Two guys are chasing a Bitcoin thief

[icet208]

interesting article..didn`t hear the story before. Dam guys stop posting ideas of how to lose track of stolen coins..a lot of hackes happening lately, we must find solutions for this sh|t..it really is bad for bitcoin system..

[bryant.coleman]

"the two chasers began sending the thief tiny fractions of Bitcoins, specifically 0.00666 Bitcoins"
Well my guess is they are only giving him more coins to spend, they just can not keep dropping small amount on all new addresses.
nice read btw!

Nope.... they deposited the coins in less than 100 wallets. That means that they spent less than 1 BTC. So not a very large sum for someone who has already lost BTC100 or BTC1,000 in the theft.

[Its About Sharing]

Great read. The thing is, this guy(s) just needs to make 1 mistake. It might not even be his mistake. e.g. The NSA gets their hands on the VPN provider, etc. and tracks him down.
Even years later tech might come out to do better tracking and if ANYWHERE along the line he made 1 mistake, that could be the straw that breaks him.

I think it is a matter of time before we start seeing some big thieves get busted. Also, Forensic analysis and analysts are not posting and are following. I think the thief gets nabbed.

IAS

ps - Thief, if you are listening, just donate the bitcoins to wikileakes and other disruptive technology firms...

[medUSA]

ps - Thief, if you are listening, just donate the bitcoins to wikileakes and other disruptive technology firms...

If he wanted to donate them, he would have done so. If he needs ideas, here are some:

Donate some of them to Gox, that will made a lot of people happy. Start a faucet with random giveaways from 0.01 to 1 btc. Pick random members here and send them 1 btc... 

[bryant.coleman]

If he wanted to donate them, he would have done so. If he needs ideas, here are some:

Donate some of them to Gox, that will made a lot of people happy. Start a faucet with random giveaways from 0.01 to 1 btc. Pick random members here and send them 1 btc... 

Both cases are risky for the thief. If he don't use a mixer, he will be immediately tracked. Especially true with the 2nd option.

[giveBTCpls]

What happens if the thiefs convert their bitcoins into zerocoins? wouldn't that make it pretty much impossible to find then

[SnakePlisken]

WOW, that's one hell of a story! Yeah, he must be the only person on the planet who wishes he didn't have so many Bitcoins 

[bryant.coleman]

What happens if the thiefs convert their bitcoins into zerocoins? wouldn't that make it pretty much impossible to find then

The guys who receive the Bitcoins will try to exchange (at least some of) it for fiat, using an exchange. They will be caught there. Once they are caught, it won't take much time to find the guy who gave them the Bitcoins. (The exchanges need verification to a high level, to barter large amounts of coins, be it Bitstamp, or be it BTC-E).

[Its About Sharing]

What happens if the thiefs convert their bitcoins into zerocoins? wouldn't that make it pretty much impossible to find then

The guys who receive the Bitcoins will try to exchange (at least some of) it for fiat, using an exchange. They will be caught there. Once they are caught, it won't take much time to find the guy who gave them the Bitcoins. (The exchanges need verification to a high level, to barter large amounts of coins, be it Bitstamp, or be it BTC-E).

Agreed. It is just a matter of time. When you steal soooo many coins, soooo many people are watching the movements.
And on top of that there are many Forensic guys that don't post here and are making it their pet project.
So, you have a guy injecting hit .000666 btc into every transaction they can find and others following with or without that.
Just a matter of time. They will slip up somewhere or a problem with the VPN, or just something unexpected...

[herebittybittybitty]

interesting article..didn`t hear the story before. Dam guys stop posting ideas of how to lose track of stolen coins..a lot of hackes happening lately, we must find solutions for this sh|t..it really is bad for bitcoin system..

The solution is to protect your own damn bitcoins.

[WetSeals]

All he has to do is send the coins to localbitcoins, sell them there, for cash, and he is golden.  Not rocket science.

[Its About Sharing]

All he has to do is send the coins to localbitcoins, sell them there, for cash, and he is golden.  Not rocket science.

You don't understand forensic computer science very well and so far the thief doesn't appear to either. This thief is moving a HUGE amount of mostly very traceable money.
One little slip up with ALL that money, just one, and/or one little assist from those with a "grasp" on TOR and what not  , and he is caught. It may happen now, in a few months, or even years.
But, I'd say he is as good as caught.

Its About Sharing

[WetSeals]

All he has to do is send the coins to localbitcoins, sell them there, for cash, and he is golden.  Not rocket science.

You don't understand forensic computer science very well and so far the thief doesn't appear to either. This thief is moving a HUGE amount of mostly very traceable money.
One little slip up with ALL that money, just one, and/or one little assist from those with a "grasp" on TOR and what not  , and he is caught. It may happen now, in a few months, or even years.
But, I'd say he is as good as caught.

Its About Sharing

I understand completely actually.

He sends the btc to a localbtc address.  There is no way that you know that the address he sends to is a localbtc address.  All you know is that he sent the coins to another wallet.  He sells for cash.  Localbtc transfers coins to buyer. 

How are you going to trace him?  You can keep following the coins, but you will be chasing the wrong person.

[apsvinet]

Hadn't heard about this, thanks for sharing though it's quite interesting haha.

[Jeezy911]

For small amounts wouldn't tor browser with new exchange account sell for darkcoin. Then dark to lite work? I would find that extremely difficult to trace no?

[WetSeals]

For small amounts wouldn't tor browser with new exchange account sell for darkcoin. Then dark to lite work? I would find that extremely difficult to trace no?

It is super easy to wash any amount of coins.  Attach any amount of btc you want to it if you think that will help.  I guarantee I can make you lose the trail.

[bryant.coleman]

He sends the btc to a localbtc address.  There is no way that you know that the address he sends to is a localbtc address. 

There are ways to find it out. Most of the localbitcoins wallets are tagged. Even if they are not, we can send alerts to the localbitcoins admins.

[Stevenrm87]

Another layer would be to exchange BTC for LTC or whatever and mix and echange and mix . yea good luck with that!

[WetSeals]

He sends the btc to a localbtc address.  There is no way that you know that the address he sends to is a localbtc address. 

There are ways to find it out. Most of the localbitcoins wallets are tagged. Even if they are not, we can send alerts to the localbitcoins admins.

If I had some btc laying around, I would prove to you that you cannot trace coins for longer than 24 hours, if someone does not want you to.  This guy is just a moron.

Care to place a bet?  Have someone send me .01 btc, and then tag it however you want.  I bet you wont be able to trace it, and I will return it totally clean, no tumbler service needed.

[WetSeals]

^^ by : This guy is a moron, I was referring to the thief, not you.