Update: Read next post - user has PMed me claiming to have sent it. If this turns out well, I will remove this thread, my negative Trust, and offer an apology.
What happened:: User created a Loan Request thread here:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=440213.0. Due to the user having collateral, I decided I would back a portion of the loan. I corresponded with the user regularly, and we agreed on the user sending an iPod and a laptop as collateral on the portion of the loan I would back. The user talked me out of sending the iPod, which was fine with me (I would just reduce the loan amount to compensate).
The user then gave me a story about how he needed money for shipping. At first I refused, and pointed out that BTC wouldn't pay for his shipping, then the user sent screenshots of PMs between himself and escrow.ms regarding a trade he was setting up - 0.06 BTC for however much in Rupees.
I sent the coins to the user, he sent the coins to escrow.ms, then responded back that he was awaiting his payment. The next day, the user messaged me back with a story about oversleeping. He then messaged me later saying he would provide the shipping info (tracking number I'd imagine) soon.
That's the last I heard from him. I've sent him numerous PMs over the past two days, with no effect. The user has been online (although making no more posts, which leads me to believe he is using PMs to attempt to scam more coins) and hasn't responded to me. I'm making this thread after the user was online for about 3 hours, then logged off without responding to me.
Scammers Profile Link: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=209050Reference Link: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=440213.0Amount Scammed: 0.06 BTC - not a large loss, but annoying nonetheless.
Payment Method: None - sent coins. He received a bank transfer from escrow.ms for the coins.
Proof of Payment: https://blockchain.info/tx/bf27dcf8f1c231bb74f75cf28682e178565e9e9ecb63133ec66eee9bb4df2178Then his transfer to escrow.ms
https://blockchain.info/tx/25b60e27cb0c3b748141af2aa0109f5f3e942a16541b9faa3c11152af634f473PM/Chat Logs: http://imgur.com/Ox6fxAF,PpO7rSy,gbPxMuh,w9H8QS8,xpec9oM,p09RNxaScreen caps of the various PMs he sent. I can provide full caps of both sides if there's any doubt about the scam.
Additional Notes: I'd just like to point out that I only mention escrow.ms for transparency on what happened. I didn't get him involved in any of this because it's frankly not his problem or any of my business who he is doing business with. He received some BTC and sent payment. The fact that the payment was supposed to go towards shipping has nothing to do with him or his transaction.
Obviously, this is my fault. I even explained the situation of "You're flat broke, you admit you're flat broke, you want a loan, and now you're asking for BTC for shipping". I was hooked in by the legitimate nature of his pending trade with escrow.ms, and that "put me on the spot". Just another lesson learned - don't send BTC to loanees under any circumstances without collateral.
I'm making this thread simply so that this user can be exposed as a small-time scammer (he was eager to send "collateral", as I believe the scam was just the shipping money story - a scammer doesn't care how much they make, as a payday is a payday.).
Hopefully, escrow.ms will dump the user's personal information (from the bank transfer) so that other users can be on the lookout for any sale requests from this person. Freezing him out of being able to sell his (probably stolen) BTC via bank transfers would be a plus. I'd expect this person to be back with another username hitting people in about a month.
