Electrum wallet address change?!

[sickfs2]

Hey guys

So let's say person A has an electrum bitcoin wallet adress "143f23d"(I just made it short since the actual address would be long). Is it possible for person B to send me bitcoin and have it be shown that the bitcoin was sent from the wallet address "143f23d"? I am asking this because I am wishing to verify that it really is person A that I am talking to by asking him/her to send me a small amount of btc from his "14f23d" address wallet (which I know for sure is person A's), but I am concerned that the sending btc wallet address, that I will see on my end, can easily be modified by the sender.

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[LoyceV]

"143f23d" is not a wallet address. Bitcoin addresses are much longer.
The proper way to prove ownership of a Bitcoin address is to sign a message instead of sending a small amount. But if you do receive a payment, you can verify the sending address at any block explorer.

[DaveF]

Assuming that the "143f23d" are just the fist few characters of a bitcoin address then yes.
Using any block explorer you can see where the coins came from. There is no way to fake that info.
Taking a look here at recent block.

https://www.blockchain.com/btc/block/0000000000000000000b0d6229e51a82de23c03f8420f967cf8a259b6ab00f60

You can see where every transaction came from and what address it went to.

-Dave

[sickfs2]

Yes I just put "143f23d" since it would be too long to post the whole wallet address. I see..I did not know about the signature nor that the address cannot be changed. Is this 100% sure though? I am having to do some upfront pay so I just am trying my ways to verify that it's the actual right person that I am trying to deal with.

[LoyceMobile]

I am having to do some upfront pay so I just am trying my ways to verify that it's the actual right person that I am trying to deal with.

None of this is going to help you if someone wants to scam you.
I wouldn't pay upfront to someone I don't trust.

[ranochigo]

Yes I just put "143f23d" since it would be too long to post the whole wallet address. I see..I did not know about the signature nor that the address cannot be changed. Is this 100% sure though? I am having to do some upfront pay so I just am trying my ways to verify that it's the actual right person that I am trying to deal with.

The way Bitcoin transaction works is that the addresses in the inputs cannot be "faked" or changed. To be more exact, the inputs doesn't contain addresses. The block explorer just parses the UTXO to display the address.

Anyhow, asking someone to send a small amount of coins to a specified address is not the best way to prove ownership of an address. Signing a message[1], is a free and easier method.

[1] https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=990345.0

[sickfs2]

goddamn that signature post is long..hella comprehensive but that much hella long..Thanks though for the link guys.

[khaled0111]

Is this 100% sure though? I am having to do some upfront pay so I just am trying my ways to verify that it's the actual right person that I am trying to deal with.

All transactions are being recorded on the blockchain which is a public ledger and those records can't be tampered with.
So yes, if your wallet or a blockchain explorer shows "143f23d" as an input for the received transaction then this is indeed the address used to send you the coins.

Receiving a signed message is not enough, you have to verify it to be sure it was signed by the addresse's private key.

[joniboini]

goddamn that signature post is long..hella comprehensive but that much hella long..Thanks though for the link guys.

There's no shortcut to keep your funds safe. And you don't really have to read the whole post. Just take a look at the basics and find which wallet you're gonna use (if you already have it). Believe me, it's not that hard, just spend 30 minutes or less to read and practice it.

[hosseinimr93]

It is recommended to use a new address every time you are supposed to receive some fund.
Since person B is the only person knows your address, you can be sure that the fund has been sent from person B.  

[Stalker22]

Yes I just put "143f23d" since it would be too long to post the whole wallet address. I see..I did not know about the signature nor that the address cannot be changed. Is this 100% sure though? I am having to do some upfront pay so I just am trying my ways to verify that it's the actual right person that I am trying to deal with.

Since you look like a novice in the crypto world, I suggest you never pay in advance to an unknown and/or untrustworthy person. Bad people use all sorts of methods of deception and it is difficult to recognize them if you do not have experience.
If it’s a larger amount (something you’re not willing to lose lightly) I suggest you try to agree on the use of an intermediary. There are many trusted members on this forum who offer escrow services. Think about it, because once you send your funds, there is no going back.

[bob123]

You seem to be extremely unsure about transactions and bitcoin. Do you care to share which service you want to use or who you try to pay with BTC ?

I am having to do some upfront pay so I just am trying my ways to verify that it's the actual right person that I am trying to deal with.

Verifying the identity has nothing to do with BTC.
Bitcoin is the payment system, just like a bank transfer is.

Verifying the identity has nothing to do with the payment itself. That's what signatures (i.e. PGP) are for.
You need to verify his identity the same way as you would with a bank transfer. Outside of the payment system.

[sickfs2]

So the situation is

I know that it is person A who has the wallet address "143f23d".

Because of this, I am trying to see if the person who claims to be person A can prove to me that he is indeed person A by having him send me a small amount of btc to my wallet so that I can identify that the small amount of btc sent to me has indeed been sent from "143f23d".

I'm still looking at the signature part..

[bob123]

I know that it is person A who has the wallet address "143f23d".

Because of this, I am trying to see if the person who claims to be person A can prove to me that he is indeed person A by having him send me a small amount of btc to my wallet so that I can identify that the small amount of btc sent to me has indeed been sent from "143f23d".

Ok, so the situation is the following:
1) You know (for sure) that address X belongs to person A. This has been verified through an authenticated channel.
2) You are communicating with a person which you did not authenticate yet. You want to find out whether it is person A or an impersonator by using his BTC address.

Correct?

If this is the case, just let him sign a message along the line "This is person A. Today is [date]. I am signing this message for [you] to prove [...]".
Afterwards you can verify the message using his public key.

By the way.. what kind of address are we talking about? What does it start with?  1..  3.. or bc1.. ?

[LoyceV]

I know that it is person A who has the wallet address "143f23d".

Because of this, I am trying to see if the person who claims to be person A can prove to me that he is indeed person A by having him send me a small amount of btc to my wallet so that I can identify that the small amount of btc sent to me has indeed been sent from "143f23d".

Again: this isn't going to prove anything. What person A should actually do, is give you an empty address to pay to, and not an address that has been used before.
Person A has no reason to make you pay to an address he doesn't own. If person A wants to scam you, he'll give you his own address. And if he's honest, he'll also give his own address.
Asking for a payment only shows you don't understand Bitcoin. Can you explain what you're trying to pay for? Maybe there are other options, such as using an escrow.

[bob123]

Again: this isn't going to prove anything. What person A should actually do, is give you an empty address to pay to, and not an address that has been used before.
Person A has no reason to make you pay to an address he doesn't own. If person A wants to scam you, he'll give you his own address. And if he's honest, he'll also give his own address.

I think that OP's problem is, that he doesn't know whether the person he is speaking to actually is person A.
But it seems like he knows for sure, that person A owns address X.

In this case, a signed message (or even a transaction) would proof that the person he is talking to, indeed is person A (assuming that person A did not get compromised).


But without clarification about the exact situation, that's all just speculation. No one here knows what OP really knows and what he really wants to do.

[sickfs2]

I know that it is person A who has the wallet address "143f23d".

Because of this, I am trying to see if the person who claims to be person A can prove to me that he is indeed person A by having him send me a small amount of btc to my wallet so that I can identify that the small amount of btc sent to me has indeed been sent from "143f23d".

Ok, so the situation is the following:
1) You know (for sure) that address X belongs to person A. This has been verified through an authenticated channel.
2) You are communicating with a person which you did not authenticate yet. You want to find out whether it is person A or an impersonator by using his BTC address.

Correct?

If this is the case, just let him sign a message along the line "This is person A. Today is [date]. I am signing this message for [you] to prove [...]".
Afterwards you can verify the message using his public key.

By the way.. what kind of address are we talking about? What does it start with?  1..  3.. or bc1.. ?

It starts with 1 and yes your 1) and 2) are correct. I'm needing this because I can't reach person A in any other way yet I have someone who says they are person A.

Just to make sure that I explained the situation clearly, this is the full scenario.
I have a hacker who has in the past has made his bitcoin address public. I have come across someone who claims to be that person and so I am wanting to verify that he's not an imposter but the actual hacker that I am wishing to speak to.

With this, then would it still be best to ask him sign a message to verify?

[ranochigo]

Just to make sure that I explained the situation clearly, this is the full scenario.
I have a hacker who has in the past has made his bitcoin address public. I have come across someone who claims to be that person and so I am wanting to verify that he's not an imposter but the actual hacker that I am wishing to speak to.

With this, then would it still be best to ask him sign a message to verify?

Yes. Asking someone to send a specified amount of Bitcoins to your account (while a good idea), does not necessarily proves that he is the correct person you're talking to. It could be someone paying Person A to send some money to your specified address.

A concrete and sure-fire way to validate identity is through signing a message. It doesn't require anyone sending any Bitcoins and you can have them validate their identity at the same time.

For example, you can ask them to sign a message saying:
"Today is 240820, I confirm that I am Person A and is currently speaking to sickfs2 over XX."

If it validates, you would definitely know that whoever owns the private key to the address knows that he's talking to you without any ambiguity.

** Of course, anyone with that private key can sign a message and send Bitcoins from that address.

[LoyceV]

I have a hacker who has in the past has made his bitcoin address public. I have come across someone who claims to be that person and so I am wanting to verify that he's not an imposter but the actual hacker that I am wishing to speak to.

With this, then would it still be best to ask him sign a message to verify?

If it was the hacker, he'd know to sign a message and he would have done it by now.

[bob123]

With this, then would it still be best to ask him sign a message to verify?

Yes, definitely.

Make sure to request a message which includes every necessary piece of information, as mentioned by ranochigo.
In fact, you can simply just use his format and hand it over (obviously replacing your nickname if you are using a different one and inserting the communication channel):

For example, you can ask them to sign a message saying:
"Today is 240820, I confirm that I am Person A and is currently speaking to sickfs2 over XX."

And keep this in mind:

** Of course, anyone with that private key can sign a message and send Bitcoins from that address.

If it was the hacker, he'd know to sign a message and he would have done it by now.

OP never said that that person A doesn't know how to.
Maybe OP simply didn't ask him yet, because he was thinking about how to verify his identity prior to asking him.