Is St4yInTh3D4rk a hacked or sold account?

[1miau]

I’ve detected an interesting account and I think it’s worth a closer look, here are the details:


Account: St4yInTh3D4rk https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=409210

Suspected last post original owner: September 27, 2016

Suspected first post new owner: November 08, 2017

Archive: http://archive.is/GKVu0#selection-755.1-755.6


It’s not only a posting gap of more than one year, it’s also a change in the quality of his posts and where they are posted. The posts of the old owner are totally different. He was developer at Zonecoin (ZNE) and managed their Bitcointalk ANN. Hhampuz commented frequently in their ANN when he was a Member. I think he can help us to determine if the owner is still the same.

The old owner posted some details about his identity here and where he came from (native English speaker):
Dominic Quick, East Sussex, UK
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1435851.msg15882291#msg15882291


The project of Zonecoin was abandoned in September 2016 and the investors of Zonecoin never heard again anything about it: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1576405.msg16987146#msg16987146

But the Zonecoin-developer St4yInTh3D4rk started posting more than one year later again, this time with medium-quality posts in Gambling, Altcoins, Bitcoin Discussion etc.
And for my judgement (as a non-native English speaker) the quality of his posts is hardly the same like before.

Some examples made by the suspected new owner:

I think bitcoin mining is quite tough because you need huge amount of investment to buy miners but its is profitable than the just holding the bitcoins.Because the mining will produce the more bitcoins but keeping the bitcoin will remains same the bitcoin.If you want more profit then go for mining.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2371795.msg24231053#msg24231053
http://archive.is/By8ge#selection-2381.0-2381.13

I think the bitcoins is already started to spread in all parts of world which makes most demand for it and it causes the rapid increase in the bitcoin price recently,so i hope the soon the bitcoin will replace most of the fiat currency and bitcoin will be the king of currency world.

http://archive.is/mmpXO#selection-2137.0-2137.13

I think it is perfect time to buy bitcoins because the price decreased almost $ 1000 due to cancelled fork so it maybe a chance for someone who is willing to invest on bitcoin.

http://archive.is/pVBRS#selection-469.0-469.13

No,it will not reach $20K by end of this year because the price is swinging inbetwwen $11K and $12K so there maybe a price correction will occur soon so there is chance for price getting fall.I think the bitcoin will reach $13K by end of this year maybe bitcoin will reach $20K by end of 2018.

http://archive.is/CXHJC#selection-5591.0-5591.13


I would like to clarify a few things:

- If you are a native English speaker, please have a look at his comments he made before and after the suspected change of owner. The quality decreased a lot in my opinion which is a strong indicator for hacked / sold accounts.

- I would like to hear the opinion of Hhampuz if he can imagine that the developer of Zonecoin is now involved in signature campaigns.


It would also be interesting to hear St4yInTh3D4rk (if he is still the same owner) why he abandoned his Zonecoin project, let down his investors and started participating in signature campaigns one year later.

[1714159025]

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[1714159025]

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[1714159025]

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[coinlocket$]

Can ask an authentication post from twitter or reddit

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1576405.msg15948807#msg15948807
Archive http://archive.fo/DQ5Xw
 
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1576405.msg15847651#msg15847651
Archive http://archive.fo/H1J0i

[1miau]

Can ask an authentication post from twitter or reddit

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1576405.msg15948807#msg15948807
Archive http://archive.fo/DQ5Xw
 
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1576405.msg15847651#msg15847651
Archive http://archive.fo/H1J0i

Good idea but I don't know if that would be enough proof, Social Media accounts can also be hacked or sold. He posted also an ETH-Address here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1556972.msg15630503#msg15630503
http://archive.is/5PJvA#selection-1563.27-1563.69

(0x32ce1e303f62e992c012866585bac0301badfb16)

[suchmoon]

- If you are a native English speaker, please have a look at his comments he made before and after the suspected change of owner. The quality decreased a lot in my opinion which is a strong indicator for hacked / sold accounts.

I'm not a native English speaker but the user definitely "unlearned" the language between Sep 2016 - Nov 2017, no question about that. Plus the lack of spaces after punctuation and some other minor details indicate it's a different person.

[yahoo62278]

I have sent the user in question a message to respond here. Being as he is in the bustadice campaign managed by me, i'm curious to see what comes of this.

[DireWolfM14]

There's another large gap in posts from April 2015 to April 2016.  I don't see any difference in the quality of English from before and after the older gap, but the gap from 2016 to 2017 does result in a significant change.  For example:

If you are new to trade its is better to trade with bitcoins because altcoins are more unstable than bitcoin if you start with altcoin you may lose your investment.So bitcoin trading is more safer and then don't be in a hurry you need to have patience to be a good trader but you need to improve your skill on decision making because in trading you have to act according to the market price.But before start trading do lot of search or you may be lose your investment.

A native English speaker would never write "bitcoin trading is more safer," regardless of how lazy he was at applying the written language.  And the lack of punctuation is another telling sign, although some native English speaker can be quite lazy about punctuation when writing.

The original post definitely seem to come from one who is a native English speaker, or at least one who's been well educated in the use of the language.

[Avirunes]

Seclog:

Code:

November 08, 2017, 10:57:12 AM - St4yInTh3D4rk - woke up [1]
November 08, 2017, 12:07:25 PM - St4yInTh3D4rk - password reset via email [2] 

[1] http://archive.is/WwcT6#selection-51999.0-52003.10
[2] http://archive.is/WwcT6#selection-51735.0-51739.27

Totally matches with the timeline when new style of posting is noticed.

Suspected first post new owner: November 08, 2017

And, there is no logs of password changes since then. (I mean after the above in log block)

[1miau]

There's another large gap in posts from April 2015 to April 2016.  I don't see any difference in the quality of English from before and after the older gap, but the gap from 2016 to 2017 does result in a significant change. 

Good observation, the first gap seems to be a normal one, also the content is very similar like his utilisation of BTCPOP:
Before the first gap: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=112447.msg11143502#msg11143502
After the first gap: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1435851.msg14607449#msg14607449

And the second gap is where the ownership changed, when he stopped managing the Zonecoin ANN and abandoned the project.

I have sent the user in question a message to respond here. Being as he is in the bustadice campaign managed by me, i'm curious to see what comes of this.

I've also sent a PM to Hhampuz.

Seclog:

Code:

November 08, 2017, 10:57:12 AM - St4yInTh3D4rk - woke up [1]
November 08, 2017, 12:07:25 PM - St4yInTh3D4rk - password reset via email [2] 

[1] http://archive.is/WwcT6#selection-51999.0-52003.10
[2] http://archive.is/WwcT6#selection-51735.0-51739.27

Totally matches with the timeline when new style of posting is noticed.

Definitely, he changed the password before he made his first post after the gap: November 08, 2017, 12:34:28 PM

[Hhampuz]

Interesting. I was kind of involved in Zonecoin way back when and I do remember this user. In my mind there's no doubt that the account did in fact change hands, low effort posts and joining signature campaigns is a telling sign as is the change in his English skills. There was a similar case recently with a VIP user and that account ended up being tagged.

I'll give it a bit for him to reply in this thread but if there's no irrefutable evidence stating that it's still the same user I'll drop a trust rating. Thanks 1miau for bringing this to my attention!

[1miau]

Many thanks for your reply! I'm also waiting for some more opinions as well as St4yInTh3D4rk to reply here. There is also a mail address (domquick66@outlook.com) but the seclog looks like the account was most likely sold together with the mail address.

BTW what's the stand of everyone here on verifying ownership via Social Media accounts? Too weak?

[DireWolfM14]

Many thanks for your reply! I'm also waiting for some more opinions as well as St4yInTh3D4rk to reply here. There is also a mail address (domquick66@outlook.com) but the seclog looks like the account was most likely sold together with the mail address.

BTW what's the stand of everyone here on verifying ownership via Social Media accounts? Too weak?

If it was an account used for promotion of an ICO project it would seem that the social media accounts were also sold along with the forum account.  The only thing that makes me hesitant about this is that St4yInTh3D4rk posted what appears to be his real name.  Of course with a handle essentially claiming to "stay in the dark" the name Dominic Quick could be a fake.  Since the ZONECOIN project was abandoned with the investors left holding the bag, and apparently started out as an exit scam that seems like a safe assumption.

[LeGaulois]

BTW what's the stand of everyone here on verifying ownership via Social Media accounts? Too weak?

With some social media platforms you can re-register an username that was already used previously. Like some email providers recycle the old email IDs (i.e. outlook). I wouldn' rely on that at 100%.
Not to mention the possibility of having access to the social media account (why not using a re-registered email?...)

[1miau]

Alright, that's the same impression I had about social media accounts, especially if the mail address expires, someone can take over all the social media accounts by re-registering the mail and resetting the password via mail. (if they haven't changed hands already before in addition to the Bitcointalk account sale)

If it was an account used for promotion of an ICO project it would seem that the social media accounts were also sold along with the forum account.  The only thing that makes me hesitant about this is that St4yInTh3D4rk posted what appears to be his real name.  Of course with a handle essentially claiming to "stay in the dark" the name Dominic Quick could be a fake.  Since the ZONECOIN project was abandoned with the investors left holding the bag, and apparently started out as an exit scam that seems like a safe assumption.

He posted some documents containing his name + some other information here. I don't know in which way these documents are manipulated but in case if it would be necessary to verify it, there's an address of the company he communicated with (goodall barnett james). It's an existing company but I think there's no need in contacting them, I don't know how serious shitcoin scams / failed projects were handled in the past.


Today St4yInTh3D4rk was active again but it seems he has no interest to respond here although yahoo62278 sent him a PM...
I'm busy tomorrow and will wait another day before taking any action although I think the case is clear.

[yahoo62278]

Today St4yInTh3D4rk was active again but it seems he has no interest to respond here although yahoo62278 sent him a PM...
I'm busy tomorrow and will wait another day before taking any action although I think the case is clear.

I have tagged the account in question for now until they respond here and this is all figured out. It's likely the account is bought and in that case more DTs will tag him for account sales. That's why I believe he hasn't responded so far.

[1miau]

I have tagged the account in question for now until they respond here and this is all figured out. It's likely the account is bought and in that case more DTs will tag him for account sales. That's why I believe he hasn't responded so far.

+1
I've left another feedback. Maybe he hasn't much to say to prove it wrong. 

Honestly, I wouldn't trust the old owner either for letting his investors "in the dark" about Zonecoin and failing to pay back his loans: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1576405.msg17025366#msg17025366

[DireWolfM14]

It's quite interesting that St4yInTh3D4rk has not commented on the subject, the silence is deafening. 

Ironically the old owner of the account appears to have pulled an exit scam, while the new owner has merely participated in sig campaigns since the alleged purchase.  The actions of the old owner are far more deserving of red-tags than anything the new owner has done.  There was a time when buying an account was not frowned upon the way it is today.  That was before my time, so I'm not sure when the transition in philosophy came to pass.  Looking back on the activities of the new owner for the past couple of years, I would almost be willing to give him a pass since he hasn't attempted to anything nefarious with the account. 

I know this is probably not a popular stance, but to those of you have tagged the account; would you be willing to revise your feedback to neutral if the new owner comes clean?  The only reason I make this suggestion is because there isn't any evidence the new owner intends to scam anyone.

@St4yInTh3D4rk, I would encourage you address this situation with honesty.  Obviously your silence has not helped you in any way.  Your account has been tagged, so you really don't have anything to lose at this point.

[yahoo62278]

It's quite interesting that St4yInTh3D4rk has not commented on the subject, the silence is deafening. 

I know this is probably not a popular stance, but to those of you have tagged the account; would you be willing to revise your feedback to neutral if the new owner comes clean?  The only reason I make this suggestion is because there isn't any evidence the new owner intends to scam anyone.

It's very odd that he has not responded. He's been online a few times since my pm.

As fas as my tag, I will remove the tag once he provides a proper response here and it does not involve him scamming to obtain the account. I have not been 1 that tags many account buyers/sellers unless the account bought/sold has a high trust rating. I feel like high trust rated accounts will be used more often for scamming intentions. I cannot speak for any other DT, they will do as they wish.

[St4yInTh3D4rk]

Sorry everyone,as the evidence says I am not the same person who had this account until 2016 and pulled out an exit scam from zonecoin project.

Since I got this account I never involved any shady activity like taking loans or buying or selling anything or any other thing a scammer will do from high ranked accounts.I am just here to contribute to other fellow forum members with my crypto knowledge.I didn't really participated on many signature campaigns other than bustadice since that I am giving my effort to help other people.

I don't know I can be given an excuse for accepting the real fact,let the community decide what will be the result.

[yahoo62278]

Revised my rating to a neutral as I don't feel the account has/will be used to scam.

Sorry everyone,as the evidence says I am not the same person who had this account until 2016 and pulled out an exit scam from zonecoin project.

Since I got this account I never involved any shady activity like taking loans or buying or selling anything or any other thing a scammer will do from high ranked accounts.I am just here to contribute to other fellow forum members with my crypto knowledge.I didn't really participated on many signature campaigns other than bustadice since that I am giving my effort to help other people.

I don't know I can be given an excuse for accepting the real fact,let the community decide what will be the result.

Quoting for reference

[St4yInTh3D4rk]

Revised my rating to a neutral as I don't feel the account has/will be used to scam.

Sorry everyone,as the evidence says I am not the same person who had this account until 2016 and pulled out an exit scam from zonecoin project.

Since I got this account I never involved any shady activity like taking loans or buying or selling anything or any other thing a scammer will do from high ranked accounts.I am just here to contribute to other fellow forum members with my crypto knowledge.I didn't really participated on many signature campaigns other than bustadice since that I am giving my effort to help other people.

I don't know I can be given an excuse for accepting the real fact,let the community decide what will be the result.

Quoting for reference

Thanks yahoo,

I hope other two people who left the negative will take this into consideration.