[WARNING] Whirlwind.money - withdrawals are not being processed ⚠️

[Lucius]

Yes
It really looks like exit scam.
Site is not accessible anymore: http://whirlwind.money/
Really sad news but I've called it earlier when I've sait it's just a matter of time: 

Issue is many services are shady. It's only a question of time until we see an exit scam again or fraud operator like ChipMixer.

It would be better if you don't write anything, than you appear completely ignorant about what happened with CM and what is happening specifically in this case. It is hard to even imagine that you think that CM carried out an exit scam, unless you think that some three letter agencies helped them in this by seizing their domains and servers

[1714314146]

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[LoyceV]

I'm really open to hearing your thoughts on what my next move should be. What would you do if you were in my shoes? Your opinions are much appreciated!

Is it too late to try this?

My suggestion: Everyone who have fund there in the notes, submit withdrawal [full amount], leave nothing. You will get the Letter of Guarantee. Verify the message. The letter will have withdrawal address and anyone can easily verify that the funds were not received. Do not use this address in the future just in case someone get a chance to tell that you received the funds.

If you can prove your money disappeared, you can create a type 3 Flag. And file a claim: minerjones still has $40k in escrow. I'm curious to see what conditions will have to be fullfilled.

Honestly, I didn't like the whole idea of staking on their platform from the beginning.

That makes two of us:

If the multi-sig balance is 10BTC and you have a Note with a 1BTC balance you will automatically receive 10% of 0.0333BTC every day you keep your Note funded, which is 0.0033BTC a day.

On second thought: this sounds a lot like the many "services" in the past that paid interest on Bitcoin deposits. Usually, that didn't end well.
Are you sure you want to be associated with those?

One very important concern in the business model was the way they always encouraged people to keep the coins in their platform. All they provided was a private note with some numbers and text string, you can not use publicly to verify balance. Does it sound like a Ponzi scheme?

It could be the idea was good, but the lack of users killed it. They wanted 10000 deposits for their "anonymity mining", and reached only 5% of that.

The problem is that it is difficult to prove how much someone had/tried to withdraw because there is no irrefutable evidence for that.

And there's this:

I just (only now) realize that makes the escrow partially useless: if there would be an exit scam, it would be trivially easy to fake losses to claim back the escrow as a victim.

[decodx]

I'm really open to hearing your thoughts on what my next move should be. What would you do if you were in my shoes? Your opinions are much appreciated!

Is it too late to try this?

My suggestion: Everyone who have fund there in the notes, submit withdrawal [full amount], leave nothing. You will get the Letter of Guarantee. Verify the message. The letter will have withdrawal address and anyone can easily verify that the funds were not received. Do not use this address in the future just in case someone get a chance to tell that you received the funds.

If you can prove your money disappeared, you can create a type 3 Flag. And file a claim: minerjones still has $40k in escrow. I'm curious to see what conditions will have to be fullfilled.

Alright, I think I've waited long enough. It's been more than 56 hours since I put in the withdrawal request and over 48 hours since I emailed their support. No response yet. I'm going to take action and initiate a Type 3 flag on the whirlwindmoney account.


Here's all the evidence I've compiled:

Whirlwind note public address: wwLckQCopiVAVuENvCP2M8anGiGJRyitwFK

Deposit LoG:

Code:

<SIGNED MESSAGE>We have generated the deposit address bc1q37jt7syamkvflp5mdkuqwvfgz8j8s59f7n5emh at Mon Aug 14 2023 07:16:50 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) where the minimum deposit is 0.001. You can deposit from Mon Aug 14 2023 07:16:50 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) until Tue Aug 15 2023 07:16:50 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time). Our fee is 0% and 0 BTC per withdraw address. Your Public Address is wwLckQCopiVAVuENvCP2M8anGiGJRyitwFK and you will use the private key (note) of this address which you must have saved to sign withdraw messages in the future. This message was signed using the letter signing address which can be found on our website or at /verification/letter_signing_address on the system's API.</SIGNED MESSAGE>

<SIGNING ADDRESS>1JmCabMgyVZ8zmgaV5JGH7BXe48buVaUUd</SIGNING ADDRESS>

<SIGNATURE>ILeN2rlQFW1GK4AQmGUhINj/ZbflbOFLrB35h7beRcZ7C2jUXjaKvqpMcIFRWMrxRLYm1JLfnzOK5eP8dUbhZFE=</SIGNATURE>

Transaction for my deposit: https://mempool.space/tx/c61edd3d7b828ec0f0fe23432597c42139564ec72534dc09e551f735cb434033

Withdrawal Log:

Code:

<SIGNED MESSAGE>You used credit from your public Public Address wwLckQCopiVAVuENvCP2M8anGiGJRyitwFK on Mon Aug 14 2023 12:15:34 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time). The withdraw address(es) are the following: 1 - bc1qlgawn2pngyf89cpmy24qex7jlj548u6fwm6uzc which will receive 0.001 BTC 0 hours in the future. ; 2 - bc1qr9rrl034k6undwf09fh377grw7vtka5wpy4w5f which will receive 0.001 BTC 0 hours in the future. ; 3 - bc1q3unhr4da52lg8ddg86gmmleazgkws2zpl6w4zs which will receive 0.001 BTC 0 hours in the future. ; 4 - bc1qc3ssucykfsqfzaggsqeg5u7jkecp98re0wh08w which will receive 0.001 BTC 0 hours in the future. ; This message was signed using the letter signing address which can be found on our website or at /verification/letter_signing_address on the system's API.</SIGNED MESSAGE>

<SIGNING ADDRESS>1JmCabMgyVZ8zmgaV5JGH7BXe48buVaUUd</SIGNING ADDRESS>

<SIGNATURE>H4hJ6/jiU6BKyzqzIdPX4aItpMLJYL/kS+MjumOqThbSL8Z3nCvZWjOcjPS09fy3fEiG6GWPWNGsAC8/CVAuRFw=</SIGNATURE>

Destination address balances (you can check on the blockchain explorer that there were no incoming transactions):
1 -
2 -
3 -
4 -


@minerjones, please let me know if there is anything else I should provide to claim the funds from escrow.


[edit] Type 3 Flag: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=trust;flag=3197

[Billo_]

I have read, Sir
It's still not work today and I will just wait for more official announcement.

You haven't read anything, because if you had, you would know that the unavailability of the Whirlwind website is not the main problem.

You are wrong, Sir
I have read it and I have understand it and whirlwind is very problem prone. Many people have yet to receive coins, many can't reach website and many are waiting for official announcement from dev.

Read again, Sir.

I don't need to read again, because I've already read, Sir

We will receive coins back if whirlwind money has given a guarantee on it?
How will it work, Sir?

The problem with the clearnet whirlwind page has been going on for over a month now, and considering your insistence on it, I'm pretty sure you've never used Whirlwind, at least not in the last month.

You are wrong again, Sir
Website was up in June and people could make a deposit.

Why do you act as a victim in this case?

Because we deserve to access our coin rightfully, Sir

Why do you say "We"?

Because many people are are customer, Sir.

Yes
It really looks like exit scam.
Site is not accessible anymore: http://whirlwind.money/
Really sad news but I've called it earlier when I've sait it's just a matter of time: 

Issue is many services are shady. It's only a question of time until we see an exit scam again or fraud operator like ChipMixer.

It would be better if you don't write anything,

It's not your business what I write here, Sir.
Everyone can write post here.

than you appear completely ignorant about what happened with CM and what is happening specifically in this case. It is hard to even imagine that you think that CM carried out an exit scam, unless you think that some three letter agencies helped them in this by seizing their domains and servers

CM clearly breaking internal promise to customer, where CM claimed to delete private data after 7 day.
But we all know, data was not deleted by CM and many private key chips were swept at CM downfall way after 7 days were over after people have been customer at CM.
CM clearly violated promise and has not deleted private key data. 
And we still owe many questions from CM, no CM representative showed up, even not from different account. Can be proven easily by signing a CM Bitcoin public key.
Quit defending CM just because it paid you handsome BTC.

Now, whirlwind really needs to solve issue, Website is still not accessible: http://whirlwind.money/

[BitcoinGirl.Club]

[edit] Type 3 Flag: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=trust;flag=3197

You should update the first post with the link of this flag.
Supported.

Few words for the f*ck sake

Who is going to believe that Whirlwind is not aware of what is happening? I doubt they are not. I don't think there are any excuse left for them and this must assure that it was a rug pull eventually. Planned well.

I see the trick was to start with an aggressive approach. Create a situation where others will assume they have wealth to invest in the business and they have better idea and knowledge about privacy.  Ultimate Bitcoin Privacy - Discussion was where all it started to impress some forum members.

Then with this highly paying signature campaign with huge weekly budget, everyone was thinking finally a replacement for Chipmixer signature campaign. They were able to manipulate the entire forum [except few].

Whoever this person was, he knew about the forum very well. He must know a lot of us and how we behave. So he knew where were the holes.

[1.] No business ever wanted to escrow huge money. They saw in some situations few members suggested proof of bankroll [for gambling business though], but they found it useful for them. They sent $40k DAI to minerjones. It made everyone impressed! [The review campaign was a poorly execution though in terms of payment, it was showing you are getting paid huge but at the end you don't even get 1/5th of your expectation. Everyone was thinking they are going to get $100 but I saw many who has done very good job even got $15 to $30, they were unhappy, what a shame. Only I and one other guy got $100 if I am correct. Why I got $100, I know very well, may be some of you too]

[2.] A signature campaign with an unbelievable weekly budget [for a business which just started] to show that they are wealthy enough to market this product.

They figured that with small marketing budget, without showing any aggressiveness, starting just like any other business will not get the business noticed or at-least it will take longer time. There are already some established mixers, Chipmixer left an empty place just few weeks ago so to create a dominance very quickly, the only way was to create a hype around the forum. Show off that they have huge budget. They did well. Everyone thought this is the next Chipmixer who is going to stay in the business for the years to come and going to pay them maximum per week for wearing the signature.

Then this anonymity mining idea. Encourage customers to give them the coins and in return a healthy APR. Everyone started to forget that a business which is not making money, not having cash flow but spending for the last 5 months can not continue like this. It has to stop at some point.

Now it's difficult to assume if this anonymity idea was to collect the coins and rug pull at some point or it was genuine. Even if it was genuine then after continuing it for few months when they only had 500 or some transactions out of 10000 they targeted, they knew it's not going to work. Continuing the business and to reach the target is going to cost them a lot more money than that they already spent. From $6k to $10k weekly marketing budget if they go down to $1k weekly budget then it will lose all credibility of the showing off too.

Result was to let it continue as it is because they were not paying anyone any bitcoin but using the NOTES. Even extending it for one day may get them a good incoming that can boost the multisig wallet a little bit.

My concision:  
[1.] They had plan from the beginning to scam at some point. They knew which direction to take for that. Aggressive marketing, showing off wealth was just part of the plan. [2.] If they had genuine interest to establish the business then this aggressive marketing budget destroyed everything. It's now clear that they were not as rich as they were showing off. They had limited budget for marketing. When you have a limit then you need to spend in that limit or at some point you are empty.

But either way, it's a scam now. The intention is much clear.

I don't think eventually they lost anything. There are enough btc which is higher than the amount they invested[expense]. It's such pathetic that they did not even came to tell some words like we are not able to continue because the business is not in profit or such things. Cowards!

I suggest minerjones to come forward and compensate as much as he can using this $40k DAI. This is not whirlwind's money anymore, it's for the people who lost their hard earned money in this scam. This signature campaigners also need to support the flag and leave negative feedback as they are the main victim, if you are hoping for any miracle, then I am sorry, I do not see any, anymore now.

Sorry for the losses you all had. At least this should be a lesson for everyone. When a brand new business is coming and offering almost 1.5x higher than the ecosystem, then at least think before you give a support to them.

Last few months everywhere it was whirlwind. No one even heard the guy [I can not find his username] who was seeking help that he lost his money and whirlwind didn't even bothered to reply his email.

[LoyceV]

Withdrawal Log:

Code:

<SIGNED MESSAGE>You used credit from your public Public Address wwLckQCopiVAVuENvCP2M8anGiGJRyitwFK on Mon Aug 14 2023 12:15:34 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time). The withdraw address(es) are the following: 1 - bc1qlgawn2pngyf89cpmy24qex7jlj548u6fwm6uzc which will receive 0.001 BTC 0 hours in the future. ; 2 - bc1qr9rrl034k6undwf09fh377grw7vtka5wpy4w5f which will receive 0.001 BTC 0 hours in the future. ; 3 - bc1q3unhr4da52lg8ddg86gmmleazgkws2zpl6w4zs which will receive 0.001 BTC 0 hours in the future. ; 4 - bc1qc3ssucykfsqfzaggsqeg5u7jkecp98re0wh08w which will receive 0.001 BTC 0 hours in the future. ; This message was signed using the letter signing address which can be found on our website or at /verification/letter_signing_address on the system's API.</SIGNED MESSAGE>

<SIGNING ADDRESS>1JmCabMgyVZ8zmgaV5JGH7BXe48buVaUUd</SIGNING ADDRESS>

<SIGNATURE>H4hJ6/jiU6BKyzqzIdPX4aItpMLJYL/kS+MjumOqThbSL8Z3nCvZWjOcjPS09fy3fEiG6GWPWNGsAC8/CVAuRFw=</SIGNATURE>

This is all you need to prove you were scammed.
I verified the signed message, and confirm the address belongs to the site:

Signing Address: 1JmCabMgyVZ8zmgaV5JGH7BXe48buVaUUd

Scam confirmed!

My guess: they abandoned the project due to the lack of users, but kept it open for deposits. It's an exit scam by the book.

Result was to let it continue as it is because they were not paying anyone any bitcoin but using the NOTES.

Now that you mention it: Do signature campaigns that pay in "IOUs" even belong on the Services board? Or should they be moved to the Altcoin board?

[1.] They had plan from the beginning to scam at some point.

I think they were hoping to make big profits, and if something is profitable, there's no need to scam. We've seen it with casinos too: fake it, then either make it, or break it and walk away.

[NotATether]

Result was to let it continue as it is because they were not paying anyone any bitcoin but using the NOTES.

Now that you mention it: Do signature campaigns that pay in "IOUs" even belong on the Services board? Or should they be moved to the Altcoin board?

They will likely stay in the Services board as long as its denominated in Bitcoin, just like the casino sig campaigns that pay the BTC in your gambling account.

I don't know about you, but I think the whole idea of paying users in notes was kind of risky, in case they didn't work, and I guess now we see why; because they depend on the operator's presence to redeem.

[LoyceV]

I don't know about you, but I think the whole idea of paying users in notes was kind of risky, in case they didn't work, and I guess now we see why; because they depend on the operator's presence to redeem.

After the discussion about privacy for campaign participants, it made sense. There's a risk involved, but that's the same risk they advertised for others in their signature. It forced the campaign participants to "put their money where their mouth is".

[Poker Player]

Now that you mention it: Do signature campaigns that pay in "IOUs" even belong on the Services board? Or should they be moved to the Altcoin board?

They will likely stay in the Services board as long as its denominated in Bitcoin, just like the casino sig campaigns that pay the BTC in your gambling account.

I believe that what LoyceV raises is legitimate. If they should move to the Altcoin board, and it seems to me that they should if we respect the philosophy of this forum. Both mixers that pay you in notes or similar, and casinos that pay you in the casino account, which is the first thing I thought of as well.

Not your keys not your coins.

[JollyGood]

Looking back now it was risky. Another aspect of Notes was that you could transfer one balance to another note in entirety but you could not withdraw funds in entirety. For example, after withdrawing the previous balance (which was never paid), I was still left with around $8 which was too small for it to be processed. Those small amounts from signature campaign participants would have added up to be a worthwhile amount eventually.

I don't know about you, but I think the whole idea of paying users in notes was kind of risky, in case they didn't work, and I guess now we see why; because they depend on the operator's presence to redeem.

[BitcoinGirl.Club]

Result was to let it continue as it is because they were not paying anyone any bitcoin but using the NOTES.

Now that you mention it: Do signature campaigns that pay in "IOUs" even belong on the Services board? Or should they be moved to the Altcoin board?

[1.] They had plan from the beginning to scam at some point.

I think they were hoping to make big profits, and if something is profitable, there's no need to scam. We've seen it with casinos too: fake it, then either make it, or break it and walk away.

You have a point and interestingly no one thought about it until now LOL
But it's now pointless. The signature campaign is dead until we have a miracle and it become active again. In that case reporting the thread and letting it mods to decide is the best.

[fillippone]

I don't know about you, but I think the whole idea of paying users in notes was kind of risky, in case they didn't work, and I guess now we see why; because they depend on the operator's presence to redeem.

After the discussion about privacy for campaign participants, it made sense. There's a risk involved, but that's the same risk they advertised for others in their signature. It forced the campaign participants to "put their money where their mouth is".

I participated in a few campaign where the payout was paid in the advertised service. I never had a problem with that and I was used to keep the stash on that for this exact reason. Of course I had a small fortune in WW, but it is another lesson learned.

[notblox1]

I will support flag against them, but I still have small hope they will return coins, and they still have time to fix damages they made.

Now that you mention it: Do signature campaigns that pay in "IOUs" even belong on the Services board? Or should they be moved to the Altcoin board?

I think campaign manager should be responsible for supporting this.
I dont know who came up with that stupid idea to pay campaign participants with worthless IOU notes, but this only helped whirlwind exit scam easier.
Is there any way for members to get paid for their loses if they can prove they have coins stuck in whirlwind?

I participated in a few campaign where the payout was paid in the advertised service. I never had a problem with that and I was used to keep the stash on that for this exact reason. Of course I had a small fortune in WW, but it is another lesson learned.

Did you send your own coins or it was from payments in signature campaign?
I hope you can get refunded for your loses.

[fillippone]

I will support flag against them, but I still have small hope they will return coins, and they still have time to fix damages they made.

Now that you mention it: Do signature campaigns that pay in "IOUs" even belong on the Services board? Or should they be moved to the Altcoin board?

I think campaign manager should be responsible for supporting this.
I dont know who came up with that stupid idea to pay campaign participants with worthless IOU notes, but this only helped whirlwind exit scam easier.
Is there any way for members to get paid for their loses if they can prove they have coins stuck in whirlwind?

I participated in a few campaign where the payout was paid in the advertised service. I never had a problem with that and I was used to keep the stash on that for this exact reason. Of course I had a small fortune in WW, but it is another lesson learned.

Did you send your own coins or it was from payments in signature campaign?
I hope you can get refunded for your loses.

I tested the service indipendently and it worked. I was holding my campaign rewards on the website, and just when I ended the campaign all the drama started. Horrible timing.

[holydarkness]

[...]
Is there any way for members to get paid for their loses if they can prove they have coins stuck in whirlwind?
[...]

There's an ongoing discussion on their ANN about considering using funds escrowed by MJ to compensate what's lost by this... incident, but I think [if the idea is approved] the priority should be compensate those who deposited on whirlwind first, and later on to the campaign participants

[notblox1]

There's an ongoing discussion on their ANN about considering using funds escrowed by MJ to compensate what's lost by this... incident, but I think [if the idea is approved] the priority should be compensate those who deposited on whirlwind first, and later on to the campaign participants

No, I dont think so.
First people who need to get refunded is campaign participants because they received payments from manager in IOU notes against their will.
I am sure most of them would choose to get paid directly in Bitcoin and later deposit to earn more rewards if they want.
People who sent their own money for mixing did it on their own risk, but everyone needs to get refunded if possible.

I tested the service indipendently and it worked. I was holding my campaign rewards on the website, and just when I ended the campaign all the drama started. Horrible timing.

After what happened to whirlwind and chipmixer I will think very good before advertising any mixer in my signature.

[Rikafip]

I was holding my campaign rewards on the website, and just when I ended the campaign all the drama started. Horrible timing.

You didn't withdraw any of your ww signature campaign earnings? Damn, and I thought me holding 5 weeks of signature campaign money (+last week's earning that no one can withdraw) was a bad move...

I am sure most of them would choose to get paid directly in Bitcoin and later deposit to earn more rewards if they want.

Of course we would choose getting the money directly into our own wallets instead this note system.

[fillippone]

I was holding my campaign rewards on the website, and just when I ended the campaign all the drama started. Horrible timing.

You didn't withdraw any of your ww signature campaign earnings? Damn, and I thought me holding 5 weeks of signature campaign money (+last week's earning that no one can withdraw) was a bad move...

I did once, but I had some good money there. As I said I tested the system and it worked flawlessy.

Also, I had faith in the campaign manager.

This is something that I should be more careful about in the future: as I cannot claim Hhampuz responsible for anything, also I cannot think WW we're to be trusted because it has a campaign managed by Hhampuz.

[notblox1]

You didn't withdraw any of your ww signature campaign earnings? Damn, and I thought me holding 5 weeks of signature campaign money (+last week's earning that no one can withdraw) was a bad move...

6 weeks is not huge amount of money for most people but I bet it still hurts to get screwed like this.
This is worse than having your money stuck in exchange or gambling website.

Of course we would choose getting the money directly into our own wallets instead this note system.

When was this IOU notes change introduced and why nobody complained to campaign manager?

Also, I had faith in the campaign manager.

This is something that I should be more careful about in the future: as I cannot claim Hhampuz responsible for anything, also I cannot think WW we're to be trusted because it has a campaign managed by Hhampuz.

This is the main problem and main reason why people trusted this service more.
When my money was confiscated from one gambling website, that same manager defended them and refused to stay on my side, and I have nothing personal against him.
Lesson learned for all of us.

[Rikafip]

I did once, but I had some good money there.

Well, at least you didn't lose everything as I initially understood from your post.


@Hhampuz when you talked to them the other day, did you explain that unless they come and sort these issues out asap they will be seen as a scam as that's exactly what is happening now and that is not something that is easy to recover from considering their line of business. If you indeed explained them consequences and they decided to ignore it...

When was this IOU notes change introduced and why nobody complained to campaign manager?

I can't remember when exactly, but I personally didn't complain because those were the terms of the campaign so if you don't like it, what you can do is to leave the campaign (I doubt that there would be exceptions for those who complained) and on top of that I've been in a campaign before where I wasn't paid directly to my wallet (Bustadice) and never had any issues. Lesson learned I guess.