List of Major Bitcoin Heists, Thefts, Hacks, Scams, and Losses [Old]

[stereotype]

9.17 bitcoins were hacked from my account at cex.io. I am seeking an experienced investigator to help me retrieve the lost coins.

A rapidly expanding market, me thinks!

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[tonychow]

9.17 bitcoins were hacked from my account at cex.io. I am seeking an experienced investigator to help me retrieve the lost coins.

Rule No.1, always transfer your bitcoins from any online service to your cold wallet. Since if the online service is compromised, your bitcoins are gone.

Rule No.2, always use a unique strong password. Unique means, use the password only for the bitcoin. Also, use strong password for brute force attack. Third, protect your email account, since if your email account is compromised, also your online service.

Rule No.3, use anti-virus on your computer and update software with security pack.

 

[QuestionAuthority]

Does anyone see a pattern here yet? There are reasons that the protections exist with Visa and Western Union. The transfer of wealth is very prone to fraud.

[dree12]

Does anyone see a pattern here yet? There are reasons that the protections exist with Visa and Western Union. The transfer of wealth is very prone to fraud.

A chargeback-free system will take some getting used to, but we have to remember that the protections have not existed forever. Hundreds of years ago, cash was chargeback-free; fraudsters could theoretically scam hundreds of pounds from whole villages and then run to the next village. The villagers were prudent enough to exercise good judgement and this was never a great concern. Today, we must relearn that skill.

[QuestionAuthority]

Does anyone see a pattern here yet? There are reasons that the protections exist with Visa and Western Union. The transfer of wealth is very prone to fraud.

A chargeback-free system will take some getting used to, but we have to remember that the protections have not existed forever. Hundreds of years ago, cash was chargeback-free; fraudsters could theoretically scam hundreds of pounds from whole villages and then run to the next village. The villagers were prudent enough to exercise good judgement and this was never a great concern. Today, we must relearn that skill.

I understand but Bitcoin isn't attempting to be a local replacement for cash. It's trying to be a long distance value transfer system that's faster with a lower fee. If you lose your money who gives a shit if it's free or fast! That's why I said it's got a long way to go to replace Western Union or Visa. I've had Visa save my ass from an online scam purchase multiple times. The only time I've lost money online was using Bitcoin. Sad but true.

[Trance]

Where is the BTCitCoin donation address for all this hard work and effort ?!

[User705]

Does anyone see a pattern here yet? There are reasons that the protections exist with Visa and Western Union. The transfer of wealth is very prone to fraud.

A chargeback-free system will take some getting used to, but we have to remember that the protections have not existed forever. Hundreds of years ago, cash was chargeback-free; fraudsters could theoretically scam hundreds of pounds from whole villages and then run to the next village. The villagers were prudent enough to exercise good judgement and this was never a great concern. Today, we must relearn that skill.

I understand but Bitcoin isn't attempting to be a local replacement for cash. It's trying to be a long distance value transfer system that's faster with a lower fee. If you lose your money who gives a shit if it's free or fast! That's why I said it's got a long way to go to replace Western Union or Visa. I've had Visa save my ass from an online scam purchase multiple times. The only time I've lost money online was using Bitcoin. Sad but true.

Just out of curiosity how do you see using western union as being fraud protected?

[QuestionAuthority]

Does anyone see a pattern here yet? There are reasons that the protections exist with Visa and Western Union. The transfer of wealth is very prone to fraud.

A chargeback-free system will take some getting used to, but we have to remember that the protections have not existed forever. Hundreds of years ago, cash was chargeback-free; fraudsters could theoretically scam hundreds of pounds from whole villages and then run to the next village. The villagers were prudent enough to exercise good judgement and this was never a great concern. Today, we must relearn that skill.

I understand but Bitcoin isn't attempting to be a local replacement for cash. It's trying to be a long distance value transfer system that's faster with a lower fee. If you lose your money who gives a shit if it's free or fast! That's why I said it's got a long way to go to replace Western Union or Visa. I've had Visa save my ass from an online scam purchase multiple times. The only time I've lost money online was using Bitcoin. Sad but true.

Just out of curiosity how do you see using western union as being fraud protected?

Because funds can be tracked. https://www.westernunion.com/track-transfer?2 Most of the money pickup and drop off locations use video recording of transactions. To collect transferred money you need a government issued ID and an MTCN tracking number given to you by the party that sent you the money. What kind of fraud prevention is built into Bitcoin? I can't even count the number of threads I've read where some idiot sent his Bitcoins into outer space because he couldn't figure out how to work the client or fucked up the key while typing. You don't even need fraud to lose a shitload of money. All you have to do is lose your hard drive. How much money did that dumbass throw away again, $7.5 million? I bet his ass wishes he had a tracking number and could research where it went!

[guybrushthreepwood]

What happened with the Sheep Marketplace heist? Anyone have a link to updated info? Haven't heard anything about it since.

[User705]

Does anyone see a pattern here yet? There are reasons that the protections exist with Visa and Western Union. The transfer of wealth is very prone to fraud.

A chargeback-free system will take some getting used to, but we have to remember that the protections have not existed forever. Hundreds of years ago, cash was chargeback-free; fraudsters could theoretically scam hundreds of pounds from whole villages and then run to the next village. The villagers were prudent enough to exercise good judgement and this was never a great concern. Today, we must relearn that skill.

I understand but Bitcoin isn't attempting to be a local replacement for cash. It's trying to be a long distance value transfer system that's faster with a lower fee. If you lose your money who gives a shit if it's free or fast! That's why I said it's got a long way to go to replace Western Union or Visa. I've had Visa save my ass from an online scam purchase multiple times. The only time I've lost money online was using Bitcoin. Sad but true.

Just out of curiosity how do you see using western union as being fraud protected?

Because funds can be tracked. https://www.westernunion.com/track-transfer?2 Most of the money pickup and drop off locations use video recording of transactions. To collect transferred money you need a government issued ID and an MTCN tracking number given to you by the party that sent you the money. What kind of fraud prevention is built into Bitcoin? I can't even count the number of threads I've read where some idiot sent his Bitcoins into outer space because he couldn't figure out how to work the client or fucked up the key while typing. You don't even need fraud to lose a shitload of money. All you have to do is lose your hard drive. How much money did that dumbass throw away again, $7.5 million? I bet his ass wishes he had a tracking number and could research where it went!

All bitcoin transfers are fully traceable through blockchain.  All current exchanges require you to verify your government ID before getting out fiat.  Bitcoin addresses have checksums.  You should at least read up on bitcoin before comparing it to western union.  Western union is a scammers best friend. 

[QuestionAuthority]

Does anyone see a pattern here yet? There are reasons that the protections exist with Visa and Western Union. The transfer of wealth is very prone to fraud.

A chargeback-free system will take some getting used to, but we have to remember that the protections have not existed forever. Hundreds of years ago, cash was chargeback-free; fraudsters could theoretically scam hundreds of pounds from whole villages and then run to the next village. The villagers were prudent enough to exercise good judgement and this was never a great concern. Today, we must relearn that skill.

I understand but Bitcoin isn't attempting to be a local replacement for cash. It's trying to be a long distance value transfer system that's faster with a lower fee. If you lose your money who gives a shit if it's free or fast! That's why I said it's got a long way to go to replace Western Union or Visa. I've had Visa save my ass from an online scam purchase multiple times. The only time I've lost money online was using Bitcoin. Sad but true.

Just out of curiosity how do you see using western union as being fraud protected?

Because funds can be tracked. https://www.westernunion.com/track-transfer?2 Most of the money pickup and drop off locations use video recording of transactions. To collect transferred money you need a government issued ID and an MTCN tracking number given to you by the party that sent you the money. What kind of fraud prevention is built into Bitcoin? I can't even count the number of threads I've read where some idiot sent his Bitcoins into outer space because he couldn't figure out how to work the client or fucked up the key while typing. You don't even need fraud to lose a shitload of money. All you have to do is lose your hard drive. How much money did that dumbass throw away again, $7.5 million? I bet his ass wishes he had a tracking number and could research where it went!

All bitcoin transfers are fully traceable through blockchain.  All current exchanges require you to verify your government ID before getting out fiat.  Bitcoin addresses have checksums.  You should at least read up on bitcoin before comparing it to western union.  Western union is a scammers best friend. 

Person to person transfers of Bitcoin use no ID. You will be transferring the Bitcoins to someone but you will never be able to tell who. You can trace the transaction in the blockchain but that info will do absolutely nothing for you. Don't believe me? Ask anyone that used Inputs.io, MyBitcoin, Bitcoinica or any of the many other scams listed here. Western Union if used properly avoids fraud. I do agree Visa is better and insured/capped for liability but you can avoid fraud better if you take their advice. http://www.westernunion.com/sites/us/consumer-protection/FraudTypes.  This page reads like a Bitcoin business directory.

I'm not comparing it to Western Union at all and I understand Bitcoin and all it's flaws quite well. I've been using it for three years now. I'm saying Bitcoin will never compete with Western Union or Visa for international funds transfer unless it is drastically improved. The only two benefits I ever saw to Bitcoin was the ability to transfer large amounts of money over great distances securely with the absolute fungibility of cash and (taking the proper precautions) with relative anonymity. Blacklisting, red listing and the current pool of exchanges are threatening to destroy that concept. The other one is micro payments (tips) to people online. The current difficulty obtaining Bitcoins without thousands of dollars of mining equipment or an account at an exchange make that hardly worth the effort just to give someone a quarter because you like what they said in a post. The big problem that I see with Bitcoin today isn't the scams surrounding it. It's the fact they most people mining it or buying it are using it as an investment vehicle hoping for extreme profit in a short time instead of using it as the functional currency that it is. 

[2bfree]

100 years ago: why do you rob banks, that is where the money is.

today: why do you rob computers? That is where the bitcoin is.

[gaston909]

inputs.io - Well, I can't say I am surprised - It seems TF's technique or pretending to be hacked and then pretending to give some money back worked a treat!

Some users didnt get a single penny back (most) and nobody seems to mention the 10,000 / 20,000 coins he "forgot to pay back" from his other site coinlenders.com

Anybody?

No?

[manfred]

How come the Polish scam Maciej Trębacz aka "M4v3R" is not on the list. He lost  18787.72139217  BTC  (110.9 of mine) of users bitcoins as admin of the exchange BitMarket.eu Most likely was his buddy and founder of the exchange "Mahkul" involved as well but handed over all dealings before the shit hit the fan.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5441.msg1413156#msg1413156
How did that not even make it onto the list of scams and losses?

[malevolent]

It's mentioned:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=83794.0#post_toc_34
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=83794.0#post_ref_24

Though there is no evidence Makhul took any part in this.

[manfred]

It's mentioned:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=83794.0#post_toc_34
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=83794.0#post_ref_24

Though there is no evidence Makhul took any part in this.

Because he jumped ship before any of it was know to BitMarket.eu's customers. The exchange basically run a fractional reserve system for almost half a year until the price went to high and it was not possible to continue.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5441.msg1088253#msg1088253
Bitcoinica got hacked in May 12 and lost money again on July 13 well before Makhul distanced himself from the exchange (August 9).
Most likely did he kick it of to start with, but then left "M4v3r" with the mess knowing he hat no assets to go after.
Paweł Makulski aka "Makhul" was in charge of the exchange at the time and should sit in court getting sued.

[malevolent]

Because he jumped ship before any of it was know to BitMarket.eu's customers. The exchange basically run a fractional reserve system for almost half a year until the price went to high and it was not possible to continue.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5441.msg1088253#msg1088253
Bitcoinica got hacked in May 12 and lost money again on July 13 well before Makhul distanced himself from the exchange (August 9).
Most likely did he kick it of to start with, but then left "M4v3r" with the mess knowing he hat no assets to go after.
Paweł Makulski aka "Makhul" was in charge of the exchange at the time and should sit in court getting sued.

Yeah, I know he was jointly running it with M4v3r at the time, and him leaving probably had something to do with the BTC being lost, but the way it happened suggests that M4v3r was gambling with the users' funds without Makhul's knowledge. Why else would he take the blame only upon himself and make (as lousy as they are...) efforts to repay his creditors? It's not like the BTC ended in his pocket.

[manfred]

Because he jumped ship before any of it was know to BitMarket.eu's customers. The exchange basically run a fractional reserve system for almost half a year until the price went to high and it was not possible to continue.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5441.msg1088253#msg1088253
Bitcoinica got hacked in May 12 and lost money again on July 13 well before Makhul distanced himself from the exchange (August 9).
Most likely did he kick it of to start with, but then left "M4v3r" with the mess knowing he hat no assets to go after.
Paweł Makulski aka "Makhul" was in charge of the exchange at the time and should sit in court getting sued.

Yeah, I know he was jointly running it with M4v3r at the time, and him leaving probably had something to do with the BTC being lost, but the way it happened suggests that M4v3r was gambling with the users' funds without Makhul's knowledge. Why else would he take the blame only upon himself and make (as lousy as they are...) efforts to repay his creditors? It's not like the BTC ended in his pocket.

They both gambled with the users funds, but "M4v3r" has got nothing so no point to suing, whereas "Makhul" has assets so they made the deal that "M4v3r" takes the blame for it sorely.
Interesting now "Makhul" found the time again to be involved in another exchange. Stay away at least two known fraudsters at at work there.

[gaston909]

Please add the coinlenders scam. 20,000 BTC.

[dree12]

Leaving a note here just so I don't forget: Silk Road 2.