I wonder what happened to good old "sign bloody message".
No shit right.. That's what I was thinking..
[!WARNING!] Escrow Impostors on Telegram [!WARNING!]I wish there was a way to effectively educate newbies about this threat.
Why is their no mention of proving identities in this thread then?
Teach them that they should expect
anyone engaging in a position of trust to use their staked identity, period, on TG or on BTCT no matter..
Telegram account usernames are
not any proof of identity, nor are BTCT accounts.. A good escrow should sign
every deal with a staked Bitcoin or PGP public key..
Please do not send funds to anyone who provides escrow addresses through Telegram! and does not use a staked escrow address as identity or sign their staked identity..
ftfy
That's better IMO..
Want to teach newbies?
Set a good example and sign your identity for them the first thing when dealing with them on TG just to be professional.. Get them used to this protective formality.. Sign every time you are expected to be the real you..
Every escrow contract or deal should be signed and/or received
only to a staked receiving address no matter if on TG or BTCT..
This is
the way to protect yourself from stolen identities across all platforms..
Bitcointalk accounts don't mean shit for proof of identity either...
Your
staked keys are your identity and any accounts you use on any platform are just sockpuppets of your identity that can be hijacked at any time.. But your keys cannot..
Bitcointalk PMs, posts, and even quoted posts, are not even near the level of proof of agreed contract compared to receiving a signed message signing the terms of the contract, and saving it yourself..
What stops any account from making a deal with you, like taking a loan, and then coming back a week later with "I was hacked, I didn't agree to that!"?
Have their real identity sign the agreement terms, for future proof of their deal acceptance to protect yourself with ultimate proof..
Same with any deal requiring trust from any party.. Terms should be signed..
Initially I had mentioned in my escrow thread that all addresses I provide will be signed with my PGP key
You can also stake escrow receiving addresses..
Example:
1erct98c45wut85cterc90g8fg098
"
DWM14 will only ever ask funds to be delivered to one of these 3 escrow recieving addresses1213423542532453 , 1rtgj89tgj49cgjc48rjgfwf8jrege , 1fjkgn58gj459ojfw5489ji
signature-5atw45cye67 56u yh65ers5 t54etrf
Or signed with PGP..
If you want to get around monotonous repeated formalities, only receiving to staked addresses still basically proves that it is going to be received by the correct identity without having to sign every time, unless you or your customer also want you to sign the specific terms of the contract, then you should, IMO..
I guess people are lazy???