Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2016 21:36:39 GMT 7
A cybersecurity researcher living in Austria who was scammed out of $500 (£375) says his money was returned after he tracked down the scammer's family and contacted them on Facebook.
Christian Haschek's blog post about how he caught the thief has been viewed more than 100,000 times in five days.
The scammer was using the same usernames elsewhere on the net, which made him easier to track down.
Mr Haschek says he has "mixed feelings" about his victory.
"On the one hand, this is someone who stole $500 from me and deleted all the accounts that I used to get back to him, he never answered my messages," he told the BBC.
"I found out he had tried to scam loads of people and always with gift cards."
However, the con artist appeared remorseful and said he was afraid. He seemed to come from a poor background and said he was a full-time student.
"He is also just a kid who took a wrong turn," added Mr Haschek, who has not reported the man to the authorities.
Bitcoin buy
Mr Haschek advertised some Apple gift vouchers, which he had won in a competition, on various online message boards as he was unable to use them himself.
The fake buyer who duped him agreed to pay for the vouchers in Bitcoin.
www.bbc.com/news/technology-37348014
Christian Haschek's blog post about how he caught the thief has been viewed more than 100,000 times in five days.
The scammer was using the same usernames elsewhere on the net, which made him easier to track down.
Mr Haschek says he has "mixed feelings" about his victory.
"On the one hand, this is someone who stole $500 from me and deleted all the accounts that I used to get back to him, he never answered my messages," he told the BBC.
"I found out he had tried to scam loads of people and always with gift cards."
However, the con artist appeared remorseful and said he was afraid. He seemed to come from a poor background and said he was a full-time student.
"He is also just a kid who took a wrong turn," added Mr Haschek, who has not reported the man to the authorities.
Bitcoin buy
Mr Haschek advertised some Apple gift vouchers, which he had won in a competition, on various online message boards as he was unable to use them himself.
The fake buyer who duped him agreed to pay for the vouchers in Bitcoin.
www.bbc.com/news/technology-37348014
