Should bitcointalk account trading be banned?

[markj113]

So, seeing a lot of senior/hero accounts up for sale recently.

So should this be tolerated by the forum?

My personal view is that 99% of time the only reason someone would be looking to buy an account is to defraud and steal from other forum members.

I think it should be a defo no with a zero tolerance policy to back it up.

Interested in everyone else views on the subject.

[roslinpl]

So, seeing a lot of senior/hero accounts up for sale recently.

So should this be tolerated by the forum?

My personal view is that 99% of time the only reason someone would be looking to buy an account is to defraud and steal from other forum members.

I think it should be a defo no with a zero tolerance policy to back it up.

Interested in everyone else views on the subject.

My last post was a reply to someone who is selling his account, and just after that I found this thread.

I know that this is legal to sell it as accounts are just sort of  "Digital Goods" and this is not really "ID" so .. this is legal but.

I agree with you that this is great starterpack for scammers... which makes me feel about it that it is bad thing to do.

[cAPSLOCK]

I think the answer is so obvious it is slightly painful.

This is a private community which stands on a foundation of trust and reputation.  It is a reasonable protection of the community to disallow the trading of identity.  Enforcing this would not hamper free speech or anonymity but it would protect identity and security.

[Mrrr]

You shouldn't ban if you cannot enforce. An account can still be traded through a different medium even if it is no longer allowed to do so. There is no way in which the forum moderators could know. Banning would create a false sense of security, at least now it is happening out in the open and everyone knows that they should be careful if a Hero Member starts acting weird.

A better idea would be to start a list of accounts that are known to have been bought/suspect of having been bought. If somebody would take this up I'd be willing to chip in some satoshis for the effort.

EDIT: this would be quite easy to police actually. Since anyone can pose as a buyer and tip the person who keeps the list.

[HarshalTech]

I personally dislike it, because someone could easily buy a new account and scam with it. But, I mean you should be cautious regardless of who you trade with.

[Cryptopher]

I think that any activity on the forum discussing account trading, whether it be via topics or private messaging, should be punishable.

The fact that somebody can buy an account that has +ve trust is flawed. That trust is earned by the person behind it, not the account. Once that account changes hands then the trust is technically meaningless, only it remains, and everyone else is blissfully unawares.

[ab8989]

I think trading of accounts is a huge negative trust indicator for the account but also for personally the buyer and seller. I would like to know who has participated in this kind of activity so that I could avoid ever doing business with either of those, the account but also all the persons involved meaning both the buyer and the seller and any facilitator to the trade. They have proven to have no backbone at all.

[ruggedman_dan]

I think a lot of people want to buy Senior and Hero accounts because of the sig campaigns.

[Cryptopher]

I think a lot of people want to buy Senior and Hero accounts because of the sig campaigns.

Without a doubt, and with some of the prices you see people advertising Senior accounts for (assuming that they aren't going to scam) then you can break even pretty darn quick.

Personally I reckon that scammers will take advantage of that fact.

[Benjig]

I think a lot of people want to buy Senior and Hero accounts because of the sig campaigns.

Without a doubt, and with some of the prices you see people advertising Senior accounts for (assuming that they aren't going to scam) then you can break even pretty darn quick.

Personally I reckon that scammers will take advantage of that fact.

 If a scammer wanna scam he will do it with bought accounts or without them, also i dont think that a hero member with green trust will sell his account and thats the only way to scam a bigger amount

[bitswipe]

I voted yes...It opens up the opportunity of being scammed way to much and gives them a huge advantage over those who are legitimate...making most of us easy pray.

[hilariousandco]

My personal view is that 99% of time the only reason someone would be looking to buy an account is to defraud and steal from other forum members.

I think you're very wrong on this. Probably 99% of people buy higher activity accounts to participate in signature deals. It's up to the community to use their wits and not trust a user with no trade history or feedback or just because he's a Snr or Hero Member. If you use escrow as you should then there shouldn't be any problems.

I personally dislike it, because someone could easily buy a new account and scam with it. But, I mean you should be cautious regardless of who you trade with.

Why buy one when you can just create an account? Most scammers are from newb accounts or long-conners but you can't do anything about them. Again, if you use escow you should be fine.

[bitswipe]

My personal view is that 99% of time the only reason someone would be looking to buy an account is to defraud and steal from other forum members.

I think you're very wrong on this. Probably 99% of people buy higher activity accounts to participate in signature deals. It's up to the community to use their wits and not trust a user with no trade history or feedback just because he's a Snr or Hero Member. If you use escrow as you should then there shouldn't be any problems.

I personally dislike it, because someone could easily buy a new account and scam with it. But, I mean you should be cautious regardless of who you trade with.

Why buy one when you can just create an account? Most scammers are from newb accounts or long-conners but you can't do anything about them. Again, if you use escor you should be fine.

Very true also...unless a scammer gets his hands on some sort of escrow account (doubtful) then why would anyone do a deal in the first place without an escrow.

[Cryptopher]

I think a lot of people want to buy Senior and Hero accounts because of the sig campaigns.

Without a doubt, and with some of the prices you see people advertising Senior accounts for (assuming that they aren't going to scam) then you can break even pretty darn quick.

Personally I reckon that scammers will take advantage of that fact.

 If a scammer wanna scam he will do it with bought accounts or without them, also i dont think that a hero member with green trust will sell his account and thats the only way to scam a bigger amount

You don't have to be a hero member with green trust to be trusted. I've seen people allegedly selling a Senior with green trust. They could surely use that account to play out a few decent, simultaneous cons.

[gadman2]

It should have never been allowed in the first place... There are -absolutely- no pros from being able to buy accounts, unless you're a scammer.

[hilariousandco]

If a scammer wanna scam he will do it with bought accounts or without them, also i dont think that a hero member with green trust will sell his account and thats the only way to scam a bigger amount

You don't have to be a hero member with green trust to be trusted. I've seen people allegedly selling a Senior with green trust. They could surely use that account to play out a few decent, simultaneous cons.

And that's why the feedback system shouldn't be considered definitive and used just as a guide. It's not that difficult to effectively "buy" or acquire positive trust around here. It's unlikely that the person selling the account is going to be an active and valued member of the community regardless of the feedback so if you're  not familar with that user you should be cautious, and as I stated above, if you use escrow for every trade then you should be fine.

It should have never been allowed in the first place... There are -absolutely- no pros from being able to buy accounts, unless you're a scammer.

Well the admin/mods reasoning/logic is that it's essentially very hard or nearly impossible to enforce or police, so it's allowed. And there are big pros for people buying them to use on signature deals and that is what most are seemingly sold for and not to actually scam.

[Cryptopher]

If a scammer wanna scam he will do it with bought accounts or without them, also i dont think that a hero member with green trust will sell his account and thats the only way to scam a bigger amount

You don't have to be a hero member with green trust to be trusted. I've seen people allegedly selling a Senior with green trust. They could surely use that account to play out a few decent, simultaneous cons.

And that's why the feedback system shouldn't be considered definitive and used just as a guide. It's not that difficult to effectively "buy" or acquire positive trust around here. It's unlikely that the person selling the account is going to be an active and valued member of the community regardless of the feedback so if you're  not familar with that user you should be cautious, and as I stated above, if you use escrow for every trade then you should be fine.

I was thinking more if the bought account with trust were to act as escrow and then con.

[hilariousandco]

Unless they're already an escrow (which I doubt they will be) you shouldn't really be trusting new escrows that suddenly pop up without many existing feedbacks for this type of trade and/or who aren't already active members of the community (not to mention there are already plenty of trusted escrows around so why take a punt on a new one until they're established?). Of course, it's not impossible for this scam to happen, but very unlikely, and you're never going to stamp out scams completely from any type of account so it's not that relevant or big of an issue I don't think.

[mprep]

Although selling accounts isn't plausible, but nor the mods, nor the admin can stop it. You ban the IP, they use a VPN, you ban the account, they'll get a new one. It's better when it's done openly, when people know the risk they might be dealing with a sold account, rather than secretly, when the user imagines the account belongs to the original member.

[oureptsC]

I don't know If It's good or bad but If It's legal people should know that any account could be bought and they shouldn't trust by going first to anyone but the solutions would be to use escrow.ms? He Is the most trusted escrow on this forums so dealing with other people through him should be a piece of cake I think. And It wouldn't be hard to catch him because He is active.