btc-arbs.com - Update: dead HYIP, Refund progress: BTC-arbs still doing refunds

[voffka05]

email and PM sent too.  Waiting....   

[1714204661]

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[elend]

The Whole Story - From BTC-Arbs ADMIN

I am aware that this post may fall upon deaf ears, given the mob mentality that seems to have developed as a fallout from BTC-Arbs, however I am here with the ultimate goal of resolving the issues that currently face everyone involved. Before I get into my future plans I feel it is necessary to share a bit of background information on BTC-Arbs.

Scam Allegations

BTC Arbs was not created to be a scam, and was never intended to rip off investors. Bitcoin arbitrage is possible and many Bitcoin users have realized this and have started arbitrage trading on their own. Bitcoin arbitrage trading took place and earnings were made. Anyone who has ever looked at bitcoinaverage dot com can confirm this. The prices vary greatly from exchange to exchange, and there are always variations on the price. Even today, you can buy Bitcoin on BTCE for $556 and then sell it immediately on Bitstamp for $572. That produces a 2.7% profit, which is closer to 2% after exchange fees and transfer costs.

BTC-Arbs was not created to scam users.

Hacking

In early April, the BTC Arbs website was hacked. Numerous members can corroborate this fact. Many accounts were accessed and large amounts of Bitcoin were withdrawn. When this first started occurring, we were under the impression that it was due to users who had failed to secure their accounts with 2-factor authentication and who had been infected with a virus. It then became apparent that the website was not secure and the issue was impacting hundreds of accounts. HUNDREDS of Bitcoins were paid out that should not have been. To make matters worse, our incoming Bitcoin addresses were changed and hackers stole all of the incoming coins. When we tried to fix the issue, we just kept getting hacked over and over. Finally the problem was solved, but it was too late.

After the hacking, the plan was to use profits to re-liquidate the program, however people continued to withdraw, which ultimately lead to the overall failure and "reset". This can be referred to as a run on the bank.

100,000 Bitcoin Address

Those who believe that the 100,000 Bitcoin address belongs to BTC-Arbs are crazy. The total value of ALL BTC-Arbs accounts is more or less 500 Bitcoins. We weren't some billion dollar scam. The average user had less than 1 Bitcoin in their account. There are only 7 users with balances over 20 Bitcoins. There were less than 1000 accounts with Bitcoins in them.

Re-Incarnation

Upon resetting the program, the plan was to pay back all users using future profits. The plan was going well and members of Bitcoin Talk can attest that withdrawals were being paid and that many users had begun receiving a good portion of their investments back. The plan was going well until angry users decided to:
- Hack the website further
- Initiate a prolonged DDOS attack against the server
- File a trademark complaint for the domain (WTF???)
- Freeze fiat accounts (preventing refunds)

Apology

I am VERY VERY VERY SORRY that the outcome of BTC-Arbs was what it was. I had dreams of running the first large and legitimate Bitcoin Arbitrage investment company that could have one day competed with banks and other global investment institutions. Instead, my dreams were destroyed and I now receive threats on a daily basis.

Moving Forward

I have created a plan to help us move forward. I would appreciate everyone's help in fulfilling it. If you have any suggestions on how to improve my plan please tell me.

The Plan
1 - I have some Bitcoins left and I am still doing arbitrage with them.
2 - I want nothing more than to repay everyone. This won't be instant, but I want to do my best.
3 - I will continue paying refunds to everyone who lost money. In the interest of fairness, I think it is reasonable that until everyone is repaid their initial investments, that everyone only request the amount that was lost, not including profits.
4 - Please send your username, amount lost, Bitcoin address, username here (optional), details of your deposits, and any other information you can think of to btcarbsrefunds@safe-mail.net or by PM here.
5 - I will be using this thread to keep track of everything that I do, including refunds.

BTC Arbs is NOT a scam. It was a failed investment that is now trying to make good on past promises.

Dear BTC-ARBS initator,

I read your message in the bitcointalk-forum/btc-arbs.com thread of May the 29. 2014 .

I really regret the outcome of your efforts and your website.


As requested you hereby receive my depositing-information and user-details :


my username on the bitcointalk-forum is : elend

my username on your btc-arbs site was/is : elend


deposits I made to your btc-arbs site:

on 2014-02-23 : 0.2 BTC
TransactionID: 428a8f9ed746d7c55ab961ffb1f07075bff6f015d6d14a9e2941330e42a3f353 @ 2014-02-23 14:06:09

on 2014-02-23 : 0.5 BTC
TransactionID: 05d06a8eb5a520218cc6546f8d16967e31b0798b417d2a78294e1503ecabb162 @ 2014-02-23 20:18:48

on 2014-03-01 : 0.42 BTC
TransactionID: 77629f475744f78ae130624bac5a929824c40d837a9e0d22aa6559fbb337088b @ 2014-03-01 09:35:17

on 2014-03-17 : 0.75 BTC
TransactionID: fda510d1d5194fb12d62127a41675d8334d8989f0b1327c93bcccd1fe9d14ab4 @ 2014-03-17 17:03:50

on 2014-04-04 : 0.3 BTC
TransactionID: 1b6e41809c6091ffd90339dc83a068c32db65fbb6aec0708fa28254bef4e4322 @ 2014-04-04 11:15:16

on 2014-04-15 : 0.2 BTC
TransactionID: 9403e76d1dc2bf2dcd09450c063636d6ac0d09ccca46a91b4233a95d4ff50102 @ 2014-04-15 07:48:16


Deposit sum: 2.37 BTC


Final balance on the site incl. profit before it went down approx.: 3.7 BTC


Until now I did not received back any single Satoshi or Bitcoin.


My actual Bitcoin-address for any refund is: 1NyquC3LsFqEKwScuCEV6jDhkrBjk4habp


Thank you in advance

elend

[jagemo]

Email and PM send ...

[rahulgarg12342]

Yonce, I had invested 0.1BTC and got all of it back.

[elend]

In the interest of tracking progress, I will update as I receive payments.

Principal invested: 27 BTC (Total w/interest: 35.6)
Returned from "legacy": 2.2 BTC
Repaid directly: 1 BTC
Principal owed: 23.8 (32.4 w/interest)

Probably only reason you got paid that 1 btc from your quite large investment is because you are an active poster here. Tactics are very much so similar to HourlyRevShare.

Please just go away, you don't have any interest in BTC-ARBS by your own claims and you are only stirring up more doubt and stress.   You are always negative unless someone wants to ref you for FinMutual HYIP.   That makes you even worse than the people running HYIPs.  

Right now any BTC people recover is a great benefit to them.   I hope to recover mine too.  

To add,

Any BTC is great to be returned. I have never said otherwise. But paying a fraction back is still just as much of a scam if not paying at all. And I have a great fucking interest in BTC-arbs because it was a shit run HYIP that I called out. Fuck off dyask.

Once again you prove yourself to be a foul mouthed jerk unable to stay out of something you have no business in.   Just let people recover as much as they can. 

+1 ... its just annoying

[yonce]

Yonce, I had invested 0.1BTC and got all of it back.

Thanks for posting that. Very useful info so we can monitor. Btc-arbs is doing what I thought he was doing and paying smaller amounts in whole - but people with more significant deposits are getting small amounts. It's obvious the admin is shaking in his boots. Press hard to get your balances back in full everyone - a ton of the admins personal information is circulating. Use it as leverage. When you knowingly play HYIP's you accept a gamble. But btc-arbs members were not "playing a HYIP" - super short run by even HYIP standards of the interest levels being paid.

[y80]

BTC-arbs:
I've sent you PMs and email,
Check your messages and refund my BTC,
Thanks

[sunny1]

Yonce, I had invested 0.1BTC and got all of it back.

Thanks for posting that. Very useful info so we can monitor. Btc-arbs is doing what I thought he was doing and paying smaller amounts in whole - but people with more significant deposits are getting small amounts. It's obvious the admin is shaking in his boots. Press hard to get your balances back in full everyone - a ton of the admins personal information is circulating. Use it as leverage. When you knowingly play HYIP's you accept a gamble. But btc-arbs members were not "playing a HYIP" - super short run by even HYIP standards of the interest levels being paid.

Of course they were playing the HYIP game, prominently listed on MNO's premium list. Again misleading....

[yonce]

Yonce, I had invested 0.1BTC and got all of it back.

Thanks for posting that. Very useful info so we can monitor. Btc-arbs is doing what I thought he was doing and paying smaller amounts in whole - but people with more significant deposits are getting small amounts. It's obvious the admin is shaking in his boots. Press hard to get your balances back in full everyone - a ton of the admins personal information is circulating. Use it as leverage. When you knowingly play HYIP's you accept a gamble. But btc-arbs members were not "playing a HYIP" - super short run by even HYIP standards of the interest levels being paid.

Of course they were playing the HYIP game, prominently listed on MNO's premium list. Again misleading....

The majority of the people here believed they were involved in a arbitrage trading site. The admin of btc-arbs is not part of the core group of admins that run HYIP's. There's leverage out there circulating now to press the admin for a refund of a HYIP badly gone wrong.

[lesnod11]

Still no response from btc-arbs on my e-mail sent. Not even a notification that it was received.

[Slipknot79]

I ve also sent PM.

Amount lost:
  Total: 3,2515
  Deposits only: 2,632

[FreeJack2k2]

I have no problem with Yonce, he has given us quite a lot of good insight into this HYIP culture.

I want to make it abundantly clear that I am not going to be satisfied with a 1 Bitcoin payment, here or there. I feel we have been lied to so much, that none of the stories add up, and I have very little reason to trust this admin. As such, I have informed him that I have received PMs from people here, sympathetic to my situation who are willing to divulge information I can approach authorities with, to seek satisfaction if I am not repaid in full, in a reasonable timeframe. I can tell you, that reasonable timeframe will not be weeks or months. I have sent a private message to him, explaining this and I will continue to report on his repayment...but the amount I am owed is not such that I am in any way inclined to simply "let it go" without pursuing every recourse at my disposal. Now that there are people who are claiming to know details on the perpetrator, I'm willing to involve law enforcement if need be.

Basically, I don't buy the "hacked" story, it has too many holes, and I believe he does have the funds to repay me...and he must.

[y80]

Still no response from btc-arbs on my e-mail sent. Not even a notification that it was received.

Same here. I've sent several PMs and emails and no acknowledgment of any kind.

[acid_rain]

Since he knows the jig is up he's biding his time to perform as much arbitrage as he can and keep the profit before returning your original funds back.

With a 1% profit daily on his alleged 500 bitcoins he'd double that amount in 70 days i.e. 2 months. Meaning you will be receiving trickles of transfers until he's made enough profit to call it a day. He's basically holding your pool of bitcoins on ransom until he earned enough profit for himself.

or something like that at least. The bigger your investment was with the site, the slower you'll get your money back.


BTC: 1ASkYcaXt8H1E9oKX28A1ezRkxqo1bFdz7

[FreeJack2k2]

Since he knows the jig is up he's biding his time to perform as much arbitrage as he can and keep the profit before returning your original funds back.

With a 1% profit daily on his alleged 500 bitcoins he'd double that amount in 70 days i.e. 2 months. Meaning you will be receiving trickles of transfers until he's made enough profit to call it a day. He's basically holding your pool of bitcoins on ransom until he earned enough profit for himself.

or something like that at least. The bigger your investment was with the site, the slower you'll get your money back.


BTC: 1ASkYcaXt8H1E9oKX28A1ezRkxqo1bFdz7

Right...and that isn't going to fly, with me. I am not interested in letting him use my money, anymore. Whatever he is going to do, it needs to be without my Bitcoin. I have had my chain jerked long enough.

There is plenty of evidence here. I saved a copy of the site the day after the whole "buyout" story was posted, including the BS story about a nonexistent hedge fund / investor. Also have a daily record of returns on an Excel spreadsheet, corroborated by the site backup.

[Rannasha]

Since he knows the jig is up he's biding his time to perform as much arbitrage as he can and keep the profit before returning your original funds back.

With a 1% profit daily on his alleged 500 bitcoins he'd double that amount in 70 days i.e. 2 months. Meaning you will be receiving trickles of transfers until he's made enough profit to call it a day. He's basically holding your pool of bitcoins on ransom until he earned enough profit for himself.

or something like that at least. The bigger your investment was with the site, the slower you'll get your money back.


BTC: 1ASkYcaXt8H1E9oKX28A1ezRkxqo1bFdz7

Hint: There was never any arbitrage trading.

[TwinWinNerD]

Since he knows the jig is up he's biding his time to perform as much arbitrage as he can and keep the profit before returning your original funds back.

With a 1% profit daily on his alleged 500 bitcoins he'd double that amount in 70 days i.e. 2 months. Meaning you will be receiving trickles of transfers until he's made enough profit to call it a day. He's basically holding your pool of bitcoins on ransom until he earned enough profit for himself.

or something like that at least. The bigger your investment was with the site, the slower you'll get your money back.


BTC: 1ASkYcaXt8H1E9oKX28A1ezRkxqo1bFdz7

Hint: There was never any arbitrage trading.

Pshhhht. Don't give it away! I bet some guys could still join btc trader!

[thcst8]

Still haven't seen a penny returned.

I sent 1 bitcoin to the address in your sig. I also sent a PM with additional information.
It is public so it can be confirmed
https://blockchain.info/address/1JqCukmZgVB1h8PmhqWkUqgatgm8oZxxD4

skunk - fully refunded
hongo - fully refunded
rahulgarg12342 - fully refunded

I sent an email and 2 PM's.  Still no responce.

[acid_rain]

Since he knows the jig is up he's biding his time to perform as much arbitrage as he can and keep the profit before returning your original funds back.

With a 1% profit daily on his alleged 500 bitcoins he'd double that amount in 70 days i.e. 2 months. Meaning you will be receiving trickles of transfers until he's made enough profit to call it a day. He's basically holding your pool of bitcoins on ransom until he earned enough profit for himself.

or something like that at least. The bigger your investment was with the site, the slower you'll get your money back.


BTC: 1ASkYcaXt8H1E9oKX28A1ezRkxqo1bFdz7

Hint: There was never any arbitrage trading.

Pshhhht. Don't give it away! I bet some guys could still join btc trader!

I don't think you understood the reason why i mentioned that he might be doing arbitrage in the immediate. Matter of fact it doesn't need to be arbitrage, it could be anything that returns a daily profit.

Of course there never was any arbitrage trading going on, but you can bet your a** there IS something going on now though. I think he's either scrambling to earn profits on the ransomed bitcoin pool (in order to return the original principal investments back whilst keeping the profits for himself) or else he's skipping town with his family as we speak (posting once every other train-station to keep natives here calm).

My questions are:

For what reason after the site shutdown, instead of fading away quietly he chose to continue inflating the story even further on here? If he were a scammer then he has NO vested interest nor cause for profit in coming on here and start giving money back to people. Are you following what I'm saying now? Why does he need to keep people calm?

For what reason does he NEED to go through this elaborate procedure?

Maybe people are getting too close for comfort? Or else he believes that by earning some profit and then returning the original investments, that he would be in the clear somehow?

Or is he simply just a mad egomaniac scammer who believes he is creating a masterpiece of ponzi scams?

I'd love to know the real motive behind these seemingly incoherent sequence of actions.
BTC: 1ASkYcaXt8H1E9oKX28A1ezRkxqo1bFdz7

[NullOp]

I still haven't received any refund yet...