBit
Attention:Rowan Salter
1223 Wilshire Blvd
Suite 747
Santa Monica, CA 90403

> On Nov 5, 2013, at 9:08 AM, Contact Us form <forms@apps.registeredsite.com> wrote:
>
> Name: Tyler Nathe
> Email:
> Phone number:
> Subject: qty 1 Braun1 price lock-in
> Message: This is to lock in the price of $149 for a qty of 1 braun1 lease as advertised. Thank you.

[bbjc]

I was mistaken about one thing.  They actually did deposit my money.  I'm not sure how I missed that, but they deposited my checks on 10/21.  I actually feel better knowing they did.  At current prices, the "surety" payment will be paid within a week.  I should (hopefully) receive my first payment on December 15th for around 90 bitcoins.  We shall see.

[tnathe]

how can you be so sure?  They can claim it hasnt mined but half the surety amount and you have no leg stand on to prove otherwise.  Can you ask for a current status?  I would love to jump in on this but as you tell i have my reservations about this being a scam.

Btw, i too would be more than happy to remove my post of our email exchange if this turns out to be legit.  Unfortunately i do not have big pockets so would not see it feasible to pursue a lengthy and costly lawsuit.

Please keep us updated on your progress!good luck!

1 more thing: google street view does not show this location to be a likely candidate for a datacenter, whicj is exactly what would be needed to pull off a successful endeavor such as this.  Not to say they dont have co-location elsewhere, just thought it worth mentioning.

[marketorder]

I told the guy in an email that I lived close by and I'd like to see the data center. I never received a reply. On his web site the miners are a cheesy artist rendering theirs no pictures of the miners, no video or proof of a data center. I even gave him my number he never called. I smell something fishy! It's surprising anyone would have sent him a penny! I wouldn't be surprised in a month or two his site disappears along with the deposits!

[tnathe]

 for someone who as written so many books and was a CIo you think they would provide better explanations instead of blatantly dodging direct and simple questions as well as provide a little better Customer Service. 

I would like to know how his contract could be used against him.  it makes no claim of performance.  Just for giggles i made a spreadsheet to see how this would work out from their pov and mine given a 50% increase in difficulty every 10 days.  I understand thats a large padding.

If i had one of his miners go online for me on 11/5 the suretly amount would have paid by 12/25.  After that the income in $ would be $250 every 10 days and dwindling to $22 every 10 days by March.  Your contractual payments to them would be more than your income mid-January, and you are on the hook for 5 years of payments.  Nothing in that contract says when they will make upgrades and by how much.  I fear you may find yourself on the end of a losing battle.

[bbjc]

If i had one of his miners go online for me on 11/5 the suretly amount would have paid by 12/25.  After that the income in $ would be $250 every 10 days and dwindling to $22 every 10 days by March.  Your contractual payments to them would be more than your income mid-January, and you are on the hook for 5 years of payments.  Nothing in that contract says when they will make upgrades and by how much.  I fear you may find yourself on the end of a losing battle.

If you had one go online on 11/5 with 1.25THash/s, it would be producing 1.23 bitcoins per day.  With the price of bitcoins right now at $440, it would take 20 days to pay off the $8940.00 at the current difficulty.  It's been at this difficulty now for 12 days and will probably be 15 days total.  You would have the surety paid off a month earlier than your calculations.  Right?  Am I making an incorrect calculation?

Also, they are required to upgrade the miner with at least 3 new chips every quarter.  That actually benefits them because they're taking a 15% cut of the mined coins.

[bbjc]

how can you be so sure?  They can claim it hasnt mined but half the surety amount and you have no leg stand on to prove otherwise.  Can you ask for a current status?  I would love to jump in on this but as you tell i have my reservations about this being a scam.

Btw, i too would be more than happy to remove my post of our email exchange if this turns out to be legit.  Unfortunately i do not have big pockets so would not see it feasible to pursue a lengthy and costly lawsuit.

Please keep us updated on your progress!good luck!

1 more thing: google street view does not show this location to be a likely candidate for a datacenter, whicj is exactly what would be needed to pull off a successful endeavor such as this.  Not to say they dont have co-location elsewhere, just thought it worth mentioning.

I'm tracking the supposed hash rate and difficulty to see how many coins it should be mining per day.  It was supposedly online as of 11/4, so the 5 miners together should have mined over 6 bitcoins per day (6.25THash/Day).  Do I have any proof of any of this?  No.  All I do know is that I'll supposedly be getting bitcoins delivered to me on December 15th since it will absolutely hit the surety amount by then.  If I don't receive them, I'll pay one more payment for the month of January. If I don't receive anything on January 15th, then I won't be making any more payments, since they broke the lease terms.  I will then begin the process of taking legal action against them.

Honestly, it's very likely that this is a scam.  I had a lawyer look over the lease before I even signed it, and there are a few unenforceable provisions in it, specifically related to waivers and arbitration.  At the minimum they are easily bypassed.  He has also made public comments about aspects of his business that are not contained in the lease, and he would be held responsible for them .  The real kicker is that this lease is supposedly between myself and "Leasebit, LLC".  On the lease contract it states that "Leasebit, LLC" is a Delaware Limited Liability Company.  There is no entity "Leasebit, LLC" registered in Delaware, California or any state for that matter.  There is also no EIN registered.  This actually makes any lawsuit easier because I can go after him directly.  "Rowan Salter" uses a variety of different names to do business.  My lawyers have already located a home address and are aware of a few of his different aliases.

I knew most of that information before I signed the paperwork.

We also know the bank the funds were deposited into, and are currently trying to figure out the account number.  They are fairly sure the checks were deposited using one of those applications on your phone that allows you to take pictures of the check.  They're also confident that there is no business account at that bank with the name "Leasebit, LLC", which makes sense since you can't open a business account without any documentation.

Whatever the outcome of all of this is, it's going to be an interesting ride.  I've taken action against a few different companies for fraud, and won all of them.  I'm still receiving money from one of the judgements.  This would be much more cut and dry than any of those cases though, so I'll be making money even if this is a scam.

[tnathe]

Go grab screenshots of their current site because if they ditch the site you've lost quite a bit of evidence.

[bbjc]

Already have, but it's also archived at the Internet Archive.

http://archive.org/web/

[Ruckster2010]

bbjc, Would you be interested in privately providing some of Rowan's information?  I am also in the process and missed this thread post from the other topic.

Best Regards,

[Ruckster2010]

One more thing I forgot to mention, in my emails to Rowan, I also learned that the leases are sold to another company. He did not specify which one.

[bbjc]

One more thing I forgot to mention, in my emails to Rowan, I also learned that the leases are sold to another company. He did not specify which one.

I sent you a PM.  Are you able to receive them?

[Ruckster2010]

Got it.

[22vision]

bbjc I am also in the same boat, only time will tell. I would be intrested in sharing information
also. I am about a week behind you in the contract process looking at late dec for possible payment
still yet to be seen!

Thanks for all the good info, if needed we can all team up and take this dude out (I hope we dont need to)
will see!

I am new to this forum but have been following for a while now.

PM me and we can exchange info.

Later,
22Vision