Accepted Report: 76561198140681571 - ([DOTA2] Dota2 Items)

Scam Report

Report Type: [Money] Other cash fraud (webmoney, bitcoin, etc)
Virtual item type involved: [DOTA2] Dota2 Items

Accused profile: 76561198140681571

Victim profile: 76561198048804032

What happened? Description:

Apologies in advance for length, scam took a long time. Rough times, in need of money, finally put my $800+ DotA 2 Dragonclaw Hook (had since opening it in 2012) up on Steam market. He added me, he offered $800 and I accepted the offer, eventually deciding on BTC over PayPal, no chargebacks, all transactions (or none in this case) indisputably on Blockchain.
Saw he's an Admin in multiple buy/sell/trade groups with good reps. I did spend hours reading guides/READ MEs across various sites in a failed attempt at doing everything properly; and not getting scammed for $800, having zero experience with Steam trading.
Couldn't make the trade when he first contacted me, but held it for him in good faith. In the interim he changed his Steam profile pic and Steam name to "Cobaltif," (changed back to Cobalt, and original profile pic soon after he scammed me for the Hook; not paying, blocking me, making his profile/inventory private again). Still haven't closed the Steam chat window, despite him blocking me, so if different screenshots are needed, it's all still there.
At his request, I added him first on Discord with his provided username in Steam chat (I wasn't aware Discord was considered out of bounds at the time). During Discord chat, he purchased Discord Nitro while on ScreenShare claiming it was to fix blurry images; in doing this he also changed his Discord tag from #8703 (seen in Steam Chat) to #6666. Was also far more pushy/rude in Discord.
However, he provided instructive screenshots on trading in Steam using/displaying his own Steam account, which is why there are the 3 trade offers (he canceled them of course) from him in the Steam Chat logs (he was demonstrating on ScreenShare how I could cancel my Trade Offer if he didn't send BTC immediately) Will provide any/all info from the Discord logs if they're allowed considering there's screenshots of him sending trade instructions using his from his Steam account.
Was very concerned about going first, he requested we do ScreenShare so he could show me he had the BTC ready, and he could see me confirm the trade of the Dragonclaw Hook, at which point he'd send the agreed upon 0.079BTC. Still very concerned going first, as who can afford to lose this much? So through ScreenShare he posted a request for vouches in the DotA Buy/Sell/Trade FB group with 20K members, of which he's an Admin..
He also demonstrated in ScreenShare that I could cancel the Trade Offer if he didn't send the BTC as soon as I confirmed the trade. Claimed he'd remain logged out of Steam during the transaction, so that he couldn't accept the trade right away as reassurance. Finally, given his vouches/rep I confirmed the trade, at which point he asked for the BTC address we'd already confirmed through ScreenShare. Immediately blocked me after., couldn't even respond, never sent the agreed $800, (0.079BTC).
Considering his reputations, middleman, and admin rankings in multiple trading communities, and his abuse of that status... I know I an $800 loss, and just hope nobody else has to experience even a fraction of that.

TL;DR Offered $800 (0.079BTC) for my Dragonclaw Hook, saw he was an Admin and had rep. Eventually requested I add him on Discord so we can do ScreenShare, as I was very afraid to go first. Finally, seeing the rep/vouches, and he had the BTC ready to send, I hesitantly confirmed the trade, he immediately asked for my BTC address again, but blocked me before I could even respond. On screenshare he'd shown me he already had it ready to send, we'd confirmed the address was correct as well, so it was obviously meant as a distraction. No hook. No BTC. Nothing.

Here's a link to the still empty BTC Address I provided to him multiple times: https://www.blockchain.com/btc/address/3LTs7pwoHjMW3sCWnLmKVqwEfVrBP3oqp4​

Provide Evidence:

BTC address can be checked on the Blockchain, no transactions, zero balance... Screenshots showing Dragonclaw Hook trade, the hook in his inventory with URL before he went private. Timestamped Steam and Discord logs. Hit the picture upload cap, but can provide more.​

Saturday, February 8, 2020

[Yesterday, 2:58 AM]
Cobaltif:
hey
sorry to comment on your screenshot
y there?

[Yesterday, 3:00 AM]
Forestcrunk:
Hey, no worries! Didn't even know that screenshot existed

[Yesterday, 3:01 AM]
Cobaltif:
thanks so i am interested to buy your hook off the market thats why i added you
still got it right?

[Yesterday, 3:03 AM]
Forestcrunk:
Haha I figured, the first of many, people are always adding me for it lol, I do still have it!

[Yesterday, 3:03 AM]
Cobaltif:
well im pretty sure everyone was scammer with low level and s✿✿✿
xD
anyways can you take it off the market?

[Yesterday, 3:04 AM]
Forestcrunk:
Probably xD I never even checked them tho anyways, it's only up cuz my GPU died

[Yesterday, 3:04 AM]
Cobaltif:
oh which gpu you had?
i got 1080 strix version
im in love with rgb stuff

[Yesterday, 3:06 AM]
Forestcrunk:
haha ahh yeah, rgb is great, have a strix mobo

[Yesterday, 3:06 AM]
Cobaltif:
ahh yeah im on that too going to buy one soon
i just bought 2TB SSD M2 NVMe evo plus really cheap
have 16GB RAM 3200 hz RGB OFC corsair

[Yesterday, 3:07 AM]
Forestcrunk:
but nothing rgb to match yet ha, 1070 died right when i snagged a new monitor

[Yesterday, 3:07 AM]
Cobaltif:
oh dang feels bad
so can you take it off? so i can tell you how much i could pay you for it \
for it*

[Yesterday, 3:07 AM]
Forestcrunk:
niice the M2s evos are great!

[Yesterday, 3:08 AM]
Cobaltif:
the fastest ones
i have to get at least 32GB RAM since of my work

[Yesterday, 3:08 AM]
Forestcrunk:
goottaa goo fastt!

[Yesterday, 3:08 AM]
Cobaltif:
yep xD

[Yesterday, 3:09 AM]
Forestcrunk:
also it's like 4AM so if i don't respond, it's not personal yo, just nap time

[Yesterday, 3:09 AM]
Cobaltif:
can you at least remove it from market?
im really interested to buy so

[Yesterday, 3:12 AM]
Forestcrunk:
yeahh you were on that fast, moment it hit the market! ha

[Yesterday, 3:12 AM]
Cobaltif:
lol? thought it was on market for a while

[Yesterday, 3:12 AM]
Forestcrunk:
care to elaborate at all? i've just had a lot of offers from seemingly legit, to completely crazy stuff, i'm sure you've seen it all

[Yesterday, 3:13 AM]
Cobaltif:
I can offer up to 800$ if you wish so I can do Venmo Paypal bank transfer BTC and etc

[Yesterday, 3:14 AM]
Forestcrunk:
nope, ya were on it soon as it was up!

[Yesterday, 3:14 AM]
Cobaltif:
im pretty sure all of em were scammers
its hard to find legit people nowdays
but i can show you all my proofs if you would need

[Yesterday, 3:14 AM]
Forestcrunk:
yeah, i've gotten a lot of them over the years

[Yesterday, 3:14 AM]
Cobaltif:
im doing this business over 5 years already
and done more then 6500 trades already
but i can show you all my proofs if you would need
so my price sounds fine to you?

[Yesterday, 3:16 AM]
Forestcrunk:
but the fact you speak english (nothing against people that don't! just makes trades difficult) already gives you top of the list priority

[Yesterday, 3:17 AM]
Cobaltif:
if you wish i can go in discord and show all my previous trades and how much ive made as like proofs
so are you going to remove it?

[Yesterday, 3:18 AM]
Forestcrunk:
yeah man, price sounds perfect, almost too good to be true lol! i've held onto this hook since 2012 xD

[Yesterday, 3:19 AM]
Cobaltif:
oh damn
i think you can get new gpu with this money xD

[Yesterday, 3:20 AM]
Forestcrunk:
haha exactly xP time for an upgrade anyways, but yeah lemme take a look at taking it down

[Yesterday, 3:20 AM]
Cobaltif:
btw which payment you wanna use?
as i said i can do venmo paypal bank transfer btc (and 2other crypto as well)

[Yesterday, 3:21 AM]
Forestcrunk:
im a big fan of crypto, but paypal is always cool too

[Yesterday, 3:21 AM]
Cobaltif:
yeah as for me too but had one issues when i started this
when i didnt knew how to use paypal back in 2014
i had around 7000$ to buy a car and paypal locked me down because i tried to cash it out for once
with that i waited 180days and cashed it out finally
now i have mercedes c class xD

[Yesterday, 3:22 AM]
Forestcrunk:
ohh yeah, always a learning curve to that kind of stuff! too bad ya can't buy cars with crypto xP

[Yesterday, 3:23 AM]
Cobaltif:
wish i could

[Yesterday, 3:24 AM]
Forestcrunk:
oh damn, right on! don't think i've ever driven a mercedes of any kind, friend had one, was an awesome car!

[Yesterday, 3:25 AM]
Cobaltif:
yep
so let me know once you will take it down

[Yesterday, 3:30 AM]
Forestcrunk:
sorry, i pulled it down for ya, been years since i've taken something down, faceless voids immortal timebreaker or whatever hah

[Yesterday, 3:30 AM]
Cobaltif:
haha, okay so can you request 800$ to my pp?
if you dont know i can have your email and pay you like that

[Yesterday, 3:31 AM]
Forestcrunk:
but right on, im about to crash so is it alright if i give ya a shout a bit later today?

[Yesterday, 3:31 AM]
Cobaltif:
its 4:31PM to me tbh so were in kinda different timezones
i'd prefer to done is as quick as possible if thats ok
its about 5min work to us
if this okay for you of course

[Yesterday, 3:36 AM]
Forestcrunk:
honestly was about to go to sleep so i threw it up on the market, but ya just caught my attention right before i powered off

[Yesterday, 3:36 AM]
Cobaltif:
huh im luck i guess
so if you can request money to me lmk or i can prepare for the payment if you send your email

[Yesterday, 3:37 AM]
Forestcrunk:
if it makes any difference i'll continue ignoring the 26 friend requests, and you're #1 on the list

[Yesterday, 3:37 AM]
Cobaltif:
oh damn
im just about of timezones i dont have any problem doing this later if we were in same timezones

[Yesterday, 3:38 AM]
Forestcrunk:
haha yeah kinda actually, normally i don't even take a second glance at friend requests xD

[Yesterday, 3:39 AM]
Cobaltif:
know that moment

[Yesterday, 3:39 AM]
Forestcrunk:
well im awake really off hours, and dont sleep much, so we'll be able to figure it out

[Yesterday, 3:39 AM]
Cobaltif:
okay sounds fine to me

[Yesterday, 3:39 AM]
Forestcrunk:
must have been the color! haha
anyways, take it easy man, i'll get in touch with ya later today, and i'll even hold onto it for ya, so no worries if you're busy/sleeping

[Yesterday, 3:40 AM]
Cobaltif:
thanks man will try to be here have to finish some work with adobe photoshop

[Yesterday, 8:29 AM]
Cobaltif:
y there?
or still sleeping

[Yesterday, 9:02 AM]
Cobaltif:
are we good?

[Yesterday, 11:32 AM]
Cobaltif:
im here to know

[Yesterday, 11:32 AM]
Forestcrunk:
Yeah we're good, got called into work sorry

[Yesterday, 11:32 AM]
Cobaltif:
np
so could you request 800$?
or you will give me email

[Yesterday, 11:33 AM]
Forestcrunk:
Won't be at my computer for a bit, wasn't expecting work! =/

[Yesterday, 11:33 AM]
Cobaltif:
well i guess we can do it via mobile
its easy to do trade
would it work for you?
or i should wait?

[Yesterday, 11:43 AM]
Cobaltif:
k i will try to stay awake

[Yesterday, 11:46 AM]
Forestcrunk:
Get some sleep man, it'll be there when ya wake up!

[Yesterday, 11:46 AM]
Cobaltif:
all good will be gaming and mix working for it
so when you will be back? could you tell me time?
which state are you in?
so i could know when you will come bakc

[Yesterday, 8:44 PM]
Forestcrunk:
hey, im sincerely sorry to get back to you so late, but as promised i've ignored everyone else, and held onto the hook for ya! hah

[Yesterday, 9:18 PM]
Cobaltif:
thanks
hope you will come soon

[Yesterday, 11:10 PM]
Cobaltif:
y there?

[Yesterday, 11:37 PM]
Forestcrunk:
heyo, again my apologies, gpu died entirely so was kinda fixing that, really appreciate your patience tho

Saturday, February 8, 2020

[12:20 AM]
Cobaltif:
hey
time to get new gpu?
hope you’re here
see you added other guy
feel bad xdd

[12:25 AM]
Forestcrunk:
yessir it is, way more spendy than they used to be!
haha don't feel bad man! ill delete him right now xD

[12:26 AM]
Cobaltif:
anyway can we do it now?

im looking for hook to get some cs skins asap

[12:27 AM]
Forestcrunk:
only added him cuz i keep other items on a second account cuz people wouldn't leave me alone about them, but didn't wanna make my account private lol
yeah was wondering why ya wanted the pudge hook, but no dota2 time!

[12:28 AM]
Cobaltif:
im always doing trades if im buying that type of items
so are we good to do the trade or you’re busy yet

[12:31 AM]
Forestcrunk:
nah im pretty much ready, just trying to think of how to do this

[12:32 AM]
Cobaltif:
well hope you saw my profile and see how legit i am, and there is no worries about that
i can add you on discord if you wish and show my balance of paypal

if you wanna see that or other trades what i’ve bought as you wish

[12:33 AM]
Forestcrunk:
yeah all looks legit man, nice profile page and arts btw!

[12:33 AM]
Cobaltif:
my art? i don’t like it kinda xd
anyway whats your email then?
or you’ll request money?

[12:34 AM]
Forestcrunk:
that's what i'm looking at right now, been awhile since i've used paypal for this kind of thing

[12:34 AM]
Cobaltif:
do you need help?
like i can explain if you wish
let me know if you need something

[12:35 AM]
Forestcrunk:
ah i appreciate it, just making sure everythings good on paypal mainly
im also open to crypto

[12:36 AM]
Cobaltif:
i can do btc
if you like
as you wish my master

[12:39 AM]
Forestcrunk:
haha uhh haven't used btc in awhile either should have an address handy tho

[12:40 AM]
Cobaltif:
so which you decide to use?

[12:44 AM]
Forestcrunk:
oh woah, crypto recovered since i last got a bit, right before it crashed lol, btc would work

[12:44 AM]
Cobaltif:
okay then include your btc address on the trade and once it will be here i will send it
it would take 15-40min as usual
sounds good?

[12:45 AM]
Forestcrunk:
yeah, i've been trying to think of how to go about this

[12:46 AM]
Cobaltif:
hope you aint think im scammer
should i do anything to proove myself to you as i got crypto or smth?

[12:48 AM]
Forestcrunk:
nah don't think you're a scammer, just had people trying to take me for this for like 8 years, just can never be too careful ya know?

[12:49 AM]
Cobaltif:
that’s right but here we are no worries about it

[12:49 AM]
Forestcrunk:
especially for a new gpu now lol!

[12:49 AM]
Cobaltif:
as soon you would make it my btc will be your (in 15-40min lol)
i know that feel
my 1070 died 5months ago

[12:52 AM]
Forestcrunk:
yeah i do believe ya man, got scammed for the first time ever a few months ago for a 100 bucks, i'd be screwed if that happened with this!

[12:53 AM]
Cobaltif:
feel you man that’s sad thing to happen
if it makes something idk but my “friend” stole my 6000$ from my house
so i got scammed as well
im so dumb that i keep him on my side

[12:55 AM]
Forestcrunk:
ouch, that's awful! makes a 100 feel like nothing! especially when it's someone ya knew D=

[12:56 AM]
Cobaltif:
i learned something at least

[12:56 AM]
Forestcrunk:
painful lesson, shouldn't keep him around if he's stealing from ya!

[12:56 AM]
Cobaltif:
anyway im still on my point
if that 6000$ makes him good all good

[12:57 AM]
Forestcrunk:
stealing from people is plain wrong, corporations aren't people tho! xD if only people didn't steal from each other haha
glad to hear he didn't knock over, but you're more generous than me!

[12:58 AM]
Cobaltif:
at least trying to be

[12:59 AM]
Forestcrunk:
though, all i have to steal is change laying around my place, and a pudge hook, had a few people irl try to steal it heh

[1:00 AM]
Cobaltif:
and virtual friend cobalt

[1:00 AM]
Forestcrunk:
haha nah, not you too! xP

[1:00 AM]
Cobaltif:
ofc
so let’s do it then!
you’ll include it on trade window or gonna send it here?

[1:05 AM]
Forestcrunk:
i know, really sorry for all the waiting! wish there was a way we could both go first lol

[1:05 AM]
Cobaltif:
you mean you can’t go first?

[1:06 AM]
Forestcrunk:
cuz i don't think you're trying to scam me! just a new gpu and some rent for my pudge hook sounds too good to be true atm! on steamrep there's open dispute from only yesterday

[1:07 AM]
Cobaltif:
man there is every scammer trying to impersonate
even

[1:07 AM]
Forestcrunk:
which im not judging ya from, cuz it's not verified, just a little cautious

[1:08 AM]
Cobaltif:
alexanderr got trade banned for wrong and someone impersonation
no worries my man i swear!
so if you trust me here we are
if not that would be kinda sad for me tbh
you really think im going to scam then you know how to remove me
aint aiming for someone to destroy his time when he needs this money most

[1:14 AM]
Forestcrunk:
not sure who alexanderr is, and yeah impostors are super lame sorry ya have to deal with that bs

[1:14 AM]
Cobaltif:
hes big trader with 870lvl
so are we going to do it?

[1:15 AM]
Forestcrunk:
nah i appreciate that man, same with me im not looking to scam anyone cuz i haven't played dota in years, and don't plan to ever

[1:15 AM]
Cobaltif:
so we gonna do it or?

[1:16 AM]
Forestcrunk:
is there any way for us to both go first, or i can reassure you? or vice versa

[1:16 AM]
Cobaltif:
do you have discord?
can you join for moment?
?

[1:17 AM]
Forestcrunk:
yeah

[1:17 AM]
Cobaltif:
okay give me your discord i will add ya

[1:17 AM]
Forestcrunk:
what for exactly tho?

[1:18 AM]
Cobaltif:
i will show something and you can decide whatever you wanna
im going to get on pc!
leave your name

[1:19 AM]
Forestcrunk:
mind me asking why it can't be shown here?

[1:19 AM]
Cobaltif:
discord has screenshare
and you can see it with screen share live
OfficialCobaltif#8703
there thats my id add me or send me yours will add ya
so you gonna add me or send me your nick?

[1:24 AM]
Forestcrunk:
Forestcrunk#8070

[1:24 AM]
Cobaltif:
added
and calling

[1:37 AM]
Forestcrunk:
3LTs7pwoHjMW3sCWnLmKVqwEfVrBP3oqp4

[1:43 AM]
Cobaltif:
Cobaltif sent you a new trade offerView trade offer
Cobaltif sent you a new trade offerView trade offer

[2:00 AM]
Cobaltif:
Cobaltif sent you a new trade offerView trade offer

[2:31 AM]
Forestcrunk:
You sent Cobaltif a new trade offer 3LTs7pwoHjMW3sCWnLmKVqwEfVrBP3oqp4
View trade offer

I did, not denying it, my mind is beyond boggled too.. My supreme idiocy has had me awake for days now. Was unaware SteamRep existed until a couple days ago, zero experience. Desperate times make for dumb decisions I guess. You're exactly right, no point if potential red flags are ignored. Not doing this with the expectation of anything other than to hopefully help others. Get a red light up, instead of a yellow one.
Were it not for his Rep/History/Admin statuses, combined with streamed ScreenShare of him posting in the DotA 2 Buy/Sell/Trade FaceBook group with 20,000 members; as an Admin nonetheless. Watching comments come in vouching for him. Was still very skeptical, but ignorantly believed the cancel trade offer provided some recourse. Otherwise, would have never opened the trade window without prior payment. No longer have Facebook, or I'd be posting on there as well.
Anyways, sincerely do appreciate your time and help with all of this, thank you.

BTC Address: 3LTs7pwoHjMW3sCWnLmKVqwEfVrBP3oqp4

Hopefully these are acceptable? Tried using ShareX this time.

BTC Address again: 3LTs7pwoHjMW3sCWnLmKVqwEfVrBP3oqp4