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German man loses 400k GBP about $500k in Twitter Bitcoin scam

bbc.com

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Re: German man loses 400k GBP about $500k in Twitter Bitcoin scam

#11

Post by melomal »

paulgb wrote: post #5

> Sebastian double-checked the verification logo next to Elon Musk's name, and then tried to decide whether to send five or 10 Bitcoin. This is a vulnerability in Twitter's verification policy that Twitter refuses to fix. Originally, verification was supposed to mean "this person is who they say they are". But once an account is verified, you can change the name/profile picture to someone else. So hackers get access…

For about $1000 you can get Instagram and Facebook verified accounts so I imagine Twitter is even cheaper/easier to do so.

Re: German man loses 400k GBP about $500k in Twitter Bitcoin scam

#12

Post by viraptor »

hamiltonians wrote: post #2

Assuming you have a defective moral compass, is there any reason to not run this scam. Easiest $ ever. Twitter nor law enforcement can do anything. The same guys doing it over and over. You can run this scam and make an easy $50-200k with some twitter posts and then use the $ to pay off the mortgage or student loans, or take a cruise, buy a luxury car or whatever. no one would know if you mix the coins before cashing…

> no one would know if you mix the coins before cashing them out

There's lots of other ways you can fail. First how you obtain the large enough account to announce the scam. Then how you move the money to mixers. Then how you withdraw it. And likely a few steps in between. Also you can fail by telling someone about your scam - this happens a lot - many court cases have fun conversation records where the accused bragged to undercover police officers.

Re: German man loses 400k GBP about $500k in Twitter Bitcoin scam

#15

Post by kingkongjaffa »

jussij wrote: post #3

> There was a timer counting down, and the website promised participants that they could double their money. It is amazing how people fall for these scams. They seem to forget the time tested truth which is "if it sounds too good to be true then it ain't".

Avg person today is frankly stupid about many areas of modern life.

Our education systems no longer equip people to handle the modern world.

Re: German man loses 400k GBP about $500k in Twitter Bitcoin scam

#18

Post by nkrisc »

> It also does sound quite plausible that someone like Elon Musk, a big supporter of cryptocurrency, would give away Bitcoin.

Really? Most m(b)illionaires, however eccentric, typically don't go around doing the equivalent of throwing money from rooftops, especially not by means of blurry Times New Roman text on a GIF directing you to some .info website.

Re: German man loses 400k GBP about $500k in Twitter Bitcoin scam

#19

Post by lm28469 »

boyadjian wrote: post #13

I never understand, why people who already have money, want to have more. Personally, I keep my money at the bank, for days when I will have to spend it (Buying things, going on holidays, etc)

The bank is gambling it for you, some people prefer gambling it themselves

Re: German man loses 400k GBP about $500k in Twitter Bitcoin scam

#20

Post by mihaifm »

> 10 Bitcoin were transferred and then cashed out anonymously a few days later.

Genuinely interested how the coins were cashed out anonymously. Pretty much all exchanges require KYC these days, and Bitcoin addresses can be tracked and blacklisted if the right processes are put in place, in theory at least.

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