The anatomy of a scam.

Wednesday, 31 July, Year 5 d.Tr. | Author: Mircea Popescu

Step 1 (March 30, 2013) : Create user, name it TheSwede75.

Step 2.1 : Make two thousand posts on Retards Talk (it's a forum) within June and July. Thirty a day, not so hard to do if you're even remotely disciplined.

Step 2.2 : Create a few dozen socks. Use some to buy old accounts.

Step 3 : Create completely imaginary "ipo", on one of the play-exchanges that'd allow such shit to happen (and yes there will be blood).i

Step 4 : Arrange with Ethan Burnside to go partners in this scam. His job will be to facilitate fake bids, the mother's milk of Ponzi scammers everywhere.

Step 5 : Hype and profit.

PS for the lulz : today at 06:51:45 PM my PR chick posted in the three day old, 36 page long RetardsTalk thread shaking her had at the idiocy. She got post #4 on the page. Post #20 happened 07:01:54 PM, precisely ten minutes later. The posters are :

  • 3x ShroomsKit, created April 08, 2013, 500 posts since.
  • neilol, created May 13, 2013, 100 posts since.
  • afrotec, created April 29, 2013, 20 posts since.
  • 2x Vigil, created April 07, 2013, 200 posts since.
  • dexX7, created April 23, 2013, 500 posts since (also shilling on irc)
  • dvdrewritable, created October 19, 2011, 40 posts since.ii
  • bitcoiner49er, created August 19, 2011, 100 posts since.iii
  • limbaugh, created April 20, 2013, 250 posts since.
  • Ytterbium, created July 21, 2013, 200 posts since.
  • Bitcycle, created May 11, 2013, 60 posts since.
  • superbit, January 24, 2013, possibly the only fool in this parade of thieves.
  • oxfeeefeee, created July 10, 2011, 40 posts sinceiv

Do you see anything like a pattern at all ? In ten minutes they've well covered the "problem post". All shills are either made after the time the scam was hatched (late March) or otherwise bought accounts from one of the numerous hacks since 2011.

This is what a scam looks like, this is how a scam works. The only question remaining is how fucking stupid do you need to be to fall for it ?v And, perhaps more importantly, how fucking stupid do you need to be to ruin your reputation by thinking everyone watching is retarded or something of the kind ?

Tough.

———
  1. Worth preserving for posterity :

    UPDATE FINAL:

    (Ethan Burnside) Hi all, I'm posting this somewhat blind. (haven't caught up with the last 10 or so pages...)

    TheSwede75 and I have talked a bit and here's what we've come up with:

    - 3 PM CST/4 PM EST is the cutoff for bidding. (EDITED!)
    - Sometime shortly after that time I will lock the asset.
    - All bids below 0.001 will be thrown out.
    - All bids posted after the cutoff will be thrown out.
    - We will then add up all the bids and use the total to create a ratio of number of shares ordered to number of shares available. (eg, 9,000,000 ordered, 7,000,000 available gives us a ratio of 0.777)
    - We will multiply everyone's orders times the ratio and extract a whole number of shares on a per order basis. The orders will then be filled according to the result at 0.001 BTC. (regardless of what they actually bid.)
    - This will leave some number of shares available due to rounding down to a whole number on every calculation. We'll figure out a way to deal with these fairly. Most likely recipients will be chosen at random from the pool of bidders but they will be a very small portion of the overall issue.
    - 8 PM CST/9 PM EST we remove the admin lock and everyone can start trading.

    Wednesdays are already full days for me with ASICMINER-PT related duties and my day job. So please be patient today. Responses to customer service and related requests will unfortunately be delayed significantly so that I can write and test all the code necessary to execute the plan above.

    sounds sane
    Cheers.

    THIS IS OUR SOLTION. TRADING WILL START AT 8 PM CST/9 PM EST

    UPDATE:

    There is an update coming shortly from Ethan Burnside. The situation as it is is very hard to solve fairly, and as BTCT.CO has never encountered a IPO where committed investments outweighs the amount of available shares Ethan is constructing a solution to the problem customized. The solution will mimic the behavior of regular IPO's and will be presented by Ethan himself here shortly!

    NEW UPDATE:

    We are working with Ethan Burnside of BTCT.CO on a solution to the overwhelming demand. IF we can find a solution that does not involve resetting the order book and opening the sale at previously announced time (8 PM CENTRAL TIME - US) we will communicate this here in advance (at least a few hours). If the solution is found to be 'good' by a majority of investors we may release share-sale earlier then previously communicated.

    The reason for this would be (among many):
    - Avoid possible technical malfunction of BTCT.CO
    - Release the shares at IPO price and allow fair distribution among investors unable to place their orders at exactly 8 pm Central
    - Avoid a situation where a large investor buys a majority of available shares at EXACTLY 8 pm Central

    Once again, we are sorry for the situation at hand but had very little options in how to handle the sale as we had no control over the approval process.

    UPDATE

    THE IPO SHARE SALE HAS NOT YET STARTED!

    We had MANY requests to not start the IPO at an arbitrary time, but give advanced notice of a time. This could NOT be done until voting was over and while we slept the IPO was approved. We will release ALL IPO shares for sale at IPO price at 8 PM CENTRAL TIME tonight (12 hours from NOW!)

    We hope people understand that we are doing this to guarantee a 'fair' start to the IPO. I will communicate with Burnside on how to best release the shares.

    UPDATE

    LABCOIN asset is now open for vote on BTCT.CO

    Excecutive summary:

    Labcoin started out as a privately funded experiment, managed by iTec-Pro Limited back in September/October 2012, with the aim of exploring the development of novel mining technologies.

    In early 2013 development of a 180 nm ASIC chip was started and in late spring this chip design became the foundation for the current development of and production of a highly competative and cost effective 130 nm ASIC chip. This is the chip that the company now has secured production of for it's first ASIC Bitcoin miner product.

    ASIC is an acronym that stands for "Application Specific Integrated circuit", and indeed, in our case, the specific application we are interested in, is Bitcoin mining.

    The company is running two separate development teams in both Europe and China, enabling the paralell development and production of 130 nm ASIC and the future 65 nm ASIC chips.

    Developing a custom integrated circuit is no simple task, requires time, highly skilled, trained team of engineers, and a deep, low-level knowledge of hardware, and Bitcoin mining process.

    Currently many companies are attempting at cutting a share of the market but only a few of them actually shipped real hardware (though intermittently) and proved as real competitors.

    It is our ultimate future goal to control a "fair share" (approx 10-15% or more) of the Bitcoin network global hashrate, and position us both in the market of IC manufacturing, Bitcoin mining and mining hardware sales, for profit and benefit of the Bitcoin community and network decentralization / security.

    Through our strategy, hard work and good communication channels with several foundries, (eased by one of the key team members being a researcher at the `Research Institute of Tsinghua University in Shenzhen`) we believe to possess the right combination of skills, know-how and industry connections for being able to compete successfully in this niche segment, where time-to-market is critical.

    The planned IPO, if filled will vitalize Labcoin with between $600.000-$650.000 (at a bitcoin/USD value of between $80-$90) enabling first run and mass production of 130nm chips and miners as well as continued development of 65 nm ASIC technology and miners.

    In our mind there is no doubt that the funds raised will enable labcoin to become a power player in ASIC chip production, ASIC Miner sales as well as Bitcoin mining. Enabling Labcoin to thrive as a profitable company for investors and owners old and new.

    Latest development news (latest we are ready to release pre-IPO at least).

    Chip Specs: Multi-core 130 nm chip with power consumption of: 2.7 w/Ghash. Each chip runs at 4.7 GH/s @ 12.8W
    Chip estimated cost (full production run post First-run): $9-$10 USD per chip or $2 per GH

    The iTec-Pro Limited thingee is basically an Ebay seller. To quote off their Linkedin,

    Web Commerce of Consumer Electronics such as Tablet PC, Smartphones, Mobile Devices, accessories and High Tech Devices.
    Our Company trade in well known consumer electronic brands mainly from China.
    Our main sales channel is our website which servers Italy and many others country worldwide.

    Basically, two dudes in an apartment with an internet connection doing dropshipping. []

  2. His gap looks like this : posts stop on October 29, 2011, then there's a single post consisting of a dot on December 16, 2012 and then hardcore since March 21, 2013. []
  3. His gap looks like April 23, 2013 - September 12, 2011, with 90% of the posts made this year. []
  4. His gap looks like July 13, 2013 - July 11, 2011. []
  5. Five thousand forum posts go for about fiddy dollars. Apparently the pro-rata use of Burnside's backside goes for about another fiddy dollars. Consequently the cost of this entire adventure is about a Bitcoin. Go IPO it why don't you. []
Category: Zsilnic
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47 Responses

  1. Peter Swanson`s avatar
    1
    Peter Swanson 
    Thursday, 1 August 2013

    You're such a fucking retard, it just hurts.

    And "your PR chick"? That's you, you pathetic faggot. You.

    Everything you write and do is a worthless pile of garbage. You're wrong on basically everything you say, and still you keep coming up with new elaborate ways to explain simple situations. You're just a giant, tinfoil-hat-wearing fucking dildo. The most pathetic narcissists are the ones who don't actually have anything going for them.

    Thought someone needed to tell you that.

  2. Mircea Popescu`s avatar
    2
    Mircea Popescu 
    Thursday, 1 August 2013

    That you don't know what's what in Bitcoin doesn't make your cluelessness somehow the measure of Bitcoin. It just makes you lulzy.

  3. I'm not him, I'm your mom.

  4. Lol sweet, sweet scammer tears. Plz, cry moar.

  5. Mircea Popescu`s avatar
    5
    Mircea Popescu 
    Thursday, 1 August 2013

    Lmao.

    Five years later, this blog still delivers. So I wake up and there's two things in queue : mr Scamson's rant above and this guy?. His butthurt is written in Romanian, it'd read like "This man is much beyond you! Imo he's an intellectual and when your frustrations inflame you pick on others!" in English.

    I've lost count, but I suspect there's well over a hundred sore buttholes all over the world, and they all do the same things, too. Remember the Cristian Bandea character ? Maybe one of these days I should have a compendium of lolz made.

  6. romanian dog bounty hunter`s avatar
    6
    romanian dog bounty hunter 
    Thursday, 1 August 2013

    @Peter swanson

    my friend you are so right; fake

    let us find satisfaction in the hope that one day this nerd with a god complex will get a wake up call he cannot put to answerphone

  7. IRON MANOLESCU`s avatar
    7
    IRON MANOLESCU 
    Thursday, 1 August 2013

    logic of Moneypak Pooperscooper can be described like logic of cracked coconut

    if you are trying to work out the analogy; there is none.. he looks for patterns and occasionally is right on some concept or some specifics; the rest of the time he's grasping desperately for straws and new conspiracy theories to latch onto and getting it spectaculary wrong, each time destroying what little credibility he had left

    mp pls stop with inane ramblings, and lurking on irc for hours and hours on end or whatever else you are doing these days...you are not a misunderstood genious who can see what others miss, you are just an out of place guy with too much time on your hands
    if this was school; you would be severely bullied to let you know you are odd
    on internet i can only let you know on chat

    stop creating drama and do something productive, you won't be remembered in 20 years as the 'guy who exposed duplicate account on a forum' after making xxx number of claims you may be right about a few..who cares

    go and earn some money or keep mouth closed and enjoy some life instead of just being a little nuisance

  8. Mircea Popescu`s avatar
    8
    Mircea Popescu 
    Thursday, 1 August 2013

    I wonder if you're aware you're barking at pretty much BTC's richest guy. Are you ?

  9. Peter Swanson`s avatar
    9
    Peter Swanson 
    Thursday, 1 August 2013

    "That you don’t know what’s what in Bitcoin doesn’t make your cluelessness somehow the measure of Bitcoin."

    Oh, wow, what a retort. That statement doesn't even make coherent sense. It's only what you always do: hide your own cluelessness behind another undeserved stroke of your own ego.

    "Five years later, this blog still delivers."

    Listen to it, faggot, and absorb it: YOU'RE WRONG. This article is a pile of bullshit that you pulled out of your ass without any proof whatsoever.

    And no, I'm not "Mr. Scamson". Just a regular bitcoin user who participated in that IPO and stumbled over the pile of slandering shit that is this article, due to people being pissed about you accusing them, including burnside. In the real world, you'd just get sued for slander.

    https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=263445.msg2845052#msg2845052

  10. Mircea Popescu`s avatar
    10
    Mircea Popescu 
    Thursday, 1 August 2013

    The last time a bunch of "just a regular bitcoin user"s got their panties all tight up in knots about sueing me for slander the SEC sued them for being contemptible fraudsters.

    If you're anything like the regular Bitcoin user you will be very well served by reading up on the history of Bitcoin. Hint : I'm in it.

  11. BingoBoingo`s avatar
    11
    BingoBoingo 
    Thursday, 1 August 2013

    I'm impressed this batch commenters made it off the forum with all of the socking they have had to do today.

  12. Mircea Popescu`s avatar
    12
    Mircea Popescu 
    Thursday, 1 August 2013

    I guess they just like me that much.

    We've had some fun on irc, too, some guy indignant that I'm aspersioning his persona.

  13. Mr.Ikea Popelescu`s avatar
    13
    Mr.Ikea Popelescu 
    Friday, 2 August 2013

    "I wonder if you’re aware you’re barking at pretty much BTC’s richest guy. Are you ?"

    ... LolLoLOLoLloLol1ol0LlO!lo!01l0!LoLolol ...wut?
    I wonder if you're aware you're BTC's most hated insane dick? Are you?

    Srsly, mr. ikea, it's time to wake up and face the ass you are.
    You think you're important and something better because of.. mpex.
    Sorry but you're not. You're hiding in a fake world where the SEC is sueing people not because of their crimes but because of you.
    Truth is: If mpex and hopfully you would be gone tomorrow, there would be something else in 2 weeks and people would be happy because there is one fag less in in the community.

    You're an asshole and you really should stop looking at other people and maybe start to look at yourself instead.

    "[...] reading up on the history of Bitcoin. Hint : I’m in it."

    2013 | March | Mircea Popescu's asshole level reached a new alltime high.
    2013 | June | There are now twice as much people hating Mircea Popescu as holding litecoins.

  14. Mircea Popescu`s avatar
    14
    Mircea Popescu 
    Friday, 2 August 2013

    2013 | June | There are now twice as much people hating Mircea Popescu as holding litecoins

    Lol that's pretty good.

  15. thestringpuller`s avatar
    15
    thestringpuller 
    Saturday, 3 August 2013

    "...which tearfully reminds one of the old days of the pre-September Internet."

    Is it September already in Bitcoin world? I thought summer and spring would last longer.

  16. Mircea Popescu`s avatar
    16
    Mircea Popescu 
    Saturday, 3 August 2013

    It didn't last much longer because people got all caught up in this "let's popularize Bitcoin" trend. History confirms it was a strategic mistake, just as I had predicted.

  17. LEL x 1000 @ people tossing "fag" as an insult; hurts about as much as being called a shoemaker or a deliveryman.

    All I can picture is those WBC-style mouth-breathers with thick brows and thicker skulls. Bookmarking this page so I can read it again the next time I need a good lel.

  18. Mircea Popescu`s avatar
    18
    Mircea Popescu 
    Saturday, 3 August 2013

    To quote teh butthurt scammer himself, "you weirdo!".

  19. Posterity will hardly believe that the Queen of England, granddaughter of Henri the Great, wanted a fagot to light a fire in the month of January, in the Louvre, and at the Court of France.

  20. Mircea Popescu`s avatar
    20
    Mircea Popescu 
    Saturday, 3 August 2013

    Not bad lol

  21. So this is a scammer living in a small room which contains a stack of rewritable CDs, a bike and s Mendeleev table hanging on the wall. Not a particularly inventive chap is he?

  22. Mircea Popescu`s avatar
    22
    Mircea Popescu 
    Thursday, 15 August 2013

    Not everyone can be 4n0n.

  23. labcoin scam`s avatar
    23
    labcoin scam 
    Saturday, 24 August 2013

    just dropping by to report
    labcoin=scam
    popescu on the money this time

  24. Mircea Popescu`s avatar
    24
    Mircea Popescu 
    Saturday, 24 August 2013

    Are you ciuciu ?

  25. BingoBoingo`s avatar
    25
    BingoBoingo 
    Monday, 23 September 2013

    Cue forum and IRC choruses of "Damn it MP was right"

    Happy Blood Day!

  26. Mircea Popescu`s avatar
    26
    Mircea Popescu 
    Monday, 23 September 2013

    I'm sure it's all one huge coincidence.

  27. At least I had some fun http://i.imgur.com/9uEI9am.jpg
    Credits to http://g3xter.deviantart.com/art/Ron-Paul-It-didn-t-have-to-be-like-this-348555825

  28. Mircea Popescu`s avatar
    28
    Mircea Popescu 
    Monday, 23 September 2013

    Lol but what does it all mean!

  29. http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/doom-paul

  30. Mircea Popescu`s avatar
    30
    Mircea Popescu 
    Tuesday, 24 September 2013

    Unconfirmed memes!

  31. lol. kym only confirms 9shit anyway.

  32. Mircea Popescu`s avatar
    32
    Mircea Popescu 
    Tuesday, 24 September 2013

    Ah. Internet powar struggles!

  33. Mircea Popescu`s avatar
    33
    Mircea Popescu 
    Saturday, 30 November 2013

    O look at that, there was blood after all. Who'd have thunk it.

  34. burnside`s avatar
    34
    burnside 
    Thursday, 20 March 2014

    Can't speak to the rest, but 'Step 4' never happened.

  1. [...] often happens in Bitcoin. Someone sees something appallingly stupid or other wise doomed, and they warn people away from it. Some time passes and the nonsense ends. That fuel for the chumpatrons persists is hopefully a [...]

  2. [...] conman always looks for the easiest short term solution, particularly when dishonest work cuts the corners honest work doesn’t allow – [...]

  3. [...] 1. Get a scammy "exchange" owner and some anon Chinese scammer guy [...]

  4. [...] fundamentally educational and otherwise worthlessvi existence into legitimizing an entire swath of outright scams and generally causing the exact sort of trouble for which the original Scam Exchange had to be done [...]

  5. [...] J P Koning gleefully failing to realise that gleefully discussing a well known, well documented collection of scams and scammers as if it were a Bitcoin stock exchange does a lot of damage to the future of the poor [...]

  6. [...] is significantly above the value of the items on sale. Other Internet scams, such as the stuff Burnside or Nefarioiii were peddling use a very similar approach to prop the value of insubstantial [...]

  7. [...] those JPM noobs. ———The Labcoin scam, about which you were reading here back in August finally became public knowledge in October. One of the more amusing details that came out as the [...]

  8. [...] July 31st I blew the lid on the Labcoin scam, while simultaneously delivering the sternest warningi to its partner in crime, [...]

  9. [...] his Trilema blog, he denounced scammers and made fun of the SEC. The most controversial aspects of his personality also made an appearance, [...]

  10. [...] his Trilema blog, he denounced scammers and made fun of the SEC. The most controversial aspects of his personality also made an appearance, [...]

  11. [...] his Trilema blog, he denounced scammers and made fun of the SEC. The most controversial aspects of his personality also made an appearance, [...]

  12. [...] his Trilema blog, he denounced scammers and made fun of the SEC. The most controversial aspects of his personality also made an appearance, [...]

  13. [...] his Trilema blog, he denounced scammers and made fun of the SEC. The most controversial aspects of his personality also made an appearance, [...]

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