Man in the Middle Scams
Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2020 4:59 am
Some scammers first find someone selling cryptocurrency, and then they find someone who wants to buy something. Lastly, they get the instructions from the crypto-seller and forward them to the something-buyer. They act as a middleman. Ultimately, the scammer gets the buyer to pay the seller, and the seller sends the cryptocurrency to the scammer. The buyer gets nothing. The buyer then uses the information about how to pay for what they wanted to buy to find the person who got their money and never sent their purchase to them. The crypto-seller might be confused by this irate person who demands something that they are owed "because I paid for it!" The seller looks up the payment and says "That payment was for crypto, which I sent, and here's the proof."
My strategy for thwarting these scammers is to demand the the payment come with a note (I sell crypto for cash through the mail). The note says "I'm _____________ buying crypto from Dave Scotese..." so if the person sending the cash isn't ______________ (some user on some website), they ought to resist writing such a note. I make the scammers' job into "get your victim to fool me into thinking they want to buy the crypto." Some still do it. If I can tell, I make it harder and harder (for scammers, but for honest people, it's not that hard). I also send a letter back to the return address on the package in which the cash came to me. That letter explains the scam above, and that I don't want to help scammers or criminals commit their fraud or theft.
My favorite thing is to tug at the strings of a scammers' conscience. If I could ever find out that I got just one scammer to go legit (trading crypto can be lucrative if you're honest and patient and helpful and smart), it would make me very happy. I settle for wasting their time quite a bit.
My strategy for thwarting these scammers is to demand the the payment come with a note (I sell crypto for cash through the mail). The note says "I'm _____________ buying crypto from Dave Scotese..." so if the person sending the cash isn't ______________ (some user on some website), they ought to resist writing such a note. I make the scammers' job into "get your victim to fool me into thinking they want to buy the crypto." Some still do it. If I can tell, I make it harder and harder (for scammers, but for honest people, it's not that hard). I also send a letter back to the return address on the package in which the cash came to me. That letter explains the scam above, and that I don't want to help scammers or criminals commit their fraud or theft.
My favorite thing is to tug at the strings of a scammers' conscience. If I could ever find out that I got just one scammer to go legit (trading crypto can be lucrative if you're honest and patient and helpful and smart), it would make me very happy. I settle for wasting their time quite a bit.