Breaking the silence... exposing Bitcoin scammers using external websites to show how "credible" they are.

I actually wrote this article a few years ago when I first came across cryptocurrency and began dealing with many people around the world. I hope you will all find this article amusing, entertaining, and most importantly of all - informative!

"Just by reading the subject, I'm sure many of you have come across these types of tactics before. As a Bitcoin seller, I sometimes have random people adding me on Skype, asking me that they are asking if I am from bitcointalk forums, or from reddit, or any other Bitcoin forum which I am on.

The aim of this post is to increase awareness on how to deal with these worms aka "pathetic excuses for human beings".
So as a result, contact is initiated to me via Skype and the person(s) usually asks "I heard you're a Bitcoin seller?". Conversation then continues where the person says they are willing to pay either 50-100USD above market rate, or 5% above market rate, via cash and via Western Union. To clarify, there is nothing wrong with doing deals via Western Union.
Conversation then continues to the buyer saying that he or she is a reputable member of abcdforums.com, and he or she provides you with his/her username along with the memorable quote "I have good feedback on that site". You then visit these forums and start viewing the content there on this particular person: "Hmm" (you think to yourself) "he's an admin, he's got good feedback from other people on the forum"..."these other people look legit and have varying nicknames, genders, racial backgrounds - heck even one of them posts a photo of themselves with their baby".

So you build up an image of this person who has added you from the ether on Skype as a person who, it appears, has a "reputable" image on this forum. You then start Google searching this forum, and again, people are writing good reviews about it, and generally post items on items varying from 1930s films to the latest Anime flick.
So you think to yourself "ok... the guy seems legit, people are vouching for his honesty, his reliability, and his trustworthiness on the forum... so he MUST be legit".

NOW - DO NOT BE FOOLED. Quite often, these forums are created by a group of 10, 20, sometimes 30 or more individuals who each create multiple usernames and begin posting over a period of 2 to 3 months (in order to create a conception of legitimacy on the site). You, being the outside user, read through all of the forum posts, and gradually, psychologically, you build up an image of this random person as a trustworthy, legitimate person - who has positive feedback about what a tip-top bloke he is!
So you continue your conversation with Villain on Skype, and he tells you he is looking to "invest" (lol) a large amount of maybe 10-15k into Bitcoins. He is happy to pay market rate +5%, but either avoids the topic or starts questioning your legitimacy as a Bitcoin seller when you ask him to either use escrow via a website like localbitcoins.com, or to provide ID to confirm they are who they say they are.

So you back off. You think to yourself "I really don't want to lose this customer, he's paying really good money and I'll be making x hundred or x thousands of dollars! I don't want to lose him!" So you compromise your principles a little, not listening to your gut instinct which is telling you that red flags are being raised.
Here is a key thing which I find both quite intelligent and disgusting at the same time. Villain will often "scare" you by questioning if you can complete the deal, and will try to use the good 'ole boiler room-like tactics of stating that he/she is looking to complete the deal as soon as possible, with minimal fuss.
Throughout the conversation, the villain will continue to say that he has good reputation on abcdforums.org. He has good feedback, good reputation, etc etc. Yet ask yourself the following questions:

1. was the website created a few months ago, and is merely a shell front for scammers to post good feedback about each other in order to dupe legitimate Bitcoin sellers as to their "reputation"?

2. is the user actually referring to their own account, or is the person you are talking to on Skype hacked into another account? To solve this, ask the Villain if Teamviewer or Skype can be used so that you can see the villain is actually using his/her own account. Just had a thought though: if the person's account is hacked, you wouldn't know. Still, if the mere request of asking the person to share their screen with you is met with rudeness or harshness - run!

Overall, if the villain states that the coins should be sent to him first due to his "reputation" on abcdforums, then treat this as a scam and move on. Deals should always be done either via escrow for the security of both parties, or face to face where neither of the party is being opened up to a significant degree of risk."

Happy to hear your thoughts if you have been through a similar experience.

• Was your experience a more positive or negative one compared to the one above?

• If negative, what were some of the warning signs that you noticed when dealing with your customer?

• What lessons did you learn from the experience?

As always, any thoughts and comments on the above is much appreciated.