Trying to trace someone

[clarcombe]

Hello,

A while back, I invested some funds with a trader and I lost contact with him (long story). I know this is a long shot but I still have the Bitcoin address where I sent the funds originally. Is there anyway that through this I can contact the person (assuming the address is still valid) ?

Thanks

[OmegaStarScream]

Can you check the address on blockchain.com to see if he's still receiving or sending money? A bitcoin address does not expire but this could give you an idea on whether you can expect a response or not.

If the address is still making transactions and assuming his address does not belong to an exchange, the only way I could think of is to try and send him a message using OP_return (give the subject more reading) and check this

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5436057.0

This obviously doesn't guarantee he would even notice it but.. Aside from this, can't really think of any other way to contact the individual with nothing but a bitcoin address.

If the individual whom you're trying to contact scammed you... Then this is another story. You're better off reaching out to law enforcement.

[mk4]

If the money lost is big enough, you can get lawyers and professionals to do some chain analysis and hope that the scammer deposited funds onto a KYC'd centralized exchange.

Other than that, probably just let this go and make it an expensive lesson. You're probably better off spending your time making the money back.

[examplens]

A while back, I invested some funds with a trader and I lost contact with him (long story). I know this is a long shot but I still have the Bitcoin address where I sent the funds originally.

I wouldn't call this an investment, it's more about gambling because you give someone money in the hope that they will trade successfully. At the same time, he is obviously an unknown person to you (otherwise you would know how to contact him).
As suggested earlier, check if his address has been used recently, if not, chances are small that you will find another connection with him.
Have you checked the search engine results for that address? Maybe on another forum, social media or similar...

[goldkingcoiner]

You gave an anonymous person money and now you cannot reach them? Am I understanding this correctly? Why would you give a trader your money if you do not have their contact details?

Sounds more like you got scammed, if you ask me.

But as someone above already mentioned, if that address is connected to a KYC crypto exchange, then you might have a chance to find out who he/she is.

[PX-Z]

A while back, I invested some funds with a trader and I lost contact with him (long story). I know this is a long shot but I still have the Bitcoin address where I sent the funds originally. Is there anyway that through this I can contact the person (assuming the address is still valid) ?

Even if you do what @OmegaStarScream mentioned (OP_return message) the possibility that this trader to notice that message is very slim. Idk the reason of you lossing your contact of him/her either lost/broken device, or that trader run from you but i will consider it already a loss, an expensive experience knowing you tell it as an "investment".

[dkbit98]

A while back, I invested some funds with a trader and I lost contact with him (long story). I know this is a long shot but I still have the Bitcoin address where I sent the funds originally. Is there anyway that through this I can contact the person (assuming the address is still valid) ?

What do you want to do, call his bitcoin address with a phone or send pigeon to find him maybe?  
Short answer for untold long story is NO, but you can always send him more coins on the same address with your contact details, like Satoshi did with Genesis block.

Code:

00000000   01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
00000010   00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
00000020   00 00 00 00 3B A3 ED FD  7A 7B 12 B2 7A C7 2C 3E   ....;£íýz{.²zÇ,>
00000030   67 76 8F 61 7F C8 1B C3  88 8A 51 32 3A 9F B8 AA   gv.a.È.ÈŠQ2:Ÿ¸ª
00000040   4B 1E 5E 4A 29 AB 5F 49  FF FF 00 1D 1D AC 2B 7C   K.^J)«_Iÿÿ...¬+|
00000050   01 01 00 00 00 01 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
00000060   00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00  00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00   ................
00000070   00 00 00 00 00 00 FF FF  FF FF 4D 04 FF FF 00 1D   ......ÿÿÿÿM.ÿÿ..
00000080   01 04 45 54 68 65 20 54  69 6D 65 73 20 30 33 2F   ..EThe Times 03/
00000090   4A 61 6E 2F 32 30 30 39  20 43 68 61 6E 63 65 6C   Jan/2009 Chancel
000000A0   6C 6F 72 20 6F 6E 20 62  72 69 6E 6B 20 6F 66 20   lor on brink of 
000000B0   73 65 63 6F 6E 64 20 62  61 69 6C 6F 75 74 20 66   second bailout f
000000C0   6F 72 20 62 61 6E 6B 73  FF FF FF FF 01 00 F2 05   or banksÿÿÿÿ..ò.
000000D0   2A 01 00 00 00 43 41 04  67 8A FD B0 FE 55 48 27   *....CA.gŠý°þUH'
000000E0   19 67 F1 A6 71 30 B7 10  5C D6 A8 28 E0 39 09 A6   .gñ¦q0·.\Ö¨(à9.¦
000000F0   79 62 E0 EA 1F 61 DE B6  49 F6 BC 3F 4C EF 38 C4   ybàê.aÞ¶Iö¼?Lï8Ä
00000100   F3 55 04 E5 1E C1 12 DE  5C 38 4D F7 BA 0B 8D 57   óU.å.Á.Þ\8M÷º..W
00000110   8A 4C 70 2B 6B F1 1D 5F  AC 00 00 00 00            ŠLp+kñ._¬....

[clarcombe]

I guess I will have to explain the long story.

I did have his email address and spent 3 years communicating with him, the last time was in 2020. At this time, BTC trading with other people's money was illegal without a license as he was based in North America. He was extremely sensitive to this and would often change his contact details (I'd been through two of his already)

The only other person who knew him was a friend, who I believe, died from Covid complications.

So yes, I agree with all of your answers.It was a stupid thing to do. Its really a shot in the dark and maybe I should just abandon the chase.

Do any of you know which tracing firms I might be able to use ?

Thanks in advance

[FinneysTrueVision]

I guess I will have to explain the long story.

I did have his email address and spent 3 years communicating with him, the last time was in 2020. At this time, BTC trading with other people's money was illegal without a license as he was based in North America. He was extremely sensitive to this and would often change his contact details (I'd been through two of his already)

The only other person who knew him was a friend, who I believe, died from Covid complications.

So yes, I agree with all of your answers.It was a stupid thing to do. Its really a shot in the dark and maybe I should just abandon the chase.

Do any of you know which tracing firms I might be able to use ?

Thanks in advance

It is very likely that you were scammed by this trader who was actually running a ponzi scheme. If you’ve lost a considerable amount of money, you could try using some blockchain analysis tools like MistTrack to look for any clues as to where your money ended up. If the person that scammed you used a major centralized exchange, that activity is easily identifiable on-chain and you could then file a legal complaint, which could hopefully lead to the exchange helping you recover your funds.

[Darker45]

I guess I will have to explain the long story.

I did have his email address and spent 3 years communicating with him, the last time was in 2020. At this time, BTC trading with other people's money was illegal without a license as he was based in North America. He was extremely sensitive to this and would often change his contact details (I'd been through two of his already)

The only other person who knew him was a friend, who I believe, died from Covid complications.

So yes, I agree with all of your answers.It was a stupid thing to do. Its really a shot in the dark and maybe I should just abandon the chase.

Do any of you know which tracing firms I might be able to use ?

Thanks in advance

That it was a stupid thing to do is already sufficiently established, but how did you end up trying to iron things out only 4 years later after your last communication? That makes the shot even darker.

Just the same, however, if the amount is worth fighting for, then by all means exhaust all possibilities first before abandoning the chase.

It would be better if you share the address here. Some might be able to contribute a little help, in establishing whether the address is coming from an exchange, for example, or which particular exchange. Or better yet, you might want to consult authorities about it. Please know that there are also numerous scams offering tracing, recovery, investigations, and other related services.

[OmegaStarScream]

I guess I will have to explain the long story.

I did have his email address and spent 3 years communicating with him, the last time was in 2020. At this time, BTC trading with other people's money was illegal without a license as he was based in North America. He was extremely sensitive to this and would often change his contact details (I'd been through two of his already)

The only other person who knew him was a friend, who I believe, died from Covid complications.

So yes, I agree with all of your answers.It was a stupid thing to do. Its really a shot in the dark and maybe I should just abandon the chase.

Do any of you know which tracing firms I might be able to use ?

Thanks in advance

As I have mentioned above, there's is really nothing you can do if he scammed. You can try and contact your local authorities, but unless the amount is big enough, and you're from the same country as him (which appears to not be the case here) they may not be able to do much to help either. Sending him a message through a transaction as I suggested above is not going to be of any help obviously, whether he sees the message or not, after all.. if he scammed you, he's obviously not interested in talking to you.

[clarcombe]

but how did you end up trying to iron things out only 4 years later after your last communication?

Its only really with the advent of Chatgpt that it came up with further suggestions after I had tried other routes.

I was originally just trying to find out what had happened to my friend (who probably died of Covid complications. I still have no proof that he is dead) and I tried many channels to try and locate him. He was a family man and although not the most reliable person in the world, I don't think he would have just abandoned his family. He loved his kids... anyway I digress

The original address I sent the funds to was 152N9zfbnf7QrDNuJaHaNC8GngCzMe71E7 on 5th April 2019

Thank you for your continued support

[Aanuoluwatofunmi]

Hello,

A while back, I invested some funds with a trader and I lost contact with him (long story). I know this is a long shot but I still have the Bitcoin address where I sent the funds originally. Is there anyway that through this I can contact the person (assuming the address is still valid) ?

Why will you have to make an investment with a trader, he uses your money for his own trading and to worsen the scenario, you had a lose of contact, it could have been more better if you know about his physical whereabout so you could go and look after him, but in this case, we are not even sure if this person in question is not a scammer, the only advise i can give is for you to forget about it as long as you cant reach him, the transaction cannot be reversed, even if you tract the address on blockchain, what can you do to recover your money back? obviously nothing.

[FinneysTrueVision]

but how did you end up trying to iron things out only 4 years later after your last communication?

Its only really with the advent of Chatgpt that it came up with further suggestions after I had tried other routes.

I was originally just trying to find out what had happened to my friend (who probably died of Covid complications. I still have no proof that he is dead) and I tried many channels to try and locate him. He was a family man and although not the most reliable person in the world, I don't think he would have just abandoned his family. He loved his kids... anyway I digress

The original address I sent the funds to was 152N9zfbnf7QrDNuJaHaNC8GngCzMe71E7 on 5th April 2019

Thank you for your continued support

Following the outputs originating from this address, the person you gave your funds to seems to have a connection to Hydra Market. Hydra did have an exchange service but it was used to cash out into rubles and was not used for traditional trading. It would make sense that somebody involved in illegal activity would frequently change their contact details. I am afraid that you were scammed and your funds might not be recoverable. Depending on how much evidence you are able to provide you can still try reaching out to a lawyer or legal authorities to see if you are eligible to receive payment from Hydra’s seized funds

[YOSHIE]

A while back, I invested some funds with a trader and I lost contact with him (long story). I know this is a long shot but I still have the Bitcoin address where I sent the funds originally. Is there anyway that through this I can contact the person (assuming the address is still valid)?

Your efforts have a slim chance of finding the person, but at least you can give us some information, such as the BTC address, Telegram or other social media accounts used by the fraudster, who knows, maybe the members here can help you, to reveal whether they are on this forum or not.

In the future, don't trust anyone who is based on seduction of death or under the guise of investment and crypto trading. If you want to do it, look for them in the real world, especially Telegram when it becomes a nest for crypto fraud, you remember the meaning of the word you are safe.

[Darker45]

but how did you end up trying to iron things out only 4 years later after your last communication?

Its only really with the advent of Chatgpt that it came up with further suggestions after I had tried other routes.

I was originally just trying to find out what had happened to my friend (who probably died of Covid complications. I still have no proof that he is dead) and I tried many channels to try and locate him. He was a family man and although not the most reliable person in the world, I don't think he would have just abandoned his family. He loved his kids... anyway I digress

The original address I sent the funds to was 152N9zfbnf7QrDNuJaHaNC8GngCzMe71E7 on 5th April 2019

Thank you for your continued support

That address has received funds only once. So, the 3.096BTC was yours? Even in 2019, that's already a huge amount to be entrusted to somebody for trading. The same amount was spent immediately the day after. Your funds have been moving from one address to another. It seems that the prospect of recovering your funds is low. It also doesn't help that the only person who knew the man to whose address you sent your money is already dead.

I don't know how FinneysTrueVision established that the address you sent your funds to had connections with the Hydra market, but if that's the case, then I doubt you can still recover it. Hydra was a darknet market. It wasn't an exchange that was hacked or went bankrupt. It was like Silk Road or Movie2k, not Mt. Gox or FTX. In which case, funds are seized and auctioned in favor of the government, not recovered and refunded to the owners.

Anyway, you can always consult with experts or the authorities if you want definite guidance.

[FinneysTrueVision]

I don't know how FinneysTrueVision established that the address you sent your funds to had connections with the Hydra market, but if that's the case, then I doubt you can still recover it. Hydra was a darknet market. It wasn't an exchange that was hacked or went bankrupt. It was like Silk Road or Movie2k, not Mt. Gox or FTX. In which case, funds are seized and auctioned in favor of the government, not recovered and refunded to the owners.

Anyway, you can always consult with experts or the authorities if you want definite guidance.

You can use an explorer like Metasleuth or Arkham Intelligence to track their activity. The funds are used to make a payment to a P2SH address, then they are consolidated and later split up and distributed to various addresses labeled as Hydra Market. The change outputs from the original transaction and subsequent transactions also follow this pattern.