What happened:: A user on the forums posted in currency exchange that he was looking to sell 0.3 BTC for Western Union. He wanted to be contacted via PM or email. I emailed him regarding the transaction. I was initially suspicious (Western Union?), but tried to reassure myself through negotiation. What I found out didn't exactly soothe my concerns.
1: He was selling 0.3 BTC at $192. This is far below the average price.
2: We agreed to use PayPal. I thought this would be better than WU, because at least with this I have a means of resolving a scam. However, the user lives in Israel, and you cannot send a Gift payment to Israel from the USA. The user wanted me to send the funds, open a dispute, close the dispute, and then he would send the funds. This (like WU) would leave me with no way to get my funds back if he pulled a fast one.
3: He was willing to accept half of the payment, send half of the coins, then finish the transaction. He was NOT willing to send half of the coins, receive the full payment, and send the rest. No matter what we negotiated, all outcomes would result in me sending a non-refundable payment to Israel with nothing to show for it but his "word".
4: I told him that it would take later today (negotiations were entered this morning) for me to get to a WU counter. He said that would be fine, and he is "online 24/7". This was a bit suspicious.
5: After driving to the grocery store where I can send a WU wire, I took his personal information (which is....)
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Yarin Groiser
Phone: 0523011189
Hadera, Israel
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6: After receiving his wire information, I filled out the form, withdrew $200 from the ATM, and asked him to send half of the coins. He refused. I explained that this entire situation is extremely sketchy. At one point he told me "I can proof you via teamviewer" regarding his wallet balance (I assume). Another hallmark of a scammer.
7: At the end of it all, he refused to send even a portion of the coins first, but was more than happy to accept a portion of the payment first. To a scammer, getting $10, $20, or $90 for doing nothing but sending emails is all the same - it's a payday. I informed him of my concerns regarding the points I've outlined here, informed him that I would be making a scam accusation on the forums, and wished him the best of luck.
Scammers Profile Link: Unknown - the transaction thread is deleted.
Reference Link: This is the link to the now deleted thread. You can google $192 from these forums and see a portion of the OP.https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/--389954
Amount Scammed: Attempted to scam me for $192 (or $96, depending on how you look at it)
Payment Method: Western Union (Or PayPal after opening and immediately closing a dispute)
Proof of Payment: No payment was made.
PM/Chat Logs: I can provide the emails sent back and forth.
Additional Notes: I don't have much to add. I tried to work with him to get a bit of protection for myself, but to no avail. His English (which wasn't great) remained consistent throughout the correspondence, so I ASSUME that it was just one person I was dealing with. I'm just posting this here so that if a newbie (or anyone) is approached by someone wanting a Western Union transaction to Israel, or if someone is asked to use the "method" of PayPal he suggested, they can be aware of my dealings with this person.
1: He was selling 0.3 BTC at $192. This is far below the average price.
2: We agreed to use PayPal. I thought this would be better than WU, because at least with this I have a means of resolving a scam. However, the user lives in Israel, and you cannot send a Gift payment to Israel from the USA. The user wanted me to send the funds, open a dispute, close the dispute, and then he would send the funds. This (like WU) would leave me with no way to get my funds back if he pulled a fast one.
3: He was willing to accept half of the payment, send half of the coins, then finish the transaction. He was NOT willing to send half of the coins, receive the full payment, and send the rest. No matter what we negotiated, all outcomes would result in me sending a non-refundable payment to Israel with nothing to show for it but his "word".
4: I told him that it would take later today (negotiations were entered this morning) for me to get to a WU counter. He said that would be fine, and he is "online 24/7". This was a bit suspicious.
5: After driving to the grocery store where I can send a WU wire, I took his personal information (which is....)
--------
Yarin Groiser
Phone: 0523011189
Hadera, Israel
--------
6: After receiving his wire information, I filled out the form, withdrew $200 from the ATM, and asked him to send half of the coins. He refused. I explained that this entire situation is extremely sketchy. At one point he told me "I can proof you via teamviewer" regarding his wallet balance (I assume). Another hallmark of a scammer.
7: At the end of it all, he refused to send even a portion of the coins first, but was more than happy to accept a portion of the payment first. To a scammer, getting $10, $20, or $90 for doing nothing but sending emails is all the same - it's a payday. I informed him of my concerns regarding the points I've outlined here, informed him that I would be making a scam accusation on the forums, and wished him the best of luck.
Scammers Profile Link: Unknown - the transaction thread is deleted.
Reference Link: This is the link to the now deleted thread. You can google $192 from these forums and see a portion of the OP.https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/--389954
Amount Scammed: Attempted to scam me for $192 (or $96, depending on how you look at it)
Payment Method: Western Union (Or PayPal after opening and immediately closing a dispute)
Proof of Payment: No payment was made.
PM/Chat Logs: I can provide the emails sent back and forth.
Additional Notes: I don't have much to add. I tried to work with him to get a bit of protection for myself, but to no avail. His English (which wasn't great) remained consistent throughout the correspondence, so I ASSUME that it was just one person I was dealing with. I'm just posting this here so that if a newbie (or anyone) is approached by someone wanting a Western Union transaction to Israel, or if someone is asked to use the "method" of PayPal he suggested, they can be aware of my dealings with this person.
All that and you didn't mention his user name?
