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Topic: [Scam] student from Romania is claiming to have ASIC units for sale at 85 GH/s (Read 8395 times)

full member
Activity: 206
Merit: 100
I will just leave this here.

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/01/ff_hackerville_romania/

But yea, stereotyping a whole country is not very nice. But a lot of people do it for safety reasons.
No different when I sell on ebay and stereotype a whole countries postal service as terribly bad and
refuse to ship there. So if anyone is offended I apologize but this scam was just so stereotypical
I chuckled when I read the romanian connection.
Are you from Fort Collins, Matt?
hero member
Activity: 756
Merit: 522
haha, okay my attempt at sarcasm really did not land. MPOE-PR; I was attempting to mock the people who were insulting Romania.

Quote
what has a Romanian ever contributed to Bitcoin?

This line was attempting to use the success of Mircea Popescu and MPEX to make people who were indicating that they would not trust a Romanian company look foolish.

Totally did not land. Internets.
full member
Activity: 163
Merit: 100
haha, okay my attempt at sarcasm really did not land. MPOE-PR; I was attempting to mock the people who were insulting Romania.

Quote
what has a Romanian ever contributed to Bitcoin?

This line was attempting to use the success of Mircea Popescu and MPEX to make people who were indicating that they would not trust a Romanian company look foolish.


hero member
Activity: 756
Merit: 522
I got a good chuckle out of people mocking the credibility of Romanians in these threads. hmm, what has a Romanian ever contributed to Bitcoin?

You must be very new here.

So would I!!

So let's get friendly: write MPOE on your left asscheek, MPEx on your right, stick the sharpie in your pooper and post the pic (on dtng). I'll pay you 10 BTC for it. Go.

(Yes, I'm serious).

Extremely seriously accusation, any truth to this? Evidence?

Yes it is true. They host a *chan-type imageboard which allows anybody to upload images.

Quote
*NSFW*
http://polimedia.us/ dtng/

remove the space

I'm sure they didn't upload the content themselves, but whether they like it or not, CP is being hosted on their servers.

Very logical. By the same logic your post is on the internet, where anyone can post anything so therefore....

From what I read in books and saw in movies, I also assume every one in Chicago carry at least an Mg42 and a nuke..
This is plain retard, playing with bitcoins and judging world by some articles written by who know who..

Well on the other hand Bitcoin is backed by drama....

But for what it's worth: Romania actually is in the top 5 for interwebs connectivity, worldwide. It's just very advanced, lots of smart people (heck, third most common language spoken at Microsoft) and all that jazz. Sort of like California is with movies if you will.
full member
Activity: 163
Merit: 100
I got a good chuckle out of people mocking the credibility of Romanians in these threads. hmm, what has a Romanian ever contributed to Bitcoin?

Do not insult countries. You would not like someone to come to you and say "what has your country done to Bitcoin? LOL".
Be respectful.
I wasn't mocking a country!

Sorry if I my post came across wrong. I meant to say that I laughed at those who were mocking Romania, seeing as one of the most successful Bitcoin properties (MPEX) is based there.

Ok. This was not clear.


I realize this now. Often my sarcasm doesn't translate well. I'm really glad you noticed my follow-up, so you don't think I'm a bigot.
mrb
legendary
Activity: 1512
Merit: 1028
I got a good chuckle out of people mocking the credibility of Romanians in these threads. hmm, what has a Romanian ever contributed to Bitcoin?

Do not insult countries. You would not like someone to come to you and say "what has your country done to Bitcoin? LOL".
Be respectful.
I wasn't mocking a country!

Sorry if I my post came across wrong. I meant to say that I laughed at those who were mocking Romania, seeing as one of the most successful Bitcoin properties (MPEX) is based there.

Ok. This was not clear.
hero member
Activity: 868
Merit: 1000
I got a good chuckle out of people mocking the credibility of Romanians in these threads. hmm, what has a Romanian ever contributed to Bitcoin?

Do not insult countries. You would not like someone to come to you and say "what has your country done to Bitcoin? LOL".

Be respectful.

Feel free to mock Australia.  We don't give a fuck.

Bitcoin isn't going to operate in a bubble.  You can't control who uses it and for what.  If it can't survive in the face of being used for illicit purposes then it was never a viable currency in the first place.  It will be used for undesirable purposes.  Deal with it.  If you feel strongly enough about it being used for a particular purpose, then report instances you find to the authorities - just as you would if you stumbled across a CP site accepting credit cards or PayPal.
legendary
Activity: 1722
Merit: 1217
If this person really used their own funds and developed this, they would have zero incentive to not be mining with them right now. They have no customers and no obligation not to.

Haha exactly!

I had a good laugh when I saw this...usually scammers actually try to play out their scam. His was a terrible, terrible attempt. Tongue

Haha, yeah. It reminds me of the TV commercials that promise to show you how to make a a million dollars. They never explain why they are selling books instead of making millions themselves.

and then you get the book in the mail and it tells you to make a tv commercial selling self help books.
full member
Activity: 196
Merit: 100
Some time ago, when Paypal was entering the Romanian market, they donated money for a whole new police squad that would fight internet criminals - thats how bad it was Smiley. I am not sure what is the situation these days, only thing I know is that they have hell of a internet conections there Cheesy
hero member
Activity: 882
Merit: 1006
Have you or anyone actually seen/documented CP there?

Yes, I did see very questionable content on the chan when I was given a free MPEx account and was considering whether to invest or not. I wouldn't make an accusation like this without it having some weight. Needless to say I didn't invest and was absolutely disgusted and have no respect at all for this "company".

Other people have also mentioned seeing questionable content as well. I'm sure the chan mods delete it when they see it, but thats beside the point.
sr. member
Activity: 406
Merit: 250
LTC
From what I read in books and saw in movies, I also assume every one in Chicago carry at least an Mg42 and a nuke..
This is plain retard, playing with bitcoins and judging world by some articles written by who know who..
hero member
Activity: 700
Merit: 500
I will just leave this here.

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/01/ff_hackerville_romania/

But yea, stereotyping a whole country is not very nice. But a lot of people do it for safety reasons.
No different when I sell on ebay and stereotype a whole countries postal service as terribly bad and
refuse to ship there. So if anyone is offended I apologize but this scam was just so stereotypical
I chuckled when I read the romanian connection.

Yes, good article, let me quote some:
Quote
I meet Bogdan Stoica and Alexandru Frunza, two of just four local cops on the digital beat. Stoica, 32, is square-shouldered and stocky, with a mustache and prominent stubble. His expression rarely changes. Frunza, 29, is tall and clean shaven. He’s the funny one. “My English will improve after I have a few beers,” he says. We sit at a table on the edge of a big courtyard, piped-in Romanian pop music blaring.
Let me quote some more:
Quote
Despite the reputation of Râmnicu Vâlcea’s underworld as relatively free of violence, he has brought along some muscle—a young man in dark glasses with a big tattoo on his arm. The bodyguard slams a beer bottle down on the table and flexes his hand, as if getting ready for a boxing match.
Chita shakes my hand dourly and sits down next to me, looking away. Two other men join us. The young couple from the corner comes over to greet Chita with fawning smiles and handshakes. They clearly recognize him, too. The café owner gets up and leaves. As he walks away, he looks at me gravely and says, “Good luck.”
Quite entertaining no? Raymond Chandler is small potatoes compared with this Yudhijit Bhattacharjee guy. Also:
Quote
I press Chita about the wiretapped conversations, but his tattooed bodyguard interrupts loudly. “You go back to your hotel room, we send you some nice pussy,” he says, raising his hand for a high five that I feel obligated to meet. The two men beside him laugh, and Chita takes a final drag from his cigarette before rising from his chair. He’s in no mood to discuss the evidence. “This interview is over,” Marian says.
Quite a technical analysis of the issue.
FFS this a freaking novel!

The author had to come up with something, and basically is just describing what is happening in many countries with emerging cyber crime and creating a cheap story along the way.
Compared though with what is happening in more cyber crime ridden countries this is just a drop in a ocean.
Look no further than this forum.
People had no problems to believe in US scammers, no flags raised there because of the nation involved, no one said hey, as soon as I knew that was coming from US I stopped reading.  What exactly made you frown upon Romania other than crappy basic google search ?





full member
Activity: 163
Merit: 100
I got a good chuckle out of people mocking the credibility of Romanians in these threads. hmm, what has a Romanian ever contributed to Bitcoin?

Do not insult countries. You would not like someone to come to you and say "what has your country done to Bitcoin? LOL".

Be respectful.


I wasn't mocking a country!

Sorry if I my post came across wrong. I meant to say that I laughed at those who were mocking Romania, seeing as one of the most successful Bitcoin properties (MPEX) is based there.
full member
Activity: 163
Merit: 100
Extremely seriously accusation, any truth to this? Evidence?

Yes it is true. They host a *chan-type imageboard which allows anybody to upload images.

Quote
*NSFW*
http://polimedia.us/ dtng/

remove the space

I'm sure they didn't upload the content themselves, but whether they like it or not, CP is being hosted on their servers.


Have you or anyone actually seen/documented CP there? There are millions of porn boards in the world, and while it certainly does seem peculiar to host one on the same domain as a service like MPEX, there is a huge leap between an adult content board, and one that hosts child porn. That is a very serious accusation and if it's true, I'd pull all of my investments from MPEX right away. If it's not true and you are calling adult amateur/teen type porn cp, that is terrible slander and I would lose a lot of respect for you. That is not an accusation to throw around lightly imho.
full member
Activity: 163
Merit: 100
Just a quick factcheck: all of BTC finance currently comes out of Romania. This is because all you Aussies, Brits, 'Mericans and so forth weren't smart enough to do it, and so MP had to come do it for you. Chillax on the jingo bs, it's out of place.

Don't worry, we all you know you be stripping if it wasn't for bitcoin and MPEx LMAO


So would I!!
mrb
legendary
Activity: 1512
Merit: 1028
I got a good chuckle out of people mocking the credibility of Romanians in these threads. hmm, what has a Romanian ever contributed to Bitcoin?

Do not insult countries. You would not like someone to come to you and say "what has your country done to Bitcoin? LOL".

Be respectful.
legendary
Activity: 1498
Merit: 1000
Just a quick factcheck: all of BTC finance currently comes out of Romania. This is because all you Aussies, Brits, 'Mericans and so forth weren't smart enough to do it, and so MP had to come do it for you. Chillax on the jingo bs, it's out of place.

Don't worry, we all you know you be stripping if it wasn't for bitcoin and MPEx LMAO
hero member
Activity: 837
Merit: 1000
I find this offensive, involving Romania in this , just because he add a flag to his scam post.
hero member
Activity: 952
Merit: 1009
The question then becomes who uploaded that and what was his ulterior motive. One might think for instance of a situation where someone would upload content like that explicitly for the purpose of then accusing the hoster of hosting such content.

For the record, the only thing I ever saw on that chan were escorts advertising their services.
sr. member
Activity: 406
Merit: 250
LTC
How funny, but so far, most of the scams come from USA. Pirate@40, bASIC, etc.. We should do a list by countries then.
legendary
Activity: 2072
Merit: 1001
I will just leave this here.

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/01/ff_hackerville_romania/

But yea, stereotyping a whole country is not very nice. But a lot of people do it for safety reasons.
No different when I sell on ebay and stereotype a whole countries postal service as terribly bad and
refuse to ship there. So if anyone is offended I apologize but this scam was just so stereotypical
I chuckled when I read the romanian connection.
full member
Activity: 163
Merit: 100
hosts child porn.


Extremely seriously accusation, any truth to this? Evidence?
full member
Activity: 163
Merit: 100
I got a good chuckle out of people mocking the credibility of Romanians in these threads. hmm, what has a Romanian ever contributed to Bitcoin?
hero member
Activity: 756
Merit: 522
as soon as i read the word romania I stopped reading.

And I thought only strippers came from Romania...



Just a quick factcheck: all of BTC finance currently comes out of Romania. This is because all you Aussies, Brits, 'Mericans and so forth weren't smart enough to do it, and so MP had to come do it for you. Chillax on the jingo bs, it's out of place.
hero member
Activity: 700
Merit: 500
...you don't see people say US is a cybercrime country, although its in the top like philips showed (yet not so correctly considering US computers are being hacked and used as proxies)

Wanted only to show that you cannot judge a country based on "basic google research" Smiley
sr. member
Activity: 406
Merit: 250
as soon as i read the word romania I stopped reading.

Excuse me !?

.... when you have talented programmers and comp sci people unable to find good work...
well some turn to the easy money online crime can bring.

I guess you're not aware that Romanian is the second language at the Microsoft US headquarters. You can imagine we also have top workers at Google, Yahoo, etc. so employment is not a problem, at least not for IT. Don't be so shallow and do your homework when judging a whole country. bASIC has scammed us big time, you don't see people say US is a cybercrime country, although its in the top like philips showed(yet not so correctly considering US computers are being hacked and used as proxies)
hero member
Activity: 700
Merit: 500
If you do a specific google search using terms as Romania and cyber crime you will certainly have the results you want, the same way you would find "relevant" results if you use terms like Romania and alien sightings.

On the other hand if you use terms like top online crime countries (I did what you asked for) you find top results like:
http://tech.ca.msn.com/the-worst-countries-for-cybercrime
http://www.forbes.com/2007/07/13/cybercrime-world-regions-tech-cx_ag_0716cybercrime.html  >>
http://www.forbes.com/2007/07/13/cybercrime-world-regions-tech-cx_ag_0716cybercrime_slide_2.html

A nice graphic by Symantec:

from: http://www.enigmasoftware.com/top-20-countries-the-most-cybercrime/

According to those US is still number one while Romania is not even mentioned.

I have no doubts that if you search deep enough you WILL find Romania mentioned in this context because is true that we have an increased number of cyber-crimes like many other countries. We also have an increased number of reports of alien sightings.

While I am convinced myself that the Romanian ASIC is a plain (and naive) scam your dismissal of it just because it came from Romania is just a case of prejudice against a country.

After I did my "basic google research" at your suggestion I found out that US is the most involved country in online crimes (online blackmail, scam websites, etc.. you name it).
 
Should I have the same prejudice about US or should I just use my common sense?


 
legendary
Activity: 2072
Merit: 1001
as soon as i read the word romania I stopped reading.

Excuse me !?

just do some basic google research. the country of romania has slowly and steadily building a terrible
reputation for online crimes since the year 2000. from ebay auction fraud, online blackmail, scam websites,
etc.. you name it. when you have talented programmers and comp sci people unable to find good work...
well some turn to the easy money online crime can bring.

full member
Activity: 196
Merit: 100
Scam......
no video no pictures provided.
hero member
Activity: 700
Merit: 500
Damn right we have beautiful women!...and strippers...
legendary
Activity: 1498
Merit: 1000
And I thought only strippers came from Romania...



Man you are an idiot.

Actually, he is right.
We are sending our strippers there because theirs are so damn ugly.

I am not full involved in strip clubs but the few I have visited, the Romania chicks were the hottest LMAO
hero member
Activity: 700
Merit: 500
And I thought only strippers came from Romania...



Man you are an idiot.

Actually, he is right.
We are sending our strippers there because theirs are so damn ugly.
hero member
Activity: 700
Merit: 500
as soon as i read the word romania I stopped reading.

Excuse me !?
sr. member
Activity: 388
Merit: 250
And I thought only strippers came from Romania...



Man you are an idiot.
legendary
Activity: 1918
Merit: 1570
Bitcoin: An Idea Worth Spending
as soon as i read the word romania I stopped reading.

Odd! That's the point of which I wanted to read further, for I knew it'll be good. Besides, the universe of people wanting such a device is limited: https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/avalon-asic-batch-2-pre-sale-thread-139704
legendary
Activity: 980
Merit: 1000
I haven't clicked the thread yet, but I'm going to take a wild guess and say his account was just created recently.  How far off am I?
How did you guess that? /sarcasm


uniasic
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legendary
Activity: 2128
Merit: 1073
Bitcoints that we have mined we used to pay the loans manufacturing on first batch and second batch is still in progress.
Yeah, the "loans manufacturing" is a mistake in an otherwise well-crafted story. Active students wouldn't need to borrow money for manufacturing. For students the "sweat capital" would be completely sufficient to get the project running.

The smart students would do everything openly, even if it required setting individual course plan to get grades/points for developing and delivering the Bitcoin ASIC. They would most likely have to share the revenue with the university. There are many precedents for such academia-industry partnerships.

Not-that-smart students would try to do everything on the sly, probably in the hope of avoiding revenue sharing. This is also not unheard of, but you'll mostly read about it when it gets prosecuted and the students/faculty expelled.
legendary
Activity: 1498
Merit: 1000
And I thought only strippers came from Romania...

legendary
Activity: 1554
Merit: 1222
brb keeping up with the Kardashians
I haven't clicked the thread yet, but I'm going to take a wild guess and say his account was just created recently.  How far off am I?
hero member
Activity: 812
Merit: 1001
-
SCAM  Undecided
indeed.

geez, I am wondering if anyone will fall for this. But if history repeats itself someone on this forum surely will.
legendary
Activity: 1064
Merit: 1001
They never explain why they are selling books instead of making millions themselves.

And then you find out that their secret to making millions is actually just selling a book...about making millions... Tongue
legendary
Activity: 3066
Merit: 1147
The revolution will be monetized!
If this person really used their own funds and developed this, they would have zero incentive to not be mining with them right now. They have no customers and no obligation not to.

Haha exactly!

I had a good laugh when I saw this...usually scammers actually try to play out their scam. His was a terrible, terrible attempt. Tongue

Haha, yeah. It reminds me of the TV commercials that promise to show you how to make a a million dollars. They never explain why they are selling books instead of making millions themselves.
full member
Activity: 163
Merit: 100
Just another copycat scam. A lazy one at that, albeit with a half decent story.
legendary
Activity: 1288
Merit: 1227
Away on an extended break
Scam. He tried to spam here too and wants anyone to pay to him via btc and email him at his hushmail after doing so.
legendary
Activity: 1064
Merit: 1001
If this person really used their own funds and developed this, they would have zero incentive to not be mining with them right now. They have no customers and no obligation not to.

Haha exactly!

I had a good laugh when I saw this...usually scammers actually try to play out their scam. His was a terrible, terrible attempt. Tongue
hero member
Activity: 504
Merit: 500
WTF???
LOL.. Ask for video or photos..

He said in the OP that he already did.

I sent them a formal email basically saying "pics and vids or it didn't happen"

At least some thought and effort went into the scam. BTC Guild has a feature if you contact them where you can verify an ASIC machine. Not only would some good photos be good, a proof that it can hash the crap out of SHA256 would be great. I could easily put together a PCB board and and take photos of it with some worthless chips on it. That wouldn't prove that it would boot or hash anything.

If this person really used their own funds and developed this, they would have zero incentive to not be mining with them right now. They have no customers and no obligation not to.
sr. member
Activity: 406
Merit: 250
LTC
LOL.. Ask for video or photos..
legendary
Activity: 3066
Merit: 1147
The revolution will be monetized!
It has everything I look for in a scam. A promise to get rich by participating in a secret plan.  Roll Eyes
sr. member
Activity: 388
Merit: 250
i just send him a email
i`ll post if there are some news
i can go also and check the device if it is real .
hero member
Activity: 742
Merit: 500
Still more legit than Tom/bASIC..
hero member
Activity: 817
Merit: 1000
Truth is a consensus among neurons www.synereo.com
I find it hard to believe anyone who ever received an academic grant has such shitty English.
member
Activity: 78
Merit: 10
Nice, already have a tracking #  Grin
legendary
Activity: 2072
Merit: 1001
as soon as i read the word romania I stopped reading.
hero member
Activity: 882
Merit: 1006
OH MY GOD!

My scam detector is off the charts.
legendary
Activity: 1302
Merit: 1008
sr. member
Activity: 367
Merit: 250
Find me at Bitrated
EDIT: As per mod information I am marking this as a likely scam. Be careful who you deal with!

Link: http://www.bitcoinforum.com/mining-discussion/107-units-with-85-ghs-are-ready-for-shipping/

Text: The Unit what we offer to You contains from 5 boards, each board has power 17GH/s and electrical consumption 30W.
Chip was developed on unnamed University with help on GRANT that is focused on the development cryptographic hardware accelerator. When we found potential in Bitcoin mining we decided secretly manufacture first batch on chip´s in Asia. Our University still working on powerful version of these chip's
From september 2012 we are slowly tune up units firmware and units connecting into the network. Bitcoints that we have mined we used to pay the loans manufacturing on first batch and second batch is still in progress. This units we are able to bring on market within 3 weeks.
By selling on this product we put ourself in hazard that University found out our activity and this can lead sanction. To minimize risk of uncover, we decided to receive only orders by e-mail [email protected]. In the first round which will be 48 hours its possible to order maximum 2 units on one shipping address. Buyer has 6 hours to pay for the unit after that he will receive confirmation e-mail. If we dont receive payment unit will go to next buyer.  
If after first round will be some units left than in second round won´t be any restraint on the amount limits of order units. Price include shipping and the delivery time is 10 days worldwide.

Price: 70 BTC / unit!!!

My opinion:  Sounds totally bogus, I sent them a formal email basically saying "pics and vids or it didn't happen." 
I think community info/feedback will be more important now than ever to ensure that we don't get ripped off.  Be careful with your BTC people!
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