My friend has had some really bad luck...

[Tirapon]

Hi guys

Okay so I'm not really sure about what sort of responses to expect here, but I feel its worth a shot.

A friend of mine was using BTC-e for trading, and had a number of coins on the exchange. He downloaded some software for mining Quark coin, but unfortunately it turned out that there was malware in the download, and all of his data was compromised. They got access to his accounts, and emptied the whole lot, nabbing around 8.5 BTC.

Now I know that many of you will read this and say, 'well this is his own fault, he failed to take care of his security and that's why he lost his coins' - This is absolutely true. But this kid is only 18 and has only just been introduced to Bitcoin, and he's had to learn this expensive lesson early on. He was saving to go travelling, and now those plans have been completely wiped out.

EDIT:

Originally I was hoping people might be willing to make a few small donations to help him get back on track, but after reading the responses I've realised that this is not really a reasonable request. So instead, I'll just say this:

Please, if you are new to Bitcoin and you are reading this, take on board what has happened here: this sort of thing seems to happen ALL OF THE TIME! You have to take security very seriously, and follow all the advice given e.g. Use 2 FA, don't download anything suspicious or that you aren't completely sure about, try not to keep coins on an exchange if you aren't trading them etc.

[Rampion]

By day trading he was already putting at risk his coins. The fact he was using all his stash to daytrade was not the sensible thing to do.

Furthermore, lessons need to be learned. He needed the money to "travel", not to have a heart transplant. Asking for charity in that situation seems totally unjustified to me.

[cr1776]

...this kid is only 18 ...

KID?  He is 18 and can vote etc.  This isn't some 11 year old.

That said, sorry that he lost it, as others have said, hopefully he can earn it back and get back to where he was.  ;-)

[quone17]

Sorry this happened to your friend. But isn't it like he will learn his lesson now?  And 8.5 btc isn't like he lost a fortune. Bailouts rarely help anything.

[phazon307]

How about this can someone please just give me some bitcoins I am poor as junk my health is failing and I have nothing to leave for my wife if I pass on. What can you do you know asking for money for a 18 year old who wants to travel is kind of well selfish because for 1 he is still young and in good health ie wants to travel. Secondly he wants that money to travel how is that going to help a life be better? I could post up on here for donations for the reasons stated above but I am not looking for hand outs I am trying to earn it by learning programming and working a menial job and mining Cryptocoins for a chance they could be worth a bit someday. Tell your friend to get a job and in 4 months he will earn that back.

[Melbustus]

Mining Quark and (day) trading bitcoin? Sorry, but both activities indicate a very immature understanding of bitcoin, the crypto space in general, economics, and investing.

[bitpop]

Cheap lesson

[hilariousandco]

I already have enough BTC for myself, and am not interested in trying to con people just to get even more.

Send him some of yours. Nobody has any reason to believe these stories whether they're in fact true or not, because they're posted here daily in various scenarios.

[Cubic Earth]

I'm sorry for his loss.

Someone will be traveling on those 8.5 BTCs, but it won't be your friend. 

A question:  Did he have two factor enabled?  I have two factor for BTCe login and 'three-factor' for BTCe withdrawals, Login + Google Auth. + Email confirmation.  I am curious if the malware out in the wild is sophisticated enough to get around those controls.

[rarkenin]

My brother is 14 and has more common sense...

[Tirapon]

Okay guys you all make fair points, sorry if I have offended anyone with my post. I honestly was just hoping to help him out and it seemed like this idea might be worth a shot. I will be giving him some of my own coins by the way, unfortunately I can't replace the full amount for him. And yeah, its true that this was not sensible on his part, but please go a little more easy - we all make mistakes, and I am very sad that this one has ended up costing him a lot. I'm sure he has learnt his lesson, and I find it such a shame that this sort of thing would even happen in the first place (yes of course, its just the world we live in - but that's what I find sad).

To anyone who thinks its fair game to steal other people's money like this, you need to take a good look at yourself in the mirror - You are exactly what's wrong with the world today.

Also please let this be a lesson to all of you who haven't taken care of your security - please please take the time and trouble to learn how to safely store coins, and be very careful what you download.

By the way I wasn't expecting people to send massive donations, I had in mind that maybe a few people might have the odd bit of change that they wouldn't mind sharing. But I guess there can't be room on the forum for this sort of thing, the number of hacks that occur would mean threads like this would pop up all the time. I guess I didn't think it through - I was really just trying to help out a friend, as I'm sure most of you can understand.

[beetcoin]

if you really want to help him, you should post a video of him. if you don't put a face to a story, less people will relate to his situation.

i won't be donating, especially since this is a story with little to no backing.. and i'm not even rich myself. there are plenty of other cases worth donating for too.

[bitpop]

Video please and an apology

[beetcoin]

if i were dying of cancer, i wouldn't even bother to ask for BTC donations. kind of strange, as some people here have set the bar much much lower than most of us. i don't expect someone to have so much compassion for my plight that i'd ask for free money, but to each his own.

[Tirapon]

I already have enough BTC for myself

Why would anyone dontate when you yourself have not gotten the ball rolling with a generous donation?

https://blockchain.info/address/1DghtS6jrPGwVCLRx8RJQ2CTRCqim97ces

Still zero as of this posting.

Yes you are absolutely right, I had intended to donate some BTC myself which I still will, just sort of rushed ahead with creating this post and didn't really think ahead. I will be sending 2BTC right now.

[Tirapon]

Video please and an apology

Yes I have already apologised for any offence I may have caused, you know sometimes you think you have a good idea, but then when you read people's responses you realise that what you were asking was unreasonable. So yes, I'm sorry, I was only trying to do something to help.

[beetcoin]

apology for what? all you asked for is a donation right? i've seen much worse.

[bitpop]

Video please and an apology

Yes I have already apologised for any offence I may have caused, you know sometimes you think you have a good idea, but then when you read people's responses you realise that what you were asking was out of line. So yes, I'm sorry, I was only trying to do something to help.

No no one is mad at you. I meant from your friend, apologizing for his mistake. It might get him sympathy donations. Vs. Greedy guy downloading malware then not even having the balls to post himself.

You're a good guy and friend, you're good in my book. Now get your btc offline.

Before you donate to him, he should apologize to you too, that way you know he learned his lesson.

[jojo69]

derp

I know, I'll run this executable on the same box where I access my accounts

derp

[Tirapon]

if i were dying of cancer, i wouldn't even bother to ask for BTC donations. kind of strange, as some people here have set the bar much much lower than most of us. i don't expect someone to have so much compassion for my plight that i'd ask for free money, but to each his own.

If someone were dying of cancer, and I knew that a small donation could help ease their suffering, I absolutely would send something. I know there's a big difference between that and someone losing money by getting hacked, but you know, if I read about something like this and happened to be feeling generous I probably would send a small amount. I think that's why it seemed a good idea in my mind. Now I realise that the problem here is that there is not really any way to prove that I'm not just making this all up. I can promise everyone that I'm not, but that's about it.

Anyway I see that many of you are somewhat offended by the idea of asking for some sort of 'bailout' so once again, I apologise.