First, this was not written until now in the hopes of tracking the guy down. I have done what I can, and know that he is likely from San Jose, CA, but I have not been able to figure out much else. I am posting this to dispense of any rumours or confusion that has cropped up since the incident first took place and was talked about in IRC.
The dates are fuzzy and I am putting little effort into this now, so please don't join onto this thread to nit-pick, call me stupid, point out my obvious errors, or in any other way be rude
I know the things I did wrong here, and am only writing this for transparency and to help others learn from my mistakes. If you are rude, I will remove your post.I think it was in early September that I was first contacted by
https://localbitcoins.com/accounts/profile/Coins4Cash/He had a paper wallet and was trading for usd. The value was in the lower 5 digits. We met at an upscale bar in Bakersfield, CA, called The Padre. He arrived in a black mustang, with california plates (possibly a rental). All went smooth and I was able to sweep the wallet on the spot before handing over any cash.
Then, I think in mid-October, when LocalBitcoin was down for a few hours for maintenance, I received a reply to the previous request (since lbc's re-mailer was not offline). He was wanting to dump double what he had in our last meeting and was in a hurry. I agreed to meet at the same location and gave him a phone number he could SMS with, since lbc was offline and email was cumbersome. He lives a long distance away and it is winter, so we were going to be meeting after dark, which I normally don't do. ~8-9pm.
Clue 1) He ends up arriving before I got to the bar, and I start getting text messages asking about what car I am driving. Why would anyone need to know that?
I arrive and park directly infront of the entrance to the bar, under a flood light and within 15ft of the door.
Clue 2) While getting out, I notice a short latin man in a leather jacket who appears to be chatting on his cell phone, but is paying me a lot of attention.
I get inside and do not see Coins4Cash. So I sit down and send him a SMS message, asking where he is. At this time, the bar is close to closing, and I say get in here quick so they don't close on us. He claims that his wallet is syncing in his car with his phone's wifi since he had been waiting for me, and does not want to interrupt it.
I stay inside the bar for another 20 minutes and wait for them to usher me out. Now this bar is also in a hotel lobby, so I still have access to the lobby, but can not stay in the bar.
I now head out to my car and place my fiat in a secure box (mounted to the frame
) and get inside. I send another SMS.
Clue 3) The short latin man is still outside on his phone.
Coins4Cash says that his wallet is scanning the chain at this point and asks if I would be willing to trade at his car. He is wanting me to sit inside, I can tell, But I decide that I will insist on doing the trade on the sidewalk once I get to his car. I leave everything of value in my car, secured, and take only my burner phone with blockchain.info pulled up so I can give him the address and check the transaction. On my way walking towards his car (black truck this time), the short latin guy starts moving finally, and its to follow me. I stop on the same block as his car and ask him what the deal is.
Clue 4) He says the man is his protection. I have to deal with that regularly, but never is anyone so weird about it. This is clearly a set up.
At this point, I know I have gone too far, but I still have many ways out and nothing of value on me.
I turn around, tell the latin man that I know he is with Coins4Cash, and ask him to head to the car, infront of me, and get inside. At this point, he kind of panics, pulls a gun out from his coat pocket and asks for my car keys. Instinctively, I reply, "Yeah, that's not happening" and dart off at full speed around the truck and back to the hotel lobby, where I proceed to call the police and wait. After a good 20 minutes, the cops never show up, so I finally get back into my car and drive around for a while, before finally heading to a friend's place for the night.
I hope my story is clear and this helps someone else out there.
