[ETH] I was scammed on Youtube. What to do?

[chriss_coin]

Guys i want to share my scam story - where i was scammed and lost almost 7 ETHs - with you for 2 purposes. One is to warn others not to fall into there youtube giveaway scams and the second reason is if there is any way to stop these scammers and burn the lost ETHs (or even if its possible to get my ETHs back?).

The situation was this:
On 27th of December 2019 i was opening my Browser and Youtube. And YT recommend me a current ongoing live video about Ethereum on their main page. It was titled something with Ethereum giveaway whatever...

The channel was named "Ethereum" and showed the original logo, so it seemed its the official channel. It had some videos from the past also listed so it looked legit.
So that live video i was watching showed a summit in nice quality, where we could see Vitalik Buterin on a summit and it was portrait as if it was a live event. I was listening a few moments to it and then i saw in the description something about a holiday givewaway by Ethereum Foundation to further accelerate the use of their coins in the crypto ecosystem.
They were offering like random increase to deposited ETHs. So for instance if one was to transfer 3 ETHs, you could get IIRC up to 9 ETHs back.
It was staggered and the more you deposit to their address, the more you could get. The max ETHs they would send out was like a 1000 or so? And they said it was coming back from the same adress you deposit it to.

At first it sounded fishy, but new to the crypto ecosystem i heard about real giveaways in the past, in form of airdrops or bunnyhunts and so forth. So it wasnt that fishy and sounded legit to me a bit at least.
My thoughts were like: Ok Ethereum was above 1000 dollars in 2017 and now they are down to 130 some because of the burst bubble and some of the ICOs on their platform going to zero, so they really want their coins to be used more. Kind of a PR action.
The live chat was also filled with lots and lots of postive messages about people receiving like 30 ETHs or some that supposedly deposited way more than 3 ETHs got back up to 100ETHs. There was one official support employee in the chat who moderated it and provided "support".
Thinking about that today, i was for a moment a bit sceptical reading that many of the positive messages were actually coming from russian kyrillic YT users names.

The transfer:
Well so i transfered the first 3 ETHs, which was actually only 2.99 ETHs because of the fees and in the live chat they told me i had to transfer more because their random bot in the background is not triggering below 3 ETHs and the support staff guy assured me that it will be added up, once more than the minimum of 3 ETHs are received in their wallet.
So i did and transfered another 0.49 ETHs and i was so overly impressed that i thought well ok i'll send them all that i have and made directly after it another transfer with my remaining 3.29ETHs. These were all the EThs i ever had.
I waited and waited and also others were writing in the chat about why i takes so long... So is started the blockchain explorer and saw that they only had like 20 ETHs in the adress... This was the minute when all the alarm bells rang. I immediately asked this in the chat why there is only like 20 ETHs and so on. I was even posting my Transaction hashes and this was the point when the only thing they were posting was like "Im sorry we are currently busy and will get back to you in a few moments".
Suddenly the chat closed and the live video was over. Thats it.
 
The reason i waited so long is because im actually a rather good herated person. I know the eastern europe and russing wages and the way they live over there... So i thought maybe its a young random guy now having 20-30ETHs and be able to make a living for him and his family you know...I was also terrible sick and was unemployed for 5 years in the past so i know how tough life can be. It was my hard earned cash from my job and actually thoese ETHs were the first crypto coins i bought in my life.
But Using the blockchainexplorer and seeing now what ammount they collected i think that this is a professionally organized scam group behind it and we should do something about it. Who is liable in such a case?

Here is all the Data:
Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpSnN_WtZ-602vWKKhS48mg
Youtube Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65CCPhsWMww
Scammers receiving address: https://etherscan.io/address/0xc9746c60b47aebbf13ba8e45144e4c2ddb3f0cba
Scammer transferred it later to here (currently 332 ETHs on it!): https://etherscan.io/address/0xb70f65c1faa2f1160d006b585ebf564781e8dae6
Scammers also transferred it later here (currently 498 ETHs on it!): https://etherscan.io/address/0x9838eb7bdbaedfb5a28d67be763eadd61cb3e428

Here are my Transfers:

DateCoin                         Amount TransactionFee   Address                                                                                        TXID                                                                Status

2019-12-27 12:48:30 ETH   3.29   0   0xc9746C60B47AEbBf13Ba8E45144e4c2Ddb3F0CBA   0xaa31f7c69a6a079096b14aebf50f769dbc95427fe00307b62ed16c838997f8c6           Completed

2019-12-27 12:41:15 ETH   0.49   0   0xc9746C60B47AEbBf13Ba8E45144e4c2Ddb3F0CBA   0xf3408936a49660ca9a0ac5b57fc20025a557ea6d05caea4a9cf4702f6e0e4d34           Completed

2019-12-27 12:32:19 ETH   2.99   0   0xc9746C60B47AEbBf13Ba8E45144e4c2Ddb3F0CBA   0xfb5c2be9bfd55253b9066f3ae4cd8122f6b2b162e63672874438f55da2e0b1ae           Completed

Here is my Binance screenshot about my transfers: imgur.com/a/3IqBNVb

Finally if you reading this and you are maybe a employe from Ethereum, or if you have a lot ETHs and you feels you may want to contribute to recover my loss, i have my ETH adress available in any case.:
0xc1C5985042425aEfB8F018683a0C23859AD11e73

Thanks alot people. I really appreciate all your input. Sorry for my english, its not my native language.

[thesmallgod]

You and the rest of your colleagues have a long way to go in learning no to be gullible and to always educate yourself before falling for a cheap scam like this. I do not think anybody in his right sense will send you any token as compensation for the ETH you have lost. Thank God the ETH address of the scammer has been flagged. It is high time people do research before making a transaction with anyone. Even here on Bitcointalk, Participating in any form of giveaway will result in a temporary suspension of your account because most of them are always end-up terribly. My advice to you is to desist from any form of a giveaway. cryptos are earned through hard work and not sit down, send money and hoping to get double in return. Even Father Christmas do not give gift freely all the time

[Febo]

[ETH] I was scammed on Youtube. What to do?

If you got cheated it is normal that you go to your local police office and report the scam. Unless someone report them, then police cant take any actions against scammers.

[travwill]

Your naivety is amazing. Such manipulations have existed on the market for many years. You sent three ETH and received the answer that you sent less than the required amount; didn’t it bother you?
Do you really think that someone will just give the broadcast. Think for yourself why people ask you to send them three ETH to give you back three times as much.

After all, they can immediately send you six ETH and you will not have to send them anything. Unfortunately, it is because of people like you that scammers continue to create such traps.
Welcome to the crypto world.

I am sorry that this happened to you, but in the crypto world such errors are not forgiven. Scamers cannot receive your funds without your help.

[seoincorporation]

The video is already down and the ETH addy is tagged as scam. Sorry about your loss, it wasn't a small amount at all.

And now what to do?

1.-Call the local police to report the scam.
2.-Try to trace the schemes.
3.-Alert the community about the scam, that way more people will be able to avoid it.

[leowonderful]

One of the most important things you should realize at this point in time is there is an extremely low chance that you will ever see those stolen coins again. Even though this might've been done by a professional sort of group, it's still very difficult for even the police and other experts to precisely trace down the people behind this scam, and there's an even greater chance that this won't really be investigated deeply and the people behind the scam might never face any consequences for scamming you and other people.

Even despite this, as long as you've learned from this and you become more vigilant about similar schemes in the future, it's still a win. Some lessons will cost you money, and this is one of them.

[Kupid002]

That was greed , are you all noob for this kind of investment?
If they can give 30 eth for capital of 3ETH do you ever think they will need investors to invest in them?
And that big amount of return you should have already an  that idea or atleast think twice before investing ,there's no way they can give that return shortly if they do they will bankrupt .what ever ,legit company cant give that return for a short period of time.

[bering]

Lack of education i think this is the cause why people got scammed from this way and those who know crypto i think already know this that there is no free money in crypto world so you have to works hard to get money and the way how to get money also pretty non sense for me because so easy and previously i had been heard about this that there was a suspicious program which if people send 1 Eth to the particular address then they will doubled it however unfortunately you never get your money back but at least you can report that channel to youtube and warn people about this

[passwordnow]

It is a very known scam lately and they have migrated on YouTube, showing videos to make it look legit. But with the scheme of sending them ETH for what? the giveaway? you should have already noticed it that it's a known scam that started on twitter and then just made it alive again through YouTube. Sorry about your loss and thank you for informing the community to make this issue alive again because there are still channels and videos that are active.

[Tipstar]

Go with the prima facie that every giveaway, airdrops and free money are a scam attempt.
In this case you have lost it and would never get that back. Anything you are taking from here is a lesson. And you are not the only one, hundreds of people are falling for these scams everyday. Some even repeat that or are completely frustrated with the way crypto works. Blame yourself and move on.

[elisabetheva]

Go with the prima facie that every giveaway, airdrops and free money are a scam attempt.
In this case you have lost it and would never get that back. Anything you are taking from here is a lesson. And you are not the only one, hundreds of people are falling for these scams everyday. Some even repeat that or are completely frustrated with the way crypto works. Blame yourself and move on.

should read more and see the posts that have been widely available in btt, so things like this are not always repeated. What is surprising is that the lure given always makes people forget themselves that behind that there is a desire to profit from those who are not aware. true your words are not a few who repeat mistakes because ambition receives instant and quick profits.

[shinratensei_]

It is a very known scam lately and they have migrated on YouTube, showing videos to make it look legit. But with the scheme of sending them ETH for what? the giveaway? you should have already noticed it that it's a known scam that started on twitter and then just made it alive again through YouTube. Sorry about your loss and thank you for informing the community to make this issue alive again because there are still channels and videos that are active.

Those scammers are creating fake videos that show if they were sending the giveaway to their address to make it looks legit for everyone. Based on the story and it's much more familiar as a ponzi when you are sending your money and you can double your money instantly and OP gets scammed caused by this scammer was stealing the official logo of ethereum to make it legit.
The problem was if OP lacks knowledge about that. There will be no give away even vitalik has already mentioned in on his official twitter account. Any giveaways are scam.
There was no way to recover his loss and what he must to do to learn even more about that.

[fortunecrypto]

The account has been terminated this is what showing when I access the channel

This account has been terminated due to multiple or severe violations of YouTube's policy against spam, deceptive practices, and misleading content or other Terms of Service violations.

There's a possibility that it will launch a new channel again with the same format because many people are so greedy not to as first the community and wants to always become the first one, they have become a part of the people that have been scammed.

[Kupid002]

The account has been terminated this is what showing when I access the channel

This account has been terminated due to multiple or severe violations of YouTube's policy against spam, deceptive practices, and misleading content or other Terms of Service violations.

There's a possibility that it will launch a new channel again with the same format because many people are so greedy not to as first the community and wants to always become the first one, they have become a part of the people that have been scammed.

Agree and they can easily make a new gmail and make a new channel to have new another victim. What OP says is just a warning for new people who can easily be fool by thier own greed to have money easily.
 Its easy to avoid this situation just dont be greedy to earn money and you can easily notice what is scam or what is not. All those promises a high return is all scam or going to be scam.
Dont ever believe with screenshot proof of income they can easily make one if needed.

[Coyster]

There's a possibility that it will launch a new channel again with the same format because many people are so greedy not to as first the community and wants to always become the first one, they have become a part of the people that have been scammed.

Yes they will, it's clear they always get one or two gullible people to fall for their schemes, at least before the video is put down or the post reported and deleted, depends on which method they chose to operate with. People just get too excited and fascinating about giveaways this days, and the scammers know this and they seem to be operating more with this method of late now. Maybe when people stop letting their avarice get the better of them, then they will be able to take a deep breath and think before sending 1 eth to get 10 more eths, and imo no user on this forum should fall for this anymore, the awareness on them due to threads like this should be an "eye opener"

[Baby Dragon]

The account has been terminated this is what showing when I access the channel

This account has been terminated due to multiple or severe violations of YouTube's policy against spam, deceptive practices, and misleading content or other Terms of Service violations.

There's a possibility that it will launch a new channel again with the same format because many people are so greedy not to as first the community and wants to always become the first one, they have become a part of the people that have been scammed.

Agree and they can easily make a new gmail and make a new channel to have new another victim. What OP says is just a warning for new people who can easily be fool by thier own greed to have money easily.
 Its easy to avoid this situation just dont be greedy to earn money and you can easily notice what is scam or what is not. All those promises a high return is all scam or going to be scam.
Dont ever believe with screenshot proof of income they can easily make one if needed.

It's one of the specific issue with people nowadays, they never learn until they are on a similar situation. They don't think before making a certain action and that is the reason why they end up losing their funds instead of acquiring. We should be aware that it's one of the various way of fraudsters to deceive and get the advantages they needed from us. For that reason, we should never let ourselves get tricked by their offer particularly when money is a requested since we don't have an idea about individuals perspective with regards to money. Do not let your greediness fool you on settling on the correct choice, it's sad to see that you have been exploited by it however I hope that it makes you understand your mistakes. Let that experiences guide you to abstain from doing the same mistake. It's indeed better to report it on the authorities, they will surely find a way to caught those fraudsters and make them suffer the consequences of their actions.

[Kemarit]

First off, considering your ETH gone, you can't recover it and maybe those scammers are laughing at you because he had fooled you. Let this be an expensive lessons to learn, sadly.

Second, you have to understand that there's no such thing as free Bitcoin or Ethereum, no one will give you that even offline (fiat).

Third, you can check this board: Scam Accusations and Beginners & Help. There are members here who dedicated their time and money exposing these scammers before they can victimized more newbies like you.

[btcltcdigger]

These types of videos have been happening more and more lately, and not only for ETH, but for BTC, BNB, XRP, etc...

And always with the same premise, "INSERT_COIN_NAME giveaway" on a INSERT_COIN_NAME channel which has 50+k subscribers, yet only 1 video on it, the one currently playing.

They post links to these in my TG group almost weekly, so i go there, and report the video for terrorism and child pornography (hoping these 2 flags would make the YT staff check them with priority).

In a nutshell, no one gives anything for free, especially not in the amounts that people get greedy over. Yes, a faucet here or there will give you anywhere from 0.001 - 0.01 cent worth of coin daily, but that's about it

[btc_angela]

You can't do anything about it by now, even reporting this to your local police.

Charge this as an experience, there are thousands or even million victims like you in the cryptosphere everyday. So next time be attentive and don't be greedy. Used your common sense, if its too good to be true if it's too good to be true then it probably is.

Here is another example: https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/ejjrp9/i_stupidly_lost_3000_in_a_crypto_currency_scam/

[danherbias07]

Did you report this first in youtube or you just made up a story for some donations?
You know begging is illegal out here.
It is your fault. Why bother other people to give you something just because you made a foolish decision?
That is, if it is really true.
You know, too good to be true things like this are never to be put attention to.

You want it back then report it to someone else.
Or maybe trace the one who made the live video by getting help from the YT management.
Not here.