Silk Road forums

Market => Rumor mill => Topic started by: MakesMeShout123 on February 21, 2012, 04:39 am

Title: Very Poor Showing SR, The Curent System Does Not Counter Scamming
Post by: MakesMeShout123 on February 21, 2012, 04:39 am
I am very disappointed with SR after what has happened tonight. I ordered a Moneypak from RandomGuy1970 because a few well known vendors were out of commission. I loaded the moneypak with 380$ using this method because the banks were closed today. I felt comfortable dealing with Randomguy1970 because his rank is so high and has a great feedback percentage. I sent the moneypak to him and patiently waited.

He messaged me about 1.5 hours later telling me he was bowling and will be making the deposit soon. This is when I decided to check the forums. I was very very upset as I saw numerous other reports of him scamming people out of moneypaks in more than 3 other threads. This is when I flipped out and called the moneypak hotline hoping to freeze my funds before he could get to them It was too late. The Moneypak amount had been withdrawn.

As I read the other threads on Randomguy, it showed how he has been falsely inflating his rank and feedback from lotto entries. All of his feedback has been for a false lotto thus skyrocketing his rank and feedback percentage through the roof. To a fairly new user taking a quick glance he appears to be a legit vendor from these stats. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

I messaged him in an attempt to lead him on with two more moneypaks waiting to deposit if this one would go through soon. It was a good attempt but fucking scum like this usually can smell bullshit because they are surrounded with their own everyday. This is the risk that comes with SR I understand that. I should have done more thorough research before hand. I understand that. Next time be more cautious! I understand that as well.

What I don't understand is how could a vendor with multiple threads, multiple messages to the staff, and with blatantly inflated ranking be allowed to operate for so long? That I don;t understand. There needs to be a system in place where the Report Scammers thread is checked and investigated multiple times a day by administration. There needs to be a freeze account setting available for use by the staff when shady business is reported multiple times until the complaints are corrected. There should be a red flag warning on vendors page when multiple reports have been filed. It should be much much harder to inflate ones vendor ranking. There should at the very, very least be a report option on a vendors page.

These are problems that must be fixed for SR to be a functioning, trustworthy system. It is way to easy and friendly for scammers to start an operation. It would be relatively easy to implement some new changes and features that could change this and keep scammers away and promote an honest system of operation here at SR.

Thanks for your time everyone, and thank you for your consideration to those in charge.

Sincerely,
A potential and eager buyer who now has major hesitations and doubts in the system.

Randomguy1970's vendor page
http://silkroadvb5piz3r.onion/index.php/silkroad/user/164457
Title: Re: Very Poor Showing SR, RandomGuy1970 Allowed to Scam Without Regard
Post by: rise_against on February 21, 2012, 05:02 am
you shoulda went to BTC Buddy. he's got an almost flawless track record and been here a while. i've been here many months and never even heard of Randomguy1970 until all these threads popped up just today.   where are all the rave review threads for randomguy1970?  are there any?  if not, what would possess you to trust him? after all, he is just some random guy. most likely born in 1970.    i don't know how many times i've said this, but i'll say it AGAIN and probably a hundred more times - if you are dealing with a guy for the first time, start out with a small amount. that way if he scams you, its not for your entire wallet.....so you still have funds available to try another vendor.   this method should be a sticky thread as well as a disclaimer that you read when you sign up.

unfortunately this is the way this underworld works, there are scammers and there are honest people. it may cost you a few scams to find your "go to guy", but once you've found him,  stick with him and share him with other buyers so they are not scammed.  scams have happened to me and many others.  learn to not put all your eggs in one basket.   if we all do this, the scammers will soon realize its not worth it for them to scam and we will win the war on scammers.
Title: Re: Very Poor Showing SR, The Curent System Does Not Counter Scamming
Post by: rise_against on February 21, 2012, 05:14 am
maybe SR Admins need to install a moneypak escrow feature for people buying bitcoins with moneypaks.  this could work by the bitcoin seller placing the coins into escrow and then the moneypak holder sending the moneypak code.   if the code is redeemed, then the coins are released to the buyer.  if the code is invalid the coins are returned to the original coinholder.   
Title: Re: Very Poor Showing SR, RandomGuy1970 Allowed to Scam Without Regard
Post by: MakesMeShout123 on February 21, 2012, 05:22 am
you shoulda went to BTC Buddy. he's got an almost flawless track record and been here a while. i've been here many months and never even heard of Randomguy1970 until all these threads popped up just today.   where are all the rave review threads for randomguy1970?  are there any?  if not, what would possess you to trust him? after all, he is just some random guy. most likely born in 1970.    i don't know how many times i've said this, but i'll say it AGAIN and probably a hundred more times - if you are dealing with a guy for the first time, start out with a small amount. that way if he scams you, its not for your entire wallet.....so you still have funds available to try another vendor.   this method should be a sticky thread as well as a disclaimer that you read when you sign up.

unfortunately this is the way this underworld works, there are scammers and there are honest people. it may cost you a few scams to find your "go to guy", but once you've found him,  stick with him and share him with other buyers so they are not scammed.  scams have happened to me and many others.  learn to not put all your eggs in one basket.   if we all do this, the scammers will soon realize its not worth it for them to scam and we will win the war on scammers.
What would possess me to trust him? Maybe his 98.8% feedback rating with over 500 transactions. Without an indepth look into his account he appears to be a trustworthy vendor. The rst of your post I agree with.
Title: Re: Very Poor Showing SR, The Curent System Does Not Counter Scamming
Post by: rhcp777 on February 21, 2012, 05:32 am
But you should have looked around on the forums before sending your MP to him. Just saying. Not disagreeing that something should be put in place that makes it harder for idiots like random to steal, but you could have searched the forums before sending him $380.
Title: Re: Very Poor Showing SR, The Curent System Does Not Counter Scamming
Post by: rise_against on February 21, 2012, 05:56 am
then there needs to be a little more transparency on where vendors are getting their feedback.  an overhaul of the feedback system that is based on many different buyers.  example if i sell 499 .01 BTC items all the the same guy, that should only count as one point to the feedback rating.   I think DPR has already addressed this issue, but i propose that a vendor should only be able to receive feedback from a buyer one time. and also charging buyer accounts a small fee would also need to be implemented.
Title: Re: Very Poor Showing SR, The Curent System Does Not Counter Scamming
Post by: AverageGatsby on February 21, 2012, 06:43 am
Yeah sucks to be you MakesMeShout....but....you learned a lesson the hard way. ALWAYS check forums, REVIEW the vendor's actual feedback & item its for, and lastly, NEVER dive head first in with an untested vendor.

maybe SR Admins need to install a moneypak escrow feature for people buying bitcoins with moneypaks.  this could work by the bitcoin seller placing the coins into escrow and then the moneypak holder sending the moneypak code.   if the code is redeemed, then the coins are released to the buyer.  if the code is invalid the coins are returned to the original coinholder.   

while this sounds like a good idea, SR most certainly would implement an additional fee on to an MP escrow system, which adding that on to an MP vendor's fee/interest/etc.....you'd be paying a VERY high premium for MP-BTC transaction. Add on SR's fee when you actually order a product, and you're basically being triple taxed (SR MP fee, vendor MP fee, and SR BTC fee).

Title: Re: Very Poor Showing SR, The Curent System Does Not Counter Scamming
Post by: Crisis on February 21, 2012, 06:34 pm
MMS123, I'm very sorry that you were scammed by Randomguy. I ended up buying a couple of lotto tickets suspecting it was a scam but it was for such a small amount, I could afford to waste it.

Once Randomguy started putting up orders for BTC and large amounts of weed, I knew it was bad and as soon as I logged on today, he was gone.

I agree there needs to be a better way to purchase BT. Buying BT, imho, is definitely the weakest link in SR's structure.
Title: Re: Very Poor Showing SR, The Curent System Does Not Counter Scamming
Post by: microRNA on February 21, 2012, 06:43 pm
Until such features are implemented to protect moneypak -> btc transactions, STOP using MP! Then you wont be ripped off.

There is no need to take such risks and pay exuberant fees when there are already quick and easy ways to obtain btc.

Look into get-bitcoin.com or bitinstant.com

Sorry to hear you got scammed though. I think it happens to each of us once, as a learning experience.
- miR
Title: Re: Very Poor Showing SR, RandomGuy1970 Allowed to Scam Without Regard
Post by: twon on February 21, 2012, 07:28 pm
you shoulda went to BTC Buddy. he's got an almost flawless track record and been here a while. i've been here many months and never even heard of Randomguy1970 until all these threads popped up just today.   where are all the rave review threads for randomguy1970?  are there any?  if not, what would possess you to trust him? after all, he is just some random guy. most likely born in 1970.    i don't know how many times i've said this, but i'll say it AGAIN and probably a hundred more times - if you are dealing with a guy for the first time, start out with a small amount. that way if he scams you, its not for your entire wallet.....so you still have funds available to try another vendor.   this method should be a sticky thread as well as a disclaimer that you read when you sign up.

unfortunately this is the way this underworld works, there are scammers and there are honest people. it may cost you a few scams to find your "go to guy", but once you've found him,  stick with him and share him with other buyers so they are not scammed.  scams have happened to me and many others.  learn to not put all your eggs in one basket.   if we all do this, the scammers will soon realize its not worth it for them to scam and we will win the war on scammers.
What would possess me to trust him? Maybe his 98.8% feedback rating with over 500 transactions. Without an indepth look into his account he appears to be a trustworthy vendor. The rst of your post I agree with.

I would never send someone 380 bucks without an indepth look at his feedback.  All his positive feedback was from the lottery, which should tell you all you needed to know.  Moneypaks are too vulnerable to scamming.
Title: Re: Very Poor Showing SR, The Curent System Does Not Counter Scamming
Post by: cacoethes on February 21, 2012, 08:51 pm
I took a chance with RandomGuy because I had some money to spare, and figured what the hell, I'll give a new vendor a chance.  I CHOSE to ignore my instincts.

I knew his feedback was 99% shit, because I took the time to read it...  I'd be a lot more pissed had it been my last 200 bucks, but then again, I don't gamble what I'm not willing to lose.

I'll be laughing about this later in the week when I'm high on the products sent to me by trusted vendors- but I will never again consider giving a new vendor a shot, and I'll be a lot more vocal on the forums when red flags are waving.

It's the community that makes this whole thing work.
Title: Re: Very Poor Showing SR, The Curent System Does Not Counter Scamming
Post by: edgarnumbers on February 22, 2012, 03:00 am
why don't they just do away with these stupid lottos that are fucking up ranks?
Title: Re: Very Poor Showing SR, The Curent System Does Not Counter Scamming
Post by: slevens42 on February 22, 2012, 03:41 am
why don't they just do away with these stupid lottos that are fucking up ranks?

Agreed. These are greasy ways to increase feedback, should be disallowed
Title: Re: Very Poor Showing SR, The Curent System Does Not Counter Scamming
Post by: poolsclosed on February 22, 2012, 03:49 am
Idea: BTC spent on transaction increases the weight of the feedback logarithmically, e.g. 100 BTC transaction feedback is heavier than 50 BTC transaction. 150 BTC transaction feedback is heavier than 100 BTC transaction, but not by as much as the difference between 100 and 50.
Title: Re: Very Poor Showing SR, The Curent System Does Not Counter Scamming
Post by: padawan65 on February 22, 2012, 11:34 am
I dont think the rating system on this site can never be effective, because everything is anonymous, it is very easy to falsify statistics.  For all transactions on this site you have to be careful, go through the forums in an extremely methodical fashion looking for:
   
     Posts by senior member (generally good) - but a good scammer could easily set up a id in three months to be seniors
     Posts with similar writing styles particularly newbies, probably from vendor
     With less than 50 transactions, this is practically meaningless, particularly if they are all finalise early (likely scammer)
      Even if they have 20+ pages read them all, these are very informative you can practically see exactly how the vendor works.
      If vendor posts , try to work out personallity, some are a bit cranky, some are very informative, but you can see their basically personality from even a few posts.

I like you was angry at the ratings system, I got scammed by someone with 100% and 40 transactions.

Another thing I do is start with a small transaction, generally dont ask vendors any questions, just place a small order and hope for the best, if everything goes fine build on your relationship, I would never through more than $100 in a first transaction.  I dont mind finalizing early, but if I dont receive an order I wouldn't order through the vendor again.  In scamming me once they make a lot less than if I become a good customer.

If you are careful you will really minimize the risk of being scammed, and never for a large amount.

I dont quite understand why anyone would buy bitcoins here, there are quite a few outside of here that offer a great service.  I can generally get bitcoin inside 4 hours using spendbitcoins.com (Aust only).  And it is untraceable.

If anyone was offended at my anger three weeks, I am sorry.  I think I have this worked out now, and am having a marvellous time.