Topic: Old Accounts That Have Likely Been Hacked/Traded (Read 2069 times)

Plento

1. Changed password on October 17, 2024
https://bpip.org/Profile?id=301111
2. Changed email address on the same day

3. Old bitcointalk account, registered on March 24, 2014 starts posting bounty reports on July 18, 2021 after lengthy posting gaps
4. After the the recent change in password and email, account is now back with making locked ANNs in Digital goods as well as trying to participate in contests in games and rounds

I believe the account is after scamming users here as some members have already complained

One of the locked ANNs

Some of the complaints
A.
I am going to tag and flag the account on the grounds of locked ANNs.

Here's an account that woke up on Oct 14th to make some breathtakingly stupid posts:

spacelab - registered May 20, 2014

This account originally belonged to a developer who made something called BurnCoin in 2014. They were a native English speaker:


Account may have first changed hands in 2018. Its present owner couldn't string a sentence in English together to save their life:


Totally void of reason, logic or original thought. Simply stunning:

Folks, October 06, 2024, Yesterday (October 16, 2024) and today (October 17, 2024) forum time have had the highest number of accounts waking up according to the seclog

When I add newbie accounts, the list is enormous! And those three days standout in the last 30 days. I am 100% sure someone or a group of people is/are waking up their farms or stolen account
I just sampled through a few accounts and some are banned while other even feature in this thread made by jokers10 - Farm of Combo campaign rule breaking accs

So if you are looking to bust the account farmers/ stolen accounts, look no further than those 3 days, they could probably continue waking up more

seclog (only ranked up accounts) - https://bitcointalk.org/seclog.php (https://archive.ph/CwaV8)
Seclog (including newbie accounts) - https://bitcointalk.org/seclog.php?all (https://archive.ph/3Dnea)

Let's connect all the posts that were created for this character
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.64479330

Just noticed this guy churning out some real bangers (already neutral tagged by lovesmayfamilis).

CroverNo01

Date Registered: September 09, 2013

Almost a 9-year posting gap between 2014 - 2023.



Original owner was a UK-based seller of mining equipment. New owner can barely type English.

The account was registered in 2014.

fullhdpixel

https://bpip.org/Profile?p=fullhdpixel

The original account owner was involved in creating websites. He has several of them.

https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.7533501

He was also the creator of a project that he wanted to sell on the forum. In his topic, there is a single Bitcoin wallet address in 2014, which the current account owner can confirm to prove that the account is his.

https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.5989363


Posting in announcements of alternative coins ends in 2015, not counting the only post in 2017.

https://ninjastic.space/search?author=fullhdpixel&board=67

I see a break in posting for two years, after which a different writing style begins and joins the company signature.



Since 2017, the person has never returned to the topics he discussed earlier. I do not believe that after two years you can change for the worse, completely change your interests.   

Waiting for your response over here.


Please don't shitpost in my thread. As a matter of fact, please don't post in any of my threads. Thank you for your cooperation.

https://buffy.mlpforums.com/imageproxy/ResponsibleUnripeBlueshark-size_restricted.gif.9051b6c0e83db6f10601a13d5add75c1.gif

You've made a good list of criteria to possibly spot an account that has changed hand, because if we should only use one thing to spot them out wouldn't have been enough, let say "the posting gap"

Someone may leave the forum for one or more than a year due to obvious reasons and come back after some years but still the original owner,  therefore, combining a lot of things such as you have listed makes brain. Another way to possibly spot them out is posting pattern, basically the local board and other discussion board will/may change differently from where the original owner usually post.

It's actually quite simple. I've seen your posts from the very beginning, and I trust nutildah's opinion and also adhere to the version that you are not the original owner of the account. However, because I can't prove it directly, I remain in doubt, and I don't see the point in discussing it further. There are many doubts about your transfers of merits to accounts that also have an early registration date. I think that this account is not your only one. But again, until there is direct evidence, there is no point in discussing it. However, everyone has a different opinion, and for JollyGood, it always takes a little longer to agree to do something.

Not exactly positive. @JollyGood tricked here.

Importantly, I had struggled for more than 3 weeks of time for convincing @nutildah to remove a previous tag and on the exact same day @JollyGood started this. I am not seeing this was just a co-incidence. (@JollyGood waited and started their part just after end of one long debate; in fact @lovesmayfamilis hinted about this here).

I assume this that they are altogether not ready to revert back their stand (which will defame the power of their investigating skills or something) so tricking one way or other.

Sorry, I am not getting the point of need of separate topic. Why not the root-case and the resolution cannot be on the same topic.

You both made a needless drama over a minor matter.
A neutral tag that informs us that the account is managed by the same person is completely redundant. I wouldn't waste time leaving such a tag, which in the end can only cause additional, unnecessary drama and debate.
@TheGreatPython, The discussion about the neutral tag, which confirms that you are the original owner, is also exaggerated, especially since this tag can be considered as positive-neutral.

If there is something else behind everything, then open a separate discussion, although I am not sure how interested the other members will be in participating.

Perhaps this could be the first time, someone stands out and asking a justification for your trust feedback. Otherwise, when someone tries to keep their reputation up, that will not sound like suspicious overreaction to you.

Same efforts need to be shown when someone appeals. You cannot go on your own way. If you are not ready to explain your stand, then obviously you will find the situation as derailing.

This is out of coverage of this topic.

Yes, I have not earned lots of merits. Please note, this got nothing to do with account ownership

If my posts are bad, please remember there is a report option with every post. (Again nothing to do with ownership).

Yes, I am not into any campaign, again, it would be too good at least you explain what it got to do with my account ownership.

I am not answerable to guess work. (Still nothing to do with the context of this topic).

---

@nutildah tried this gimmicks way to make their post look like constructive but nothing to do with the context of the whole topic.

At least as per the criteria of this topic:

Simply, when we are into account trade related debate, there will be no need to talk about the quality level of my posts.

I asked about why focusing on off-topic things to @nutildah in multiple times within this topic here and here and here. But, they ignored and sidestepped.

---

Now, you also counting my post history's quality level against my account ownership. (Let me learn if I am missing anything here).

If this is the real sense you are using that word means, you do not need to count that particular post while leaving a comment in my trust page. You are contradicting yourself. Your claim of sense of using "purport" with that particular post is not matching.

There will be no need of continuing our discussion when you are ready to explain your stand. No topic is meant for only reporting but includes all related things as well.

This is probably the last post in this thread regarding your highly suspicious overreaction to a neutral feedback and derailing a thread that had a lot of effort put in by nutildah and others including lovesmayfamilis.

Having said that, I would like to mention this particular post because I agree with it:

You don't earn a lot of merits because your posts are bad, and that's probably the real reason why you're not in any campaign. I'm gonna guess your posts are bad because you operate several accounts simultaneously & you churn out the bare minimum to meet campaign requirements.


The word purporting has multiple meanings when used as verb vs noun: https://www.wordreference.com/definition/purporting

the meaning or sense of something, as of a piece of writing or of what one says: the general purport of the message.

I do not mind rewriting the neutral feedback if you insist but you should reopen the locked thread to discuss your feedback and not pollute this thread any further.

Yeah, because like the subject-line of this topic reminds, the evidence here being showed up are not final but only Likely. It means, if you have pints to defend, then you may go for debating.

Thank you for your opinion, moreover thank you very much for finding time to leave your opinion, this type of participation will help balancing a healthy environment across this community, otherwise we will have only biased verdicts.

This is now becoming a debating thread.
This thread supposed to be a similar thread like AI reporting thread if I am not wrong. All I wanted to see a signed message from an old address from that guy and he did it. Now, if you still have doubts, you may leave a neutral which JollyGood did. But you should have a point why you are leaving that.

OP, if you disagree with the feedback, create your own reputation thread and invite JollyGood to join if he wants (You seems created a thread, but it's locked). If other community members think he is not right and overreacting, he might get some DT exclusion. But if community thinks he is right, you are likely to get more feedbacks.

I did the maximum available method to prove my ownership. But in your comment, you sound like I have manipulated to pretend like.

Simply, why not your comment could be like "he signed a message to show ownership", instead of "he signed a message purporting to show ownership".

FYI:
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/purport

Can you elaborate on what seems unconvincing to you?

Yeah, I can sign but what changes it will bring?

Also, I like to ask what makes you feel like purporting instead of actual?

Thank you for posting this because it is interesting indeed. Maybe he will address your post.


 

I am not convinced with your term purport in my reputation page. For revising this, what should I need to do.

By you not answering those questions it is your prerogative but your refusal is unrelated to the neutral feedback as it was placed beforehand. No part of the neutral feedback that I left you is factually incorrect. In fact that is exactly what happened:

After being questioned about whether the "TheGreatPython" account was being controlled/operated by the original creator, he signed a message purporting to show ownership

After your earlier comment in this thread (in your opinion) turning in to a PM between you and nutildah, I would like to not engage in an elongated process but if can you satisfactorily explain why the neutral tag is a problem for you or which part of it is incorrect, I will revisit it.

You are the one who frequents this topic but you are too busy on checking everyone's post history rather stating your opinion into an on-going conversation.

I meant this initiative of fighting against account trade should not be based on individual's decision rather it should be a community driven. It means everyone's opinion matters and should be counted.

In summary, when more people participate in an initiative, then the errors will be very little.

Well, now it's caught the attention of someone who needs time to remove their tags . And while TheGreatPython has already removed one neutral tag, ironically a new one has appeared. TheGreatPython, having someone's name in the reputation section very often results in people getting many more tags instead of just one.


edit:

TheGreatPython, this address is interesting. 1NGeVpgunUA1JuzNNddtceYHqYCfPaZBXT
It still has bitcoins.

https://blockchair.com/bitcoin/address/1NGeVpgunUA1JuzNNddtceYHqYCfPaZBXT

Can you sign the address from it?

And isn't this what you meant when you suggested creating places in the signature of companies for those who haven't spent their bitcoins for a long time?
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/--5510125

https://ninjastic.space/addresses?address=1NGeVpgunUA1JuzNNddtceYHqYCfPaZBXT

What led you to ask these? I am sure that you need to clarify why you are asking these....

I mean, if you find anything for change of ownership, I am ready to answer for those.

In other words, @nutildah found that beer post and cooked their own story against my recent local board posting. That beer post was from 2021, so I needed to sign with any date before 2021. If you are concerned about before 2016, you need yours.

I received the PM and noted the post here. I saw the address from 2016 in that post and the message you signed therefore I will revise (not remove) the tag. I have a couple of questions I hope you do not mind answering even though they are direct and to the point and even though I think I know what you will answer, nevertheless:

Are you the person that created/registered the TheGreatPython account?
Did the account ever change hands either for money or any other purpose?

@JollyGood,

I signed a message here against OP's doubt..

Please remove your tag.... (Also send you PM).

---

@nutildah (OP),

I like to suggest you about keep updating open-post of this topic with the list of cases investigated here along with final conclusion.

I tagged the account with neutral feedback just as you did. They also have an account with another forum therefore it is safe to assume this is all about signature campaigns. When accounts are traded, what are the chances it will be limited to just a single account rather than it being one of many trades to add to the account farm portfolio? There could be much more.

Considerably the account selling business is one that has been viewed as legal on the forum and most of it is due to the fact that, there isn’t an actual proof that, the accounts did change hands except for cases where we have some obvious strains on how this is been done on wake up accounts which is;
Email and password resets,
Change in posting style,
Local board participation and
Boards in which such account is known to frequent.

How about, having to attack this form of behavior by seeking out the goals for which the accounts are meant to seek! I’ll explain;

Most of the bought accounts are known to always be geared towards signatures and loans. It’s the orientation that can ever exists for these bought accounts and there is a way to actually tackle that by attacking it’s goals. Perhaps an implementation into the rules of the forum by disorientating the goals. Maybe not the loans as it is in fact largely based on the persons offering these loans but by default as a means to tackle account sales;

Can’t we have a function that actually gives you a signature ban after haven’t been inactive on the forum for over a year, where the ban can apply for half-life of your absentee?
Where the ban serves as a time to learn what have changed in the days of your absence on the forum should you have claims to be the original owner.

It would be a half life system, Where;
X = Time out (months)
2 = Divisor to determine half life sig ban.
We could use 12months (1year) as the most basic.

Haven’t been out for a year,
You get a 12/2 = 6months sig ban.
Absent for 2years and you get a 24/2 = 12 months signature ban.
You were absent for a year, you get a 6months signature ban.

This would in turn have a direct effect on buying of old accounts and I doubt there are active users of the forum that would sell there accounts. The most I’ve seen care so much of there reputation and like to keep things that away, in the likes of Lauda and Leo, although the case of Leo was an ill fated situation but, it’s credible how Leo handled it and I get emotional just writing about Leo but, it’s the idea am hoping you all get.

If this half life sig ban becomes the case, activated by default, it would directly undermine buying of old accounts.

martinex

The account owner changed. Registered March 22, 2014, 05:39:34 PM
The original account owner wrote in the Chinese local section. Posts stopped in 2016. All posts in Chinese are deleted by the new owner who bought or hacked the account.

https://ninjastic.space/search?author=martinex&board=119
https://ninjastic.space/search?author=martinex&board=118

There are also some early posts from 2017 to 2021. There are not many of them. Probably the account was trading and was not active during this time.

After that, in 2023, posts start in the Indonesian local section and English.
https://bpip.org/Profile?p=martinex

Its just a neutral tag. You don't earn a lot of merits because your posts are bad, and that's probably the real reason why you're not in any campaign. I'm gonna guess your posts are bad because you operate several accounts simultaneously & you churn out the bare minimum to meet campaign requirements.

Having said that, I will delete the neutral tag on the basis that account trading wasn't really frowned upon at the time you acquired the account.

Because, when something is NOT TRUE, why should I bear that?


1. Yes, I signed up in 2013
2. I have been participating in gambling for a long time but not sure why you STATE "all of sudden" regarding this.
3. Yes, started posting in Pak local board recently; no rule or no DT practice prevents that AFAIK.
(Please note I am not switching from one local board to another but only from English boards to one local board)

Now, please tell me what are you proving by my last 120 days activity.

---

I feel like my case in this topic is going 1 to 1 for a long time. Usually I do see lots of people do state their opinion in all other topics but here I feel like I am talking with @nutildah in PM.

I do not know, maybe he intended to add ~kro55 but forgot the tilde?

I did not check for the potential second change of ownership in June 2021 but there is definitely something suspicious here because the 2015 to 2017 gap still seems to be the original owner. The next gap between 2017 to 2019 and the immediate post of staking the address, that post does not seem to be made by the original owner.

One of the things I remember about the borovichok account had in his favour as a defence was the staking of a new address from by signing an old address somehow proved he was the original owner. Eventually he abandoned that account after multiple tags (and no doubt uses others here) but the point I think is that is how some sales take place therefore if the seller staked an address in the past they have to sign a message or give the private key as part of the deal for the new owner.

In this case, I do not think the original owner staked an address therefore if the account was not sold it could possibly have been hacked but either way it does not seem to be operated by the original owner.

You removed the part where I explain why I included it:


I get it: you've owned this account for a while and are surprised that its getting tagged just not (even if just neutral tag), but I do not at all believe you are its original owner.

@nutildah,

You have NOT still answered about what you are proving by including the above picture of my favourite topics in last 120 days?

TribalBob

The account does not belong to the real owner. The first owner is a miner who mined many alternative coins himself. This can be traced by his posts in the section.
https://ninjastic.space/search?author=TribalBob&board=159

The second owner is from Indonesia. The language of the posts and the style itself have changed greatly. The Indonesian language started in 2018.
https://ninjastic.space/search?author=TribalBob&board=192

I see a gap of two years when the second owner abruptly changes the direction of interests.





Although I have not found a single Bitcoin address that could be verified before 2017, I am sure the account has changed hands.

My claim is this:


What I'm saying is that a lot of the threads you participate in are filled with spammy drivel. The bar for what passes as "not spam" on the Gambling board is very, very low. I doubt anybody who is not in a signature campaign will ever read any of them.

---

Combining this with the last post as it hasn't been 24 hours yet and I don't want to forget about it.

kro55

First off, I don't understand why Igebotz would add this user to their trust list as they haven't left any feedback.

Original owner's last post was in Dec 2017; prior to that it was Aug 2015.

The first thing the second owner did - in Sep 2019 - was stake a Bitcoin address which was never used on the forum before or after.

The account seems to have changed hands again in Jun 2021, as there was a 1+ year posting gap since May 2020. BPIP data corroborates these potential changes in ownership:



They also received a merit from this user which I want to remember to take a look at later. (2nd edit: seems to belong to the original account creator)

You mean all of sudden to gambling boards?

How this picture proves that I am new to above topics?

Yeah, I have been confident on my English to ignore my local board but recently changed my mind from read-only mode. Still, I could not get how this proves change of ownership.

It is your wish but you need to justify your claims.

---

This is surely out of this topic coverage. If you find any of my post is spam, you are most welcome to report. There are mods to take care of...

OK, I just have a hard time believing that someone with a 2013 account would all the sudden participate in spam discussions about gambling & start posting in the Pakistan thread for the first time.



You of course have the right to post anywhere you want, but I'm not removing my neutral tag, which I think is fairly worded.

---

Good find. Went from a real, individually-minded contributor to hivemind shitposter.

    Bananington

Registration year July 18, 2011 was inactive from 2013 to 2019.



The account, a former miner. And was popular in the digital goods section.

Clear delineation of posts. From 2011-08-18 to 2012-01-24, publications in the Mining support section: https://ninjastic.space/search?author=Bananington&board=40
Since then, not a word on these topics..



There is a change of mail. Now it is an altcoin lover, a trader, etc.
Posts exclusively about trading or alternative coins.
In December 2020, a pause in posts begins, and the account wakes up with a password change in 2022, preparing its account to participate in the subscription company. Application for participation https://ninjastic.space/post/60813915



The owner is American, he talked about it several times, but now these posts have been deleted and are only in the archive.
https://ninjastic.space/post/443938

Now if you look at his merit forwarding, he gives preference to Nigerian accounts, which they do in return.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;u=34694
I will not press this as proof of residence. But anyone who is not blind will easily see it themselves.

https://ninjastic.space/addresses?address=bc1qnltt9tt5ddwkwud0jeyyle7crfnlsrusl0nmch

https://blockchair.com/bitcoin/transaction/c976a2af070e8f80e62aae009f7523e3ef12445e9c3e72d7f63baffe2e649410

https://ninjastic.space/addresses?address=1CZwnQQTrGUkfJg28xnGqcanFrcbsBN53m

The only address the account had before changing the email and password was 1EpZx9HSke6Z7Gncr1zvYwi5KXRFRXvsa8 https://ninjastic.space/post/444190, which could be proof that the owner remained the same.

I'll send him a link to this post.

No, this addy was from cryptsy exchange.

Any chance you can sign a message from this address?

1JvUpZkXynDUhsqBEFLukEi2TCS7meKmfF

The signature has been verified. Thank you for clearing the confusion.

Thank you, for the head up.

---

-----BEGIN BITCOIN SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hi, I am TheGreatPython from bitcointalk.org and today is September 10, 2024. I am signing this message to prove the ownership of my account against the topic=5506921. Thank you.
-----BEGIN SIGNATURE-----
1FjTWnJP1BwLh9aJqqKuJKCNzypo4Cu52F
IF5Uw1z86VjKvFCWtliHsiTRGHjn55m+lgtSY38Xi/oVRzmyZ1e37FtQCjJIgygUrLYduW1usFfszFpNpApzTec=
-----END BITCOIN SIGNED MESSAGE-----

Here is the unedited post where I posted that address:

I would say then show everybody that we are wrong and you are right for sign a message via one of the old addresses you posted.
Saddly your Account is a very old one and you still missed to post in the Stake your Bitcoin address here

1JvUpZkXynDUhsqBEFLukEi2TCS7meKmfF
1FjTWnJP1BwLh9aJqqKuJKCNzypo4Cu52F
12DPg31ahx3RVcUEzAizdY3opxTSJuWpnM
1NGeVpgunUA1JuzNNddtceYHqYCfPaZBXT
1P6TDeBp7s4Ua95R4ABgzffyKLRaBgMQY2
bc1qswf0jz75luycwde46zz2zfrf9jm63zzmfw94j0

If you can make a message from you oldest one i guess that would be fine.

I guess I still have the access to the addys posted in my early days to sign a message.

Gaps in my posting history happened due to multiple reasons like exams or health reasons. But this is first time, I learn that gaps in posts prove the "change of ownership".

You are contracting yourself and not considering about the people who move out for studying or for job to Dubai or Europe.

One of the other things I have noticed is the number of accounts that are participating in a freebie signature campaign. Clearly this does not apply to all of those participating because many were on campaigns before they shutdown leaving them waiting for another opportunity to apply but many of the dubious accounts are hoping to be next in line when the same campaign manager has slots open on a paying campaign.

Whether those very many accounts (some that you alluded to) have been either hacked or traded, I think the modus operandi of the puppeteer controlling the accounts is to attempt to come across as a genuine member with the ultimate motive being to enrol another farmed account on to a campaign.

You are right. The first owner spoke Russian. There are several posts in the Russian section.
https://ninjastic.space/search?author=IvugeoEvolutionCoin&board=72

But something else is interesting. The account you found has several more that can be grouped by the Telegram nickname.
https://ninjastic.space/search?content=Telegram%20Username%3A%20Nicholasogbu

One first appeared in 2018, but it was not profitable to deal with a newbie account for the bounty and the company signature, and the user bought an account with a high rank.

https://bitcointalksearch.org/user/chelsea4life-2403313
https://bitcointalksearch.org/user/wisepuppy-2403310

He is very active in changing passwords and emails.
https://bpip.org/Profile?id=505918

In the same way, you can find a Telegram contact for another account that also has a negative tag for buying an account.

https://ninjastic.space/post/51725767
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=trust;u=18587

I will leave the tag.

Look how Ivugeo coin/exchange representative turned into a shitposter.

This was the last post made by the original owner,


Three years later he woke up and this is his 2nd post


The English they spoke before;


and now

You're right, its not enough, its just anecdotal evidence that supports my claim. And you could be right. People will say anything sometimes.

They also have death penalty for rape in Pakistan, yet there are many cases of rape recorded all the time, especially with women from foreign countries.
I don't think his beer post is enough to claim account was hacked, and he surely watched a bunch of american movies with people eating pizza and drinking beer.

Oh man, there's no way I'd ever pay attention to things like this. 
Anyway, good catch.

Here's another one that's seemingly gone unnoticed for too long:

TheGreatPython

Account created Oct 2013, primarily used to take part in giveaways, contests & then signature campaigns, so its always been a shitposting account of sorts.

Posting gaps:

May 2014 - Oct 2015
Dec 2015 - Apr 2016
Jan 2017 - Jun 2017
Oct 2023 - Feb 2024

Seems to have been owned by the same person from Jun 2017 - Nov 2020, and possibly still belongs to that owner, as there are no BPIP seclog entries. However, the account first started posting in the Pakistan thread in July 2024, while Nov 2022, they were claiming to drink beer and eat pizza, something I don't think anybody in Pakistan actually does (alcohol being forbidden for the Muslim majority).


Only 3% of Pakistan's population is allowed to buy beer. Not saying that its not possible to get beer there, but its definitely not "allowed" for most people.

Anyway, this account appears to have changed hands at least twice given the posting gaps.

The original owner was quite frequent in the Hardware Board
While the current first post was on the Altcoin discussion Board and very active in the gambling board.
 There's a huge disparity in English not to mention this
password reset via email before waking up.

If you think changed hands deserve to be painted, then do it by yourself. Otherwise, you're contradict what you said.

That's your opinion, other users think different, they view having company account and individual account are same, it belong to the same person who operate it. So in case one of them scam or did something wrong, both of them receive the same consequence.

I don’t find red tagging accounts that have changed hands to be out of place. It’s more like, having to inherit a certificate which can’t be done.
Your account is a representation of your physical equivalent, just on the forum and so, you can’t have 2 persona behind an account. There isn’t a then and now when you aren’t the same person.
Of course the case might be different when it is a company account (casinos, sportsbook, exchanges and what have you). When it’s an individual account, it just shouldn’t be and as such, tagging isn’t out of place.

In that case, here's another account that is clearly not the owner. Read the reference link. He says he just found out about the forum, but he already has the rank of Sr. Member.

https://bpip.org/Profile?id=149464


the owner of the account was a miner

Well nutildah, you know I do hand out red tags any time I come across accounts that have changed hands, and I've never thought a neutral was enough--but of course I realize this has always been a controversial position, and I respect everyone's opinion on how to handle people who've bought, sold, or hacked accounts.

I'll have a look at the accounts here and then will probably whip out the spray gun.  There's nothing good about members buying or selling accounts, and the potential for some serious wrongdoing is huge (and I know you know this).  Thanks for creating this thread, bro.  I don't go sniffing these idiots out anymore, but damned if I'll ignore them when they're served to me on a plate.

Here's another one I saw today, merit hunting in the WO thread. They're also participating in merit contests while writing drivel on the Gambling board & elsewhere.

Glen Hoddle

The account appears to have been sold in May 2024.



Secondly, their level of English goes from this:


to this:


Seems like this is a case of an email expiring & somebody recovering the account with a re-registered email address. There's no way this account belongs to the original owner. These kind of accounts give themselves away every time.

For years I've noticed that a common theme among account farmers is to use their bounty/campaign earnings to buy aged accounts.

While I personally don't red tag bought accounts, I'm not against it so long as there is ample proof the account has changed hands. Instead, this is a thread for neutral tags in cases where it seems highly likely that the current owner and original owner are different.

Why do this? Mainly because when someone uses a bought account, it gives the impression that the accomplishments of somebody else are their own. Its a misrepresentation of one's own capabilities, accomplishments, and/or standing.

How to do this? Here's my main criteria:

• Long posting gap (1 or more years)
• Noticeable change in writing style
• Quickly joins sig campaign or bounty
• Change in posting habits (places, frequency, etc.)
• No cryptographic proof owner is the original

---

For instance, while investigating what I believe is a firmly-entrenched alt farm, I came across this account:

cozytrade - registered Dec 15, 2013

It already has a neutral feedback from JollyGood:

---

Then we have this account:

GigaBit - registered December 21, 2013

This is one of the more ridiculous transformations I've seen:



I mean, do I really have to say anything else here? Same thing as before: the account goes from masterful use of the English language (the new owner never changed the original location of Ontario, Canada) to posting once again drivel in mediocre English in the Gambling board:

---

From now on I will write a reference in this thread when neutral tagging an account I suspect of being hacked/traded. You can feel free to use it for your own tags, so long as at least the 1st two items in the criteria list are met. I'm against issuing red trust solely based on these criteria, however.