I am looking to try and protect my fellow forum members about a potential scammer "MrBossMan" lurking and posting on the forums here. He is selling Gift Cards for 50% of the value of the cards. Most of the Bitcointalk members can pick a scam out when they see it but some of the newer members here don't know what to believe or trust. This is for the people that don't know what to look out for even if its obvious. I just want to point out some key points on how to tell if you are dealing with a scammer or not and I am going to use MrBossMan as an example here.
Only vouches on his thread are from new forum members (If you look at other legit seller's threads you rarely see only new members leaving vouches on the thread)
I'd like to start off with any person trying to sell something and they lock their thread so no one can post 99% of the time their intention is to scam you.
New member buying $1000 in Giftcards without escrow, if he had been scammed before he would have used escrow.Oh look another new member successfully buying $1000 in Walmart Gift cards without escrow and by his post history you can tell the account was created by him.
Here we have another new forum account created by him, buying $5000 in Giftcards without escrow or any concerns of being scammed.Here is the actual thread as he continues to create fake accounts and vouch his scam thread:
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/walmart-apple-home-depot-itunes-egift-50-lifetime-warranty-1375943I'd like to see the staff remove the thread locking option for accounts below full member status, as 90% of the time scammers use it to their advantage. I've been scammed twice this year so far for just under $600, and thats by me not following my own rules with using escrow for every transaction even if the person you are dealing with appears to be trusted. Sorry if I offended anyone by my thread I just wanted to create some awareness, if anyone else has any ideas how to tackle this problem please voice your opinion.
With that being said, how well would a 3rd party verification service for bitcointalk members work? You upload a picture of you holding up your ID, proof of address and contact information, social networks (facebook,twitter,instagram). Once verified you receive an a forum signature that shows your level of verification, and a link to your verification profile. If this would help the community I'd be interested in a JV for this, and i'll invest whatever is needed to get it completed.