"Gusti" legendary account was sold and being abused now

[Puppet]

Gusti sold his legendary account that had positive default trust and its being abused now to scam people.

Here is where a legendary, "1k+ activity 1k+ post count" is being offered:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=840130.0

Same seller gave some additional details previously here:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=711892.msg8040993#msg8040993
"Account creation: 1st half of 2011."

All that matches Gusti's account perfectly:
Posts:   1097
Activity:   1096
Position:   Legendary
Date Registered:   January 25, 2011, 02:04:46 PM

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=3738

Recently that account resurfaced here:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=883534.msg9785026#msg9785026

To give credibility to what otherwise would appear a pretty blatant scam. I dug some deeper and emailed an address that I know belongs to the original Gusti and confirmed the gusti account was sold. I quote from his email:

Yes, the account was sold as I was not using it anymore, and the
monetary offer was good.

Anyway, I sold it to a broker for advertizing purposes, I do not
condone any scam or impersonating.

Buyer has not leverage over me, but I do not want my name or email
address appear in the forum anymore.

More evidence can be provided to people on the default trust list if required, just PM me.

[Quickseller]

There is nothing wrong with selling your account. If the owner needs money and someone else is willing to pay for an account there is no reason why this transaction would be in any way wrong. Just because someone has completed trades successfully does not change the above, some may say it would be a greater justification for an original owner to selling his account when he needs money as he has previously contributed to the Bitcoin economy.

If you have a problem with a (potentially) sold account having positive trust like this then I would message the person who left the trust to see if they want to have it removed.

If you don't have a problem with the "real" gusti then making this claim is illogical as others in a similar situation as him will have a more difficult time raising money from their account like this as buyers will not be willing to pay as much because of the risk of this happening to them. If they cannot raise money by selling an account then they may resort to trying to scam (which ironically is what you "want" to prevent)

Edit: I will also say the account had almost certainly not been sold in the last 30 days so even if what you are saying is true, it is old news

[Puppet]

There is nothing wrong with selling your account.

I know its not against the rules of this forum, but I happen to disagree with those rules as I think allowing blatant scams, referral links, paid signature advertising per bullshit post and similar shenanigans is what turned this forum utterly useless for anyone other than wannabee scammers and scam enablers like yourself.

That however, is not even my point here. Gusti's account and associated trust  is actively being abused to legitimize a scam. The new owner is therefore a scammer, and I would like his trust rating to reflect that before more people fall for it. Yes, I already PM-ed Ottoh, but he hasnt been online very much recently probably for the very reasons I mentioned above.

If they cannot raise money by selling an account then they may resort to trying to scam

LOL.

[Quickseller]

If you think he is enabling a scam then you should make a claim against the scam.

You dismiss that someone will not try to scam if they cannot raise money from selling their account. If they are desperate enough to sell their account then why would they not scam if this avenue is not available? Not everyone that scams is a psychopath, and desperate times call for desperate measures. Has no one ever scammed after acting honestly on here?

[Puppet]

The very fact they are impersonating someone else that has a certain history and credibility would be considered fraud just about everywhere except on this forum.

Of course, I understand its against your financial interest if such scams are discovered before they ever paid off, and if when discovered, they are quickly labeled as scam, since that would reduce the value of these accounts.

Poor you, see if I care.

[abyrnes81]

There is nothing wrong with selling your account. If the owner needs money and someone else is willing to pay for an account there is no reason why this transaction would be in any way wrong. Just because someone has completed trades successfully does not change the above, some may say it would be a greater justification for an original owner to selling his account when he needs money as he has previously contributed to the Bitcoin economy.

...

Yes , I think the same. If the new "owner" is a great person I don't see what is the problem.

[Puppet]

Yes , I think the same. If the new "owner" is a great person I don't see what is the problem.

What reason would a "great person" have to buy an old/trusted account?
Contrast that to what reason a scammer has, and you can probably figure out who's more likely to buy one.

[abyrnes81]

Yes , I think the same. If the new "owner" is a great person I don't see what is the problem.

What reason would a "great person" have to buy an old/trusted account?
Contrast that to what reason a scammer has, and you can probably figure out who's more likely to buy one.

Maybe you're right , but the real owner had some expenses and he has need money so at the end sold his legendary account to the highest bidder.

[Puppet]

Maybe you're right , but the real owner had some expenses and he has need money so at the end sold his legendary account to the highest bidder.

Yeah, he sold it to a scammer. And thereby proved unworthy of the trust others gave him. And certainly it shouldnt mean the new owner/scammer should be given any trust whatsoever.

[EvilPanda]

If you're sure the account was sold leave him a trust comment to warn people they are dealing with a different user. Account trading is one thing, impersonating the previous owner to gain trust in the community is another.

[Puppet]

If you're sure the account was sold leave him a trust comment to warn people they are dealing with a different user

Wouldnt make a difference, since these scammers prey on newbies that know no better than only look at the green or red "trust". Fortunately, meanwhile 2 people from the default trust list have rendered the account useless for the scammer, and at the same time pretty much torpedoed the confidence scam they tried to pull off,  that makes me happy.

[tmfp]

Good work Puppet, the thread link was amusing too, especially after Phileas turned up. 

Allowing account trading is absurd, imo, presumably some libertarian dogma in action.

The two people supporting it here: A trader in them, and "a great person" who bought a turkey for $10 and is now complaining about it.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=887680.0

There is nothing wrong with selling your account. If the owner needs money and someone else is willing to pay for an account there is no reason why this transaction would be in any way wrong. Just because someone has completed trades successfully does not change the above, some may say it would be a greater justification for an original owner to selling his account when he needs money as he has previously contributed to the Bitcoin economy.
..

Yes , I think the same. If the new "owner" is a great person I don't see what is the problem.

[PolarPoint]

Great detective work OP! Successfully turned the positive trust to negative trust, and stopped a potential scam dead in its tracks.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=3738

[Quickseller]

If you're sure the account was sold leave him a trust comment to warn people they are dealing with a different user

Wouldnt make a difference, since these scammers prey on newbies that know no better than only look at the green or red "trust". Fortunately, meanwhile 2 people from the default trust list have rendered the account useless for the scammer, and at the same time pretty much torpedoed the confidence scam they tried to pull off,  that makes me happy.

Looking at the post history of Gusti, I would say there is a good chance that he was trying to further a scam.

I think you should open up a scam accusation against the site/company in question. I am not sure that any "newbie" would be able to make the connection that Gusti is trying to further the website being a scam. Plus someone could have just as easily purchased a "normal" account and then built up/purchased trust to pull off a similar scam. Opening a scam accusation against the website would help anyone potentially buying from the site make the conclusion they are probably a scam and do not actually build any hardware/does not actually exist.

[SebastianJu]

The very fact they are impersonating someone else that has a certain history and credibility would be considered fraud just about everywhere except on this forum.

Thats what i wanted to write. It may be legit here on the forum but its not moral because impersonating a trusted member makes the whole trust-system useless to some point. And trust is everything in bitcoin world. In fact i think that the seller is either ignorant or stupid. Buying such an account for what reason besides scamming? I dont see a monetary worth beside that. If i would sell my account then i would know it would yield really bad results. In real world the real owner could be held responsible since its like allowing others to use your ID, bank account, or something like that for money. Nobody would do that. And if they would do they could be sued for doing so if it would be misused.