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Topic: If I were to steal 0.5 billion … a story how I would do / wouldn’t have done it (Read 5131 times)

zyk
full member
Activity: 224
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whats about the real story?  Mark is implementing Litecoin to Midas ? Fukushima is fixed?   Grin
sr. member
Activity: 378
Merit: 250
Born to chew bubble gum and kick ass
Well Loozik, I for one applaud your re-telling of these true events.

I told a fictional story. This story has nothing to do with the current events. I am not re-telling current events.
newbie
Activity: 25
Merit: 0
Well Loozik, I for one applaud your re-telling of these true events. From my angle of research you are spot on. Everyone has their price and this is why we can't have nice things...
member
Activity: 87
Merit: 10
Loozik : you've got a nice storyboard, but I doubt most of the audience watching the movie-adaptation of this story will understand anything before the final twist/revelation !

I guess in fiction bad guys are always losing
- because they always think they're superior, or
- because there is too much good guys walking the same way...).

Let's hope reality would end the same way as in fiction if someday some big steal appears to be done...
sr. member
Activity: 378
Merit: 250
Born to chew bubble gum and kick ass
sr. member
Activity: 378
Merit: 250
Born to chew bubble gum and kick ass
(it took 1 day and a half to get through).

Because I am a nice guy, I would like to speed up your detective work. Have a look at this transaction: https://blockchain.info/tx/a7687022d9171141dd54482994f5bf187803ef78fb23d7fcb35ad5a51f73a6a3

If this transaction were the part of Digitcoin system and the theft masterminded by me, you would notice after a several clicks that an ''amount is sent MINUS 200 Digitcoins'', an ''amount is sent MINUS 200 Digitcoins'', etc.

You would also notice (after you clicked for a quarter of an hour) that Miss Whale's operational employee would test the scheme first with sending one Digitcoin. You would later discover many such unrelated in time transactions / chains of transactions (1 Digitcoin sent and then amount is sent MINUS another amount, amount is sent MINUS another amount).

You will start to see the pattern and you will finally discover a transaction where the scheme is tested by sending 1 Digitcoin and then withdrawing 1 Digitcoin. That's when Miss Whale's operational employee would be testing the software to be later used to blurr the image.

After you would spend an hour or so, you might conclude that you discovered yet another system (different than you discovered today). You still wouldn't know though wheteher it is because:
- Miss Whale are many persons (therefore many systems of blurring the image after transferring the stolen coins out of MtCocks)
- stolen coins use different systems because the beneficiaries are different or
- stolen coins use different systems because they would need to be laundered differently.

By investigating the transaction to which link I posted you might discover whether Miss Whale would launder the stolen coins at coinkaida or at a dark pool of another exchange (this is where and when Miss Whale's one employee buys coins from Miss Whale's another employee).
sr. member
Activity: 378
Merit: 250
Born to chew bubble gum and kick ass
I was reading the forum and came across 2nd bucketshop again, and remembered your great story and my muddleheaded ideas about them. That they are just debt collectors and that this https://blockchain.info/tx/a289ea76bcc396412e90d63b90eb462ea2adb326aa027d5a1bb8864c7c152012 transaction has to be theirs (it took 1 day and a half to get through).
But now, it seems plausible again. Adress https://blockchain.info/address/15c2N528gELxafSDZyKgJeVBYujtpH8cx4 is split it many ( https://blockchain.info/address/1EBHA1ckUWzNKN7BMfDwGTx6GKEbADUozX (42,726.85831384 BTC)
https://blockchain.info/address/194DnvmLR2HULRvxUsVag8mn2fm7dA3U2B (42,104.04267784 BTC)
https://blockchain.info/address/14e7XAZbepQp9MXXzjNG3fNLoAUpaBAXHW (41,993.6768985 BTC)
https://blockchain.info/address/1PnMfRF2enSZnR6JSexxBHuQnxG8Vo5FVK (42,750.23843166 BTC)
https://blockchain.info/address/1PB4xXUFyy4kSNqroCBVaQuCuw9VcN3be4 (46,660.72205394 BTC)
https://blockchain.info/address/1KiVwxEuGBYavyKrxkLncJt2pQ5YUUQX7f (42,140.5954231 BTC)
https://blockchain.info/address/1DiHDQMPFu4p84rkLn6Majj2LCZZZRQUaa (43,562.80676059 BTC)
https://blockchain.info/address/18f1yugoAJuXcHAbsuRVLQC9TezJ6iVRLp (41,981.67648616 BTC)
https://blockchain.info/address/1ABS7zUZP76NjNYs9DLoWnKfZFTR7WLrAM (40,663.46529761 BTC) )  with total around 400k BTC.
Cocks and 2nd bucketshop could did it alone, and you could get rid of Although I wouldn’t in your story.

The addresses you mentioned indeed would contain the ''unaccounted for / disappeared'' coins. These addresses / transactions would share certain specific pattern (gmaxwell suggested today that search for coins could start from a certain transaction; gmaxwell must have identified certain specific pattern) that when looked for through Digitcoin blockchain, would easily lead the investigators to what addresses the Digitcoins ended.

It is a nice find on how I wouldn't have done it Smiley

In case you want to investigate further (not related to this purely fictional and made up story):
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.5572364
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.5544807
hero member
Activity: 509
Merit: 500
Can't upload avatar
I was reading the forum and came across 2nd bucketshop again, and remembered your great story and my muddleheaded ideas about them. That they are just debt collectors and that this https://blockchain.info/tx/a289ea76bcc396412e90d63b90eb462ea2adb326aa027d5a1bb8864c7c152012 transaction has to be theirs (it took 1 day and a half to get through).
But now, it seems plausible again. Adress https://blockchain.info/address/15c2N528gELxafSDZyKgJeVBYujtpH8cx4 is split it many ( https://blockchain.info/address/1EBHA1ckUWzNKN7BMfDwGTx6GKEbADUozX (42,726.85831384 BTC)
https://blockchain.info/address/194DnvmLR2HULRvxUsVag8mn2fm7dA3U2B (42,104.04267784 BTC)
https://blockchain.info/address/14e7XAZbepQp9MXXzjNG3fNLoAUpaBAXHW (41,993.6768985 BTC)
https://blockchain.info/address/1PnMfRF2enSZnR6JSexxBHuQnxG8Vo5FVK (42,750.23843166 BTC)
https://blockchain.info/address/1PB4xXUFyy4kSNqroCBVaQuCuw9VcN3be4 (46,660.72205394 BTC)
https://blockchain.info/address/1KiVwxEuGBYavyKrxkLncJt2pQ5YUUQX7f (42,140.5954231 BTC)
https://blockchain.info/address/1DiHDQMPFu4p84rkLn6Majj2LCZZZRQUaa (43,562.80676059 BTC)
https://blockchain.info/address/18f1yugoAJuXcHAbsuRVLQC9TezJ6iVRLp (41,981.67648616 BTC)
https://blockchain.info/address/1ABS7zUZP76NjNYs9DLoWnKfZFTR7WLrAM (40,663.46529761 BTC) )  with total around 400k BTC.
Cocks and 2nd bucketshop could did it alone, and you could get rid of Although I wouldn’t in your story.
sr. member
Activity: 378
Merit: 250
Born to chew bubble gum and kick ass
But I wonder, and I know you didn't mention it, but what if MtCocks tried to blame some of their woes on the digitcoin protocols near the end?  Then wouldn't the MtCocks sourcecode which was later released either help substantiate or refute that story to some degree?  I mean I know that the release of any of the source code by your magicians pretending to be hackers supports the story that MtCocks was an amateurish exchange, but if MtCocks was really trying to blame the digitcoin protocol, it would seem that their own code would have to support that story.  Otherwise it is a potential point of incrimination for the CEO.

MtCocks's CEO wouldn't be so stupid to tell that the coins were just stolen. In line with previously received instructions he would be claiming the coins were made ''disappeared'' or ''unaccounted for'' so that he couldn't incriminated himself in the future. He would be instructed to repeat this mantra for as long as he could so that criminal proceedings and official police investigation wouldn't start (people wouldn't know if this is criminal or just civil matter). Never and nowhere would he mention that the disapperance of the coins had to do with the code of the ''computer system''. Instead he would blame the ''system'' which can refer not only to a computer system (badly written code), but also to procedures, employees and their ethics.


You know another thing that occurred to me, if you had gotten away with something like this, what would prevent you from just doing it again?  I mean if you already had people lined up for roles it seems like you could shift some things around, open another exchange, lather, rinse, and repeat.

I am so ethical you can be sure I would screw people again in the future. I am so smart I would use different scenario though.
hero member
Activity: 509
Merit: 500
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Very interesting story.


hope you got some good life insurance buddy

Yes, you should leave this shit to apropriate institutions.




But it is like Agatha Christie book. So I have a question.
Although I wouldn’t fucking allow Jesus to read from a prompter! Someone might have later guessed it had been staged.
I remember Jesus, the Bitcoin Angel Investor reading that statement. But people were making jokes and not believing him. Why didn't he learned few words by hart? Wasn't that too much obvius?




And yes. The cat. It is Tibane, similar to Tibanne Co.Ltd. and same as Tibane in Algeria. Do they have some secret camp there?


legendary
Activity: 1726
Merit: 1018
This is a really interesting story.  I look forward to seeing the movie (when it comes out on DVD, I don't really get out to the theaters much).

But I wonder, and I know you didn't mention it, but what if MtCocks tried to blame some of their woes on the digitcoin protocols near the end?  Then wouldn't the MtCocks sourcecode which was later released either help substantiate or refute that story to some degree?  I mean I know that the release of any of the source code by your magicians pretending to be hackers supports the story that MtCocks was an amateurish exchange, but if MtCocks was really trying to blame the digitcoin protocol, it would seem that their own code would have to support that story.  Otherwise it is a potential point of incrimination for the CEO.

You know another thing that occurred to me, if you had gotten away with something like this, what would prevent you from just doing it again?  I mean if you already had people lined up for roles it seems like you could shift some things around, open another exchange, lather, rinse, and repeat.
sr. member
Activity: 378
Merit: 250
Born to chew bubble gum and kick ass
This couldn't happen in reality, because people usually get honest and ethical around money...

Smiley

I share your point of view. It is unbelievable my story could happen in reality. That's why I wrote in the foreword that this was a fictional story.
zyk
full member
Activity: 224
Merit: 101
Will "you" get caught at the end?

No, but one of the distraction / smokescreen that already surfaced would give me the necessary room for manouvering myself out of the situation and more or less help the scapegoat (in case things were turning criminal for him).

how and why those things still haven´t turned criminal against him is the source of utter disgust and can only mean one thing...GTFO of cold storage and sell the

hell before your head is handed to you....
full member
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banned but not broken
This couldn't happen in reality, because people usually get honest and ethical around money...

Smiley
sr. member
Activity: 378
Merit: 250
Born to chew bubble gum and kick ass
Will "you" get caught at the end?

No, but one of the distraction / smokescreen that already surfaced would give me the necessary room for manouvering myself out of the situation and more or less help the scapegoat (in case things were turning criminal for him).
zyk
full member
Activity: 224
Merit: 101
Miss Whale should be easily identified, if somebody only would be interested in a criminal investigation of the trading and Fiat account records...

The existance  of the entity of Mr. X will prove itself then by the selling off of bitcoin to under a hundred bucks when the recent manipulation ends !

GTFO
full member
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Will "you" get caught at the end?
I hope so!!!
newbie
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a timeline : http://pastebin.com/jES4zEuf

although, some details in the timeline are missing...


truly splendid writeup already, wouldn't mind details contributing to the story (from which everyone can draw his own conclusions).
sr. member
Activity: 378
Merit: 250
Born to chew bubble gum and kick ass
who is Stephane Portha (known scammer) and why is he connected with Mt.Gox Mark Karpeles?

No names please. The story is fictional. It is for entertainment purposes only.
legendary
Activity: 1918
Merit: 1570
Bitcoin: An Idea Worth Spending
I like this story... but first to understand the story and make it a good story, we need character build up... in order to connect with them and their reasoning's.

and to do that right we need to understand who would be playing these characters.

Exchange "MtCocks" - Played by Gox
Cryptocurrency "Digitcoin" - Played by Bitcoin
Dicks CEO aka "Scapegoat" - Played by Mark Karpeles
"Coxed" - Played by "Goxxed"

-Option 1 (Too Easy, Too Public)
-Option 2- (Most logical and still public, yet controlled). See; Coinkaida.

Miss Whale(s) -
two-digit-wiseguy -
Concerned Dicks Customer "Burger King" -
IRC Chat Guys -
Mr. X (role as "Friends w/ Other Exchanges & Joint Statement Influences") -
People's Person aka Jesus aka Childs Face (role as person liked by the masses) -
Coinkaida -

------------

Seeing this story, and some of the characters and their motives...
I think some back history on a few of them is needed to create reasoning as to why certain motives are there. Also, some characters/roles are missing from the story.

And the best character actor in the world [is] Mr.-you-mean-60%-for-you-and-40%-for-me.



Bonus clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=8MqZpVb8yL8#t=530
legendary
Activity: 3304
Merit: 4543
diamond-handed zealot
hope you got some good life insurance buddy
legendary
Activity: 1918
Merit: 1570
Bitcoin: An Idea Worth Spending
I like this story... but first to understand the story and make it a good story, we need character build up... in order to connect with them and their reasoning's.

and to do that right we need to understand who would be playing these characters.

Exchange "MtCocks" - Played by Gox
Cryptocurrency "Digitcoin" - Played by Bitcoin
Dicks CEO aka "Scapegoat" - Played by Mark Karpeles
"Coxed" - Played by "Goxxed"

-Option 1 (Too Easy, Too Public)
-Option 2- (Most logical and still public, yet controlled). See; Coinkaida.

Miss Whale(s) -
two-digit-wiseguy -
Concerned Dicks Customer "Burger King" -
IRC Chat Guys -
Mr. X (role as "Friends w/ Other Exchanges & Joint Statement Influences") -
People's Person aka Jesus aka Childs Face (role as person liked by the masses) -
Coinkaida -

------------

Seeing this story, and some of the characters and their motives...
I think some back history on a few of them is needed to create reasoning as to why certain motives are there. Also, some characters/roles are missing from the story.

And the best character actor in the world [is] Mr.-you-mean-60%-for-you-and-40%-for-me.

sr. member
Activity: 357
Merit: 250
a timeline : http://pastebin.com/jES4zEuf

although, some details in the timeline are missing...

sr. member
Activity: 357
Merit: 250
I too, like to leave some for the imagination in story telling.

There is a reason why I left some characters without actors names.


I think it will be interesting to see what others think will be best played in those vacant roles.

 Grin
sr. member
Activity: 378
Merit: 250
Born to chew bubble gum and kick ass
I like this story... but first to understand the story and make it a good story, we need character build up... in order to connect with them and their reasoning's.

I never was good at telling story. Besides English is not my mother tongue. Please forgive me.


and to do that right we need to understand who would be playing these characters.

Exchange "Dick" - Played by Gox

Edited from Dick into MtCock, sir.


I think some back history on a few of them is needed to create reasoning as to why certain motives are there. Also, some characters/roles are missing from the story.

If you believe some characters are missing, please supplement the story.
sr. member
Activity: 357
Merit: 250
I like this story... but first to understand the story and make it a good story, we need character build up... in order to connect with them and their reasoning's.

and to do that right we need to understand who would be playing these characters.

Exchange "MtCocks" - Played by Gox
Cryptocurrency "Digitcoin" - Played by Bitcoin
Dicks CEO aka "Scapegoat" - Played by Mark Karpeles
"Coxed" - Played by "Goxxed"

-Option 1 (Too Easy, Too Public)
-Option 2- (Most logical and still public, yet controlled). See; Coinkaida.

Miss Whale(s) -
two-digit-wiseguy -
Concerned Dicks Customer "Burger King" -
IRC Chat Guys -
Mr. X (role as "Friends w/ Other Exchanges & Joint Statement Influences") -
People's Person aka Jesus aka Childs Face (role as person liked by the masses) -
Coinkaida -

------------

Seeing this story, and some of the characters and their motives...
I think some back history on a few of them is needed to create reasoning as to why certain motives are there. Also, some characters/roles are missing from the story.
legendary
Activity: 1008
Merit: 1000
Making money since I was in the womb! @emc2whale
sr. member
Activity: 378
Merit: 250
Born to chew bubble gum and kick ass
I. Foreword

This a fictional story. It has nothing to do with the current events. All similarities to any person are unintended. While reading this story please remember daddy Loozik is ALWAYS wrong. For sure there will be better stories of how to steal $ 0.5 billion than this fictional and made up story.


II. The story (small part of it)

If I were criminally minded and at the same time not stupid and wanted to steal $0.5 billion, I would knew that my preys had to be ordinary people (poor therefore stupid). I wouldn’t have dared to steal from the rich (not stupid) – they would find out quickly.

I would need to steal from the masses. Masses can be easily tricked and then controlled. If I knew a thing or two about cryptocurrencies I would steal funds from the biggest cryptocurrency exchange (let’s call this exchange ‘’MtCocks’’). And let’s call the cryptocurrency  ‘’Digitcoin’’.


1. Planning and securing the necessary resources:

I would for sure secure the availability of major actors.

There must always be a scapegoat in undertakings like this one (the robbed masses always need someone to blame), so the scapegoat would be the exchange’s CEO. I would offer him a soft landing after the theft. It would not be a problem for the masses to accept that MtCocks' CEO is the one to blame. Lots of fuckups happened (unexplained crashes, hacks, an accountant mistakenly executing huge orders, etc.) in the history of MtCocks. Masses had already been led to believe that they were ‘’coxed'’ many times in the past. There would be no problem in convincing the masses they were coxed again.

I would need the looted money to be liquidated somewhere unnoticed (in stealth mode). How could this be done? This could be handled in two ways:
- option 1: through existing exchanges using their dark pools – however there would be a risk of too many people knowing too much,
- option 2: through a new exchange that would need to be created for the purpose of routing the looted coins; the exchange would need to have a certain unique feature so that selling of the looted coins is unnoticed, e.g. the exchange shouldn’t report volume in its feed (you do not show volume = the public does not know how much coins are traded).
Which way should I go? Let’s say I would want to stay in the business of screwing people for a longer period, therefore my preference would be option 2.

I would of course secure MtCocks' market maker(s) for the undertaking. Let’s refer to this person or a group of persons as Miss Whale. Miss Whale will later be needed to transfer assets out of MtCocks.

For the final stage of the planned theft I would need to blind masses with excess of shitty and misleading information to focus their attention on the unimportant stuff. I needed them to be distracted from seeing what is being done. Like a magician who makes movement with his right hand to catch your attention on this hand, while pulling out a card from the left hand unnoticed.

The distraction should be muliti-track. Hey – it is a grand theft after all. The more tricks are played on the masses the better.

I would find a person with some M&A experience (therefore financial background) with a fancy name, like two-digit-wiseguy, so that a potential acquisition smokescreen could be played (to substantiate a takeover story).

I would find a concerned MtCocks' customer with a fancy name, like Burger King, so that a smokescreen of how MtCocks' CEO is a ruthless capitalist could be played (to substantiate a story that MtCocks' collapse is caused by CEO’s greed and that he stole all the funds for himself). MtCocks' CEO already agreed he would be a scapegoat.

I would find some guys who would be releasing IRC chat conversations with MtCocks' CEO to ‘’prove’’ how stupid and clueless he was so that a smokescreen of how MtCocks' CEO badly manages his company could be played (to substantiate a story that he is not a bad guy after all, just a dreamer who fucked up by wanting to create his business only on PHP code).

I might also need someone who is friends with all exchanges so that this person can influence other exchanges actions in case a joint statement is needed. Let’s call him Mr. X.

And for sure I would need someone who is liked by the masses. You know, just like Jesus was liked by the masses. This needed to be someone with a child’s face – people forget sins made in childhood.


2. Implementing the plan

Miss Whale would withdraw gradually funds from MtCocks over time and pour it into other exchanges. Mr X would reassure CEOs of other exchanges how beautifully their business are run and that their growth is organic due to their technical superiority over MtCocks. The CEOs would start to like Mr. X even more. Is there anything they wouldn’t do for Mr. X?

Next I would inspire the setting up of the new exchange. I have a sense of humour – I’d call it coinkaida. I would find respected investors. Coinkaida with its notable investors and under harsh jurisdiction can’t be doing anything inappropriate, right?

While volume on MtCocks would be declining and problems with withdrawals would start, Miss Whale’s interest would be threatened, I would then send the Jesus to tell the masses that the exchange I am going to rob is just fine. Although I wouldn’t fucking allow Jesus to read from a prompter! Someone might have later guessed it had been staged.

Jesus would do his job, masses would flood MtCocks with fiat. The price on MtCocks would be higher due to the rising demand. In result Digitcoins would start to pour into MtCocks to sell them there. I would be happy. Miss Whale would be happy. And guess what, the masses would be happy too.

As Miss Whale would increase her withdrawals from MtCocks, problems for masses would start again. It is when the final coxing should be done. It’s time for the first distraction (smokescreen): our brave Burger King. The video should be nice. People should get the message: poor guy with some coins deposited at MtCocks was troubled, he truly represented the masses. Let him be called the Hero of Digitcoin from now on in the media. Although I wouldn’t fucking send a guy whom MtCocks owned only 330 – it is not credible – Burger King couldn’t have afforded a trip to Tokyo and a 7 day stay in a hotel for himself and his buddy equipped with high quality video recorder - at least Burger King should have shaken and should have cried over all his assets being gone. And for sure MtCocks' CEO could have played better (he was not even scared), I should have invested a few pennies in acting lessons for the both before shooting this movie.

Last chapter: the inevitable dip in price would happen, Miss Whale would buy cheap digitcoins with all her fiat that was left on MtCocks. Miss Whale would quickly withdraw her coins (maybe some of her fiat and digitcoins would be left in MtCocks in case a proof was later needed to show that she lost too).

Since majority of assets deposited by masses in MtCocks would be magically made ‘’disappeared’’ or ‘’unaccounted for’’ with Miss Whale’s helping hand, withdrawals would be stopped.

Some notable people would utter statements that they did not believe MtCocks was in financial trouble (it was just a technical issue, as always), so the masses would be buying as price started to fall, and fall and fall and they would be still buying even more hoping the digitcoin price to finally bottom. But frankly the bottom was never to be seen. Stupid masses.

In some point in time as the bottom wouldn’t be hit I would order MtCocks' CEO to halt trading, put a blank page with the info MtCock would be acquired, to give some credibility to the story told by two-digit-wiseguy.

Simultaneously, Mr X would arrange for a joint statement of exchanges. I would need to make sure coinkaida’s CEO name is on top – this will be a ‘’proof’’ coinkaida’s CEO didn’t like that scammer, MtCocks' CEO. But I wouldn’t be fucking releasing the joint statement with word ‘’insolvency’’ in it! Someone might have later guessed it had been staged: how possibly could competing exchanges’ CEOs know MtCocks was insolvent without looking at MtCock’s financial statements first and without insider knowledge!

MtCocks would be empty now, Miss Whale would start to make market on coinkaida. Noone would see this happening as coinkaida wouldn’t report volume. I was really smart to devise this whole volume non-reporting thing. A new trading venue should typically offer more and better over the existing venues, but I somehow made a miracle by offering less and not going out of business (well, I knew lots of coxed money will later pour into this exchange anyway).

I knew people would start investigating were their money went. Hey – I am the smart guy – let’s create a CSI thread in which people will try to do the impossible (trace the coins starting from 2011 when MtCocks' CEO supposedly proved he had owned coins at that time).

It would be bad if they started to look for coins that were routed through the network around the last dip in price on MtCock with increased volume during which Ms Whale bought her last coins on MtCocks (and later transferred). I would be in risk if someone did this.

Now, I would be very happy. MtCocks' CEO filed for bankruptcy (civil rehabilitation) – no one will touch him. The official story would be MtCocks was hacked. My magicians would reveal MtCocks' source code and client database, which would prove beyond any doubt that MtCocks was simply hacked and that the official story is OK.


III. Question:

If you were criminally minded and wanted to steal $0.5 billion would you do something more than I in this fictional story? If yes, what would you do more, e.g. invite more actors?

If you were criminally minded and wanted to steal $0.5 billion, what wouldn’t have you done?

If you were the coxed one, how would you look for your looted coins and your looted fiat, if this completely fictional story were true?
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