I think at this day it's better to just assume that everyone is going to scam you, and then you try to prove to yourself that they don't in fact hold such intention. This means you should always ask for additional details and clarifications. Good scammers know how to con people, so we should never drop our guard, even if people seem very trustworthy, and even if they are friends or relatives. I was scammed on this forum once, when I was a newbie, and up until the scammer disappeared, they seemed like a very genuine guy.
This is all even more important in Bitcoin, when you are being your own bank, but it's also true with fiat - bank transactions aren't always reversible, and cash isn't very reversible either.
Topic: You chose to "Be Your Own Bank" don't get complacent and scammed, I did. - page 2. (Read 445 times)
November 16, 2019, 01:46:30 PM
November 16, 2019, 10:14:34 AM
Sorry this happened to you.
Yes, you absolutely need to report these crimes to authorities. If the amount above a threshold where they actually take a report. That's the reason why these scammers are so bold - they think their uncatchable because nobody tries to catch them. But they leave a lot of breadcrumbs so it's possible to catch if enough users complain.
You didn't say how this person (or the person you thought they were) knew about you having coins, but that's something I never do - tell anyone about my coins. If someone asks me about it outside of BCT then I know they're fishing or somehow followed me from BCT or some leaked exchange e-mails or whatever - all good reasons to avoid them.
Yes, you absolutely need to report these crimes to authorities. If the amount above a threshold where they actually take a report. That's the reason why these scammers are so bold - they think their uncatchable because nobody tries to catch them. But they leave a lot of breadcrumbs so it's possible to catch if enough users complain.
You didn't say how this person (or the person you thought they were) knew about you having coins, but that's something I never do - tell anyone about my coins. If someone asks me about it outside of BCT then I know they're fishing or somehow followed me from BCT or some leaked exchange e-mails or whatever - all good reasons to avoid them.
November 16, 2019, 09:41:21 AM
I read every single word of your post, though I'm yet to be scammed on the network, but the good part of your post is that it has also reduced my chances of being, as I've also learnt a lesson from it. I use discord, and i am not aware of user ID, but now I am, I'll be looking out for it, I enable pm's, but right before this post of mine, I've disabled them(lesson learnt)
It doesn't feel good to be scammed, no matter how little, you just feel you were outsmarted and that is a really terrible feeling, but it's really good if we open up just as you did, it would help someone else to avoid the same fate, let's create more awareness, till this scammers can no longer feed off other people's hardwork.
It doesn't feel good to be scammed, no matter how little, you just feel you were outsmarted and that is a really terrible feeling, but it's really good if we open up just as you did, it would help someone else to avoid the same fate, let's create more awareness, till this scammers can no longer feed off other people's hardwork.
November 16, 2019, 07:55:14 AM
So the short of it is. I got complacent, and was just outright stupid. I have been scammed before, when I was brand new. Since then I've avoided and called out countless scam attempts. The difference was they came at me in an expected fashion through platforms I was more than familiar with. This was a little different in that it used some social engineering, and was on a platform I use but not to often. I'm also sure I've either met this person, or they know the person they impersonated rather well. I am choosing to write this for the following reasons, of what I think everyone should do when they get scammed/robbed etc. I knkow this is not a new method, but hopefully this snaps it back to the forefornt of peoples minds if you were starting to slip as I did. Being distracted and busy are no excuse, to drop the ball.
First, feel it. Let it piss you off or do whatever you need to get through it. I tend to take things in stride and normally would have just grabbed a cold one, or burned a little something. Due to a lifestyle change I'm rolling with for a bit, I couldn't do either, but I prefer not to stew on shit. What's done is done. You now need to do the responsible shit.
Swallow your pride. You got ripped off, but that doesn't mean the next person has to. It might make you feel better to just keep it a secret between you and the degenerate shitbag that now has your funds but you're only helping them. To be honest you've already done more than enough for them, so no more free favors. That's what this is, I'll give a small tip on how to find the unique identifier that doesn't change with account names or anything else on discord. It's an account ID number which for some reason isn't shown by default.
Finally, though it seems futile file a police report or whatever option your country has for a cyber crimes unit. Will this recover your funds, don't count on it. You will likely just feel a little more stupid, hopefully for the last time. What it can do though is lead to bringing down these scam operations... eventually. In my case they used Discord, so there is a chance they slipped up and with plethora of information Discord tracks on it's users - fingers crossed - they will be tracked and charged with Fraud. Not a big win, but might help someone else down the road.
Maybe this is the finally, but say good bye to your coins. Ignore what they could have been or what they are. It's a loss, but also a valuable lesson. So I'd prefer my loss to be a lesson to many others.
How it went down. Most scams come at you trying to promise big gains, in one way or another. These are easy to spot. This person came at me through Discord PM, impersonating someone from a small server I'm a part of. My first mistake was allowing random PM's, I have since disabled those. If someone really wants to talk they can post in the server. Second mistake was not checking the photo well enough, I usually check it on mobile, and being complacent and just plain stupid I didn't notice the sizing difference, or I just chaulked it up to "mobile" version. Then I didn't actually look through the users of the server to notice this duplicate, I got close but dropped the ball at a half assed attempt to vet the account. Then came the ask, this was the one I was most likely to fall for, no big gains, a small offer of "interest" in helping out in a tight spot, with what they needed. Small stupid story about coins being held up that they needed for a customer and couldn't access from the exchange while not being near their home wallet.
Yeah I know, dumb dumb right here.
It became clear over the next couple days that there were countless excuses, and that I F'd up. I had that sinking feeling shortly after sending the coins, like did I just do that. At that point it's to late. Again we choose to be our own bank and need to remain vigilant.
So for now I am taking the steps of shame and reporting the issue; discord is all but useless in providing canned answers but I have a ticket open and documentation regarding the incident. They now have a duty to work with the authorities and provide what little factual information they have gathered. Now if you use Discord here is how you find an account ID - this number cannot be changed and is used for filing complaints. It is the only identifier that cannot change regarding an account.
Go to User Settings -> Appearance -> then toggle on developer mode. This allows you to right-click their profile and copy their User ID which can be used to verify them.
Edit: See HCP's post here for additional information on finding "developer" mode settings and additional discord Id's for servers and messages.
So again in summary - Don't be stupid like Steamtyme was. You can perform due diligence a hundred times and forget it once, the result is still lost funds.
For reference here is what a scammers User ID looks like on Discord - 632346824509882369
First, feel it. Let it piss you off or do whatever you need to get through it. I tend to take things in stride and normally would have just grabbed a cold one, or burned a little something. Due to a lifestyle change I'm rolling with for a bit, I couldn't do either, but I prefer not to stew on shit. What's done is done. You now need to do the responsible shit.
Swallow your pride. You got ripped off, but that doesn't mean the next person has to. It might make you feel better to just keep it a secret between you and the degenerate shitbag that now has your funds but you're only helping them. To be honest you've already done more than enough for them, so no more free favors. That's what this is, I'll give a small tip on how to find the unique identifier that doesn't change with account names or anything else on discord. It's an account ID number which for some reason isn't shown by default.
Finally, though it seems futile file a police report or whatever option your country has for a cyber crimes unit. Will this recover your funds, don't count on it. You will likely just feel a little more stupid, hopefully for the last time. What it can do though is lead to bringing down these scam operations... eventually. In my case they used Discord, so there is a chance they slipped up and with plethora of information Discord tracks on it's users - fingers crossed - they will be tracked and charged with Fraud. Not a big win, but might help someone else down the road.
Maybe this is the finally, but say good bye to your coins. Ignore what they could have been or what they are. It's a loss, but also a valuable lesson. So I'd prefer my loss to be a lesson to many others.
How it went down. Most scams come at you trying to promise big gains, in one way or another. These are easy to spot. This person came at me through Discord PM, impersonating someone from a small server I'm a part of. My first mistake was allowing random PM's, I have since disabled those. If someone really wants to talk they can post in the server. Second mistake was not checking the photo well enough, I usually check it on mobile, and being complacent and just plain stupid I didn't notice the sizing difference, or I just chaulked it up to "mobile" version. Then I didn't actually look through the users of the server to notice this duplicate, I got close but dropped the ball at a half assed attempt to vet the account. Then came the ask, this was the one I was most likely to fall for, no big gains, a small offer of "interest" in helping out in a tight spot, with what they needed. Small stupid story about coins being held up that they needed for a customer and couldn't access from the exchange while not being near their home wallet.
Yeah I know, dumb dumb right here.
It became clear over the next couple days that there were countless excuses, and that I F'd up. I had that sinking feeling shortly after sending the coins, like did I just do that. At that point it's to late. Again we choose to be our own bank and need to remain vigilant.
So for now I am taking the steps of shame and reporting the issue; discord is all but useless in providing canned answers but I have a ticket open and documentation regarding the incident. They now have a duty to work with the authorities and provide what little factual information they have gathered. Now if you use Discord here is how you find an account ID - this number cannot be changed and is used for filing complaints. It is the only identifier that cannot change regarding an account.
Go to User Settings -> Appearance -> then toggle on developer mode. This allows you to right-click their profile and copy their User ID which can be used to verify them.
Edit: See HCP's post here for additional information on finding "developer" mode settings and additional discord Id's for servers and messages.
So again in summary - Don't be stupid like Steamtyme was. You can perform due diligence a hundred times and forget it once, the result is still lost funds.
For reference here is what a scammers User ID looks like on Discord - 632346824509882369
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