I'm sure your intentions are good, but this really annoys me for two reasons. The first is I made the mistake of telling people how much bitcoin I had the first go-around and I don't intend on repeating that mistake. So the implication that we aren't posting the transaction and therefore possibly in on Tradefortress' potential deception is annoying.
No offense but it’s annoying to me that you expect me to blindly accept text from a few somewhat unknown accounts as being fact, without anyone actually providing any proof. My intent was not to imply anyone was
in on any deception, I just wanted a little verification - and I assumed others would as well.
Regardless, I’ve found recent transactions which appear to be showing you receiving 2 reimbursements roughly 2 weeks ago, so it appears TradeFortress is actually sending large reimbursements. But that doesn't mean he's a saint.
I personally don’t care how many bitcoins you have, and if your story is legitimate, I’m happy you recovered some of your coins, but it looks like you’ve only gotten back ~62% of what you were scammed, according to your numbers, and while I’m sure that is exciting considering the conversion rates, he’s potentially had your coins for 5 years… and still could have ~38% of them somewhere.
The second is that this advice is useless.
--snip--
Ok you learned some lessons and even though you had done your research, still got scammed. And seriously, you should share the rest of your lessons learned, they will not be a bore and may help others. But, I'm still not sure what any of this has to do with my advice, which essentially was for victims to play nicely to get their coins back but do not trust the account or who is behind it.
My point is none of this made any difference whatsoever. It wouldn't have made any difference with MtGox, Theranos, Coinlenders or all kinds of other failed companies we could talk about. Credibility is a borderline worthless indicator, because everyone can make mistakes, and no one can hear a lie that the speaker believes.
Credibility is certainly not a guarantee but I believe it is a needed indicator, one of multiple, that people should include in their decision making process. I've heard and seen through plenty of lies that a speaker may believe (Josh Zerlan comes to mind)… and it's generally done through knowledge/research (credibility is looked at here), being inquisitive, and using deductive reasoning / logic. There are certainly no guarantees this would make any difference but it doesn't mean people should stop trying.
So ya, don't invest in companies you don't trust, duh, but don't invest in companies just because you trust them either.
I agree.