So I'm an Idiot - Don't Do What I Did Today: Public Service Announcement

in scam •  8 years ago  (edited)


I pride myself in my ability to hang on to my Bitcoin.  I like to think that I am good at spotting scams and avoiding them like the plague.  Well, today I let my guard down.

On twitter, @certianassets followed me, and I thought it was Ned.  He offered a discount on Steem for doing a survey and I thought it made sense as a way to help them distribute Steem.  I did the survey and sent over 2 btc to fill up on some Steem Power.

I AM AN IDIOT!

I clicked the profile and saw that it was not Ned, but rather some scammer with a similar handle.  I can't believe I just threw away over $1200 just because I was excited.

Please do not do what I did, take your time whenever you send your btc, steem, or any other crypto.  It's completely my fault for letting my emotions get the best of me.  I am making this post to bring this scam to the attention of the community and I hope no one else falls for this.

I'll be fine, it's not the end of the world, it is just money afterall, but at the same time, I'm not wealthy and that was the last bitcoin I had "reserved" for Steem for a long while.  This is a big blow to me and @missjessica, but we'll recover and I'll learn a valuable lesson that I thought I already knew.

I'm sad and angry right now, but I am more so concerned that others will fall for a similar trap.  Please don't make a mistake like I just made minutes ago. :(

https://blockchain.info/address/1EAFR9WRQGyvhK29NUgqoSFyVXPud1rXf7


@derekareith

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Upvoted and will promote to help you recover AND to thank you for reminding me that I must always be aware and responsible.

Thanks for the support that you and everyone else here has shown me. I know that I will recover and I'll come back stronger after taking some time to reflect and grow from this.

I'm really sorry for what happened. I had $500 stolen from me back in the old e gold days. Like you said it's just money but it hurts more because you feel stupid and lose some of your respect for humanity.

UPVOTED your article and some of your comments.
@kus-knee (The Old Dog)

Ok, promise to never send any money through something like Survey Monkey or any type of irregular service. Ok?

100% promise. I'm still just shell-shocked that I did this.

The same guy also tried to scam me as well today. I wrote up a quick blog about it and notified @ned on Twitter:

https://steemit.com/steemit/@fulltimegeek/scam-alert-twitter-account-certianassets-masquerding-as-ned-scott-certainassets

That's horrible. I don't know how, you are handling this but I'm sure the whole steemit community is very grateful for sharing this.

ouch, no-one is immune to getting caught out. I hope you bounce back quickly. thanks for letting everyone know.

That sucks, man. If it makes you feel any better, I threw away over $40K on a penny-stock that I was high on by the name of "Winning Brands", about 5 to 7 years ago. I still feel some pain thinking about it and what I could have better done with that money.

Talk about an idiot! But life goes on, as Tupac would say (..I want to throw a happy emoji here, but it feels inappropriate at the moment).

My advice is to make the best of the situation - learn your lesson and be more careful in the future. We can all be idiots at times, but it's only the insane that keep making the same mistakes over and over.

OMG, the same thing almost happened to me with Stratis a couple weeks ago. The account actually looked like a Stratisplatform account then the next day, it wasn't anymore really weird. I ended up notifying the survey site, and also notified twitter. I got skeptical when I seen the amount they were offering and backed out. Don't feel to bad, I've been on the net for a long time, and I can almost always spot a scam, and the people almost got me. This was the btc addy of the SOB that tried to get me

1Lserad7ZqdzVSLG11JUBMXFSb8Udabvg4

If you look it up on the blockchain you can see the guy got a chunk of money on that day. I've been trying to follow the BTC to see if I can DOX the prick! Probably won't happen though. Sorry for your loss.

If you have the bitcoin address still, try bitcoinswhoswho.com and see if there is any associated website, or company tied to the address.

http://bitcoinwhoswho.com

http://bitcoinwhoswho.com/address/1EAFR9WRQGyvhK29NUgqoSFyVXPud1rXf7

Doesn't look like there's anything, but thanks for bringing this tool to my attention.

I'm so bummed out now, I can't believe this happened to me.

Sounds a lot like the same guy. I added the address to my file. If I find anything out, I'll let you know.

Thanks man, I appreciate it! Let's just hope we help a few people avoid making the same mistake.

Currently looking to gauge and grow social support for Steemit. Would you like to take a quick survey in order to receive a half-off deal on STEEM?

36m 36 minutes ago

Steemit Posts
Absolutely!
34m 34 minutes ago

Ned Scott
Here it is: http://surveymonkey.com/r/VVDG8SX Reply when done.
32m 32 minutes ago

Just finished :) Keep up the great work, Ned! Steemit has reinvigorated my passion for crypto, voluntarism, and much, much more. It's my favorite place on the Internet and I know many of my previously non-crypto friends agree.

Steemit Posts
BTW, my main twitter is @DerekReith :)
22m 22 minutes ago

Ned Scott
Confirmed. Here is your personalized half-off STEEM social reward: http://surveymonkey.com/r/VVBQCPV Expires in 2 hours, read the directions given above. We value your feedback and time.
21m 21 minutes ago

Steemit Posts
Done! Thank you so much!

I hate it that I just created a survey through Survey Monkey yesterday and they are sort of hijacking the good will that was created out of that.

Yeah, I can see how you'd be blinded by excitement, but honestly looking at that (in hindsight of course), it sounds automated, very generic, its not personalized at all. What sh!##y thing for someone to do.

I know, looking back it's so ridiculously obvious what it was...just feel like a complete idiot.

Shit man, so sorry to hear about this.... my heart goes out to you brother. Though it was an unfortunate mistake, just remember.... this shit happens all the time. Almost no one is immune to falling into some sticky situation from time to time, and especially when emotion clouds better judgement. No one is bulletproof, and unfortunately, there will likely always be thieves and cowards such as this, always absorbing whatever they can scam others out of. In due time though, retribution will fly their way, it always does in one fashion or another. Best thing to do now is to learn from what happened, move onward and keep a much sharper eye. "Trust no one." I send my condolences man. \m/

Dude.. and to think I've been getting all my advice from you. Tisk tisk..
Lol, I'm just kidding obviously. That sucks so bad man, I hope you can recover quickly.

haha I know man, here I am the resident crypto dude and I'm pulling shit I'd expect from you guys...ugggh I'm so mad right now

You should be, I know I would be. I don't think I'd even be able to look at my computer for at least a full day.

The pain is real, but there's literally nothing I can do now. Just gotta move on and hope to bring awareness to the scam for others. Tough frickin lesson to learn almost 3 years into crypto...

Aww, shit, man. That sucks. I mean this in the best way possible, but perhaps you become "better" as a result of this. Always be skeptical with people, and never trust anyone - definitely never send anyone money.

Sorry to hear it!

The more this sinks in the more ridiculous it seems.

I never even click links in DMs unless I know it's the person. I just can't believe I overlooked such an obvious scam. Not only that, but I dumped so much in literally without thinking twice. It's just insane. I never thought I would do something like this.

Man. That sucks. Thanks for making us aware, though :)

That's so scary, bless you for letting everyone know about this scam. I hope they can do something about it as that's a lot of money to loose.

Thanks Karen! This was 100% my fault. I don't expect anyone else to pay for my mistakes. I just need to learn from this and hope that in posting about it others think twice before doing the same.

Well I hope Karma bites them back thieving gits make me mad taking others hard earned cash ... so annoying

That sux. Sorry. :(

Sorry to hear that. =/