How I was crypto-currency scammed

in #cryptocurrency7 years ago (edited)

download.jpg

Crypto currency and Taylor Swift are probably 2 tags that not associated very often, but back in August 2017 the world was anxiously awaiting Taylor Swift’s new single, so the internet was buzzing with news regarding the singer / songwriter once again (as a songwriter, I can’t call her a pop star). Anyway, one article that caught my attention and it was about how Erik Finman, a bitcoin millionaire would “launch a mini satellite into space with the recordings of regular folks, tech leaders and top artists – including pop idol Taylor Swift.” (I can’t remember where I saw the initial article, but the quote is from the TechCrunch one).

The name Bitcoin caught my attention. I had heard about it before, but wasn’t sure what was it, so I started googling and learning more about. My initial naïve thought was “hey, I can do some mining on my spare time”, that idea was scratched quite quickly as I learned how expensive it would be. Still, I decided to invest a bit on BTC, mind you when the price was really really high, which I regret a bit, but you can’t predict peaks and dips … so lesson learned (now I can only hope it starts rising again … rise bitcoin, rise!).
Further research into crypto currency led me to learn about the wonderful world of ICOs and the devastation of missing a good one by only a few hours … Dimcoin (this is not for a dramatic effect, it actually happened). However, I figured not all hope was lost and I started finding people on Bitcointalk that were looking at selling their Dimcoins and Dimtokens before it hit the exchanges (side note: I find that Bitcointalk is very useful for getting more info on upcoming / live ICOs).

Anyway, this was a stupid mistake on my part, because as a newbie to the crypto currency scene and Bitcointalk I had no clue how reputation was built on that forum. I thought being a “Full Member” gave someone credibility, and if (s)he had no negative trust, it was all good, and you could safely do business with that person. Another newbie mistake was not asking the seller to use an escrow service, because of course in the crypto currency world, there is no money back guarantee (in case you were wondering, which I am guessing you weren’t).
So, what happened? I bought DIM from user SmokeySmokey (if you click on the link you will be redirected to the scammer’s profile link on Bitcointalk). After payment was sent (on September 4th), and after said user confirmed payment was received, (s)he said the transfer would be made as agreed, which (s)he didn’t, and then stopped replying to the messages. After multiple messages the user replied apologizing for the delay (more than 24 hours after his/her last communication), and eventually said the transfer had been made, and it wasn’t. I asked for the transaction ID multiple times after this, and of course I never got a reply. User logged in a couple more times, and hasn’t logged in since September 13th (if you are interested in reading the full Scam Report, you can click here).

I lost 0.0195 BTC trying to purchase 50 Dimtokens and 2000 Dimcoins (not the biggest investment for many, but I wanted to start somewhere). No need to reply with rude comments please. Yes, I know my money is lost, gone, and I will never see it again. Yes, I know that if I had invested in the actual ICO I would have gotten a lot more for that money, but like I mentioned, I missed it.
I am posting this as a warning for all newbies out there or for people who are too trusting like me.
scammers.jpg
Use escrow or wait until it hits the exchange. It will be more expensive, but if it is a token you trust, I am sure it will be worth it.

Cheers!

Ally

PS. This has nothing to do with Dimcoin. I think they have a solid product, and they are not responsible for scammers or for my naiveness. I think this was an ICO worth investing in, and even though Dimtokens are sold out, you can still purchase Dimcoins from their site (before they hit the exchange), or from a reliable escrow (there's one on bitcointalk). Also, this post is not for a "bounty" or anything, it is just me warning the naive newbies out there.

PPS. Links to some of my previous posts:

Sort:  

Hello alecu. Thanks for sharing. I follow you for more news.

If you want Freely Win Steem Dollars with voting on Cryptocurrencies here:
https://steemit.com/crypto-news/@thunderland/cryptocurrency-winner-forecast-lottery-2-for-the-september-29th-2017

Coin Marketplace

STEEM 0.36
TRX 0.12
JST 0.039
BTC 70112.96
ETH 3549.99
USDT 1.00
SBD 4.71