It is astounding how many scammers there are.

cuddlefish

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Quote from: PwrLeveld on May 08, 2011, 09:44:13 PM

Well to give my 2 Bitcents,
It is anyonmous and not face to face. Scammers are inevitable and you need to be a smart buyer when using bitcoins.
However, I truly posted because it said read 666 times when I opened ths thread. Apearantly scammers are the devil.

Use Ubitex. Face-to-face exchange, with reputation.

bcpokey

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Quote from: DukeOfEarl on May 17, 2011, 09:30:03 AM

Quote from: Brre on May 17, 2011, 09:00:26 AM

Maybe it is a measure of Bitcoin's potential... you don't get scammers if there is no value or worth...

heh, on the other hand, maybe it's a nail in the coffin. Wink

Nah, if it were then ebay, paypal, most online stores, etc. would have gone defunct a decade ago. This is just one of the major growing pains of a new and popular service, that the community needs to take time to work out. When EBay first started out it was scam central, kind of a wild frontier, and over time it got refined in such a way that it's (perhaps excessively) safe. There will always be people looking to get something for nothing, fleecing sheep, just one of the sad little lessons of life, but I think most people understand this, and as they become more familiar with a service and safeguards are made easier and more readily available it will be less and less of a detriment to the service as a whole.

In relation to OP, there is a quote I enjoy:

"You cannot cheat an Honest man."

Sadly I'm not an honest man, but it's a good concept to keep in mind.

DukeOfEarl

newbie

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Quote from: Brre on May 17, 2011, 09:00:26 AM

Maybe it is a measure of Bitcoin's potential... you don't get scammers if there is no value or worth...

heh, on the other hand, maybe it's a nail in the coffin. Wink

Brre

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Maybe it is a measure of Bitcoin's potential... you don't get scammers if there is no value or worth...

nitroburn

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I'm confused how this should be astounding to anyone but those who haven't ever used the internet.

gigabytecoin

sr. member

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I am not surprised in the least.

With Bitcoin's anonymous nature, it is inevitable that scammers and frauds will infiltrate the marketplace.

Those with the most common sense (and paranoia) will prevail!

Distribution

hero member

Activity: 711

Merit: 500

Fight fire with photos.

Quote from: paleface on May 12, 2011, 07:53:01 PM

pretty sure this whole joint is getting lit up by a small set of organized scammers operating out of canada that used to focus primarily on mischief involving online pharmacies, drug forums, and steroids. You poor kids are in for a real dissapointing (as in losing faith in humanity dissapointing) treat because these characters are nasty.

Damn shame!

You see them everywhere. I've had them on Ebay, I've had them in business. There's just been such a large influx of them lately in the Bitcoin world. But that's why people don't even want to deal with people who have a few posts and no other reputation.

paleface

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pretty sure this whole joint is getting lit up by a small set of organized scammers operating out of canada that used to focus primarily on mischief involving online pharmacies, drug forums, and steroids. You poor kids are in for a real dissapointing (as in losing faith in humanity dissapointing) treat because these characters are nasty.

Damn shame!

flags

newbie

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I was a little confused when my first post in Marketplace->Selling got such a negative response. Now I see why.

It seems anonymity brings out the worst in people, from my experience. Many people have issues dealing face-to-face, but are actually brilliant minds capable of quick, dirty scams online. I can see the BitCoin community peaking in this regard in the coming month/months, as a massive amount of new people seem to be joining to get in on the action (so to speak.)

I guess the real solution to this is to only deal with people who seem to have good feedback. The link SgtSpike posted (bitcoinfeedback.com) looks promising; let's hope it develops.

SgtSpike

legendary

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You can also look up the person/business on bitcoinfeedback.com. It's a short list right now, but growing...

PwrLeveld

member

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Merit: 10

Computta Mine Your Own BTC

Well to give my 2 Bitcents,
It is anyonmous and not face to face. Scammers are inevitable and you need to be a smart buyer when using bitcoins.
However, I truly posted because it said read 666 times when I opened ths thread. Apearantly scammers are the devil.

luv2drnkbr

hero member

Activity: 793

Merit: 1026

Quote from: Distribution on May 08, 2011, 09:20:52 AM

I didn't vote you down. I haven't voted at all. Did you vote me down?

No, but my first downvote happened very soon after your reply, so I thought it was you. I actually don't even know how to vote on reputation around here...

kiba

legendary

Activity: 980

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DIdn't get scammed yet.

I am lucky. Wink

Distribution

hero member

Activity: 711

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Fight fire with photos.

I didn't vote you down. I haven't voted at all. Did you vote me down?

luv2drnkbr

hero member

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Why did you vote me down? My advice was good, whether or not I happen to follow it!

Distribution

hero member

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Fight fire with photos.

Quote from: luv2drnkbr on May 07, 2011, 06:43:29 PM

lol so after posting this great advice, I just got my first paypal chargeback today. lol just had to let you guys know....

Doesn't surprise me. I'm telling you, they're horrible people.

luv2drnkbr

hero member

Activity: 793

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lol so after posting this great advice, I just got my first paypal chargeback today. lol just had to let you guys know....

hazek

legendary

Activity: 1078

Merit: 1003

Just like in a real world flea market people will have to learn how to recognize scammers through their mistakes.

serial

newbie

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Merit: 0

Re: Distribution

Ok thanks I'll use ClearCoin exclusively then until I too get established so my lack of reputation doesn't matter so much.

Distribution

hero member

Activity: 711

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Fight fire with photos.

Quote from: serial on May 07, 2011, 01:52:34 AM

I'm jumping into the bitcoin community head first and getting scammed is essentially the only logistical concern I have. Would you guys say that these forums, or #bitcoin-otc's bot, or some other place is the best to establish someone as honest? I only say that because I'm inclined to trust anyone from here with a few good trades to their name but I'm also brand new to this and I am going to have to earn trust as well so I'd like to start in the place most people prefer.

I also looked at clearcoin but as I'm intending to be the one supplying the bitcoins and they allow you to simply not confirm receipt and get your bitcoins returned it doesn't really work irrespective of trust level.

Yeah, you'll want to do a full spectrum evaluation. Don't just look at one thing. I dealt with a guy who I ended up not doing business with even though he had a few good otc web of trust ratings, but hardly any forum posts and a horrible habit of non-communication. I also found out everyone else who had dealt with him had problems too. So use your head, and use ClearCoin. If you offer ClearCoin and the other person refuses, don't do business with them.

Topic: It is astounding how many scammers there are. (Read 4367 times)