Post: #576

I hadn’t seen this earlier-
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/artic...rest-video

I thought they smashed through his front door and nabbed him at his computer. It turns out they had an undercover car crash into his gate in front of his house to make a distraction. Alex came running outside to see what was going on (if it was his gate he was probably pissed off) and then once a bunch of agents rushed him he realized the game was up. His computer was left inside logged in to the admin of Alpha Bay so he handed over all the keys without much effort. He still had a chance to do something with his computer once he heard the crash at the gate.

If I was living that life I’d be so paranoid every loud noise would spook me and I would probably go Yasser Arafat and never sleep in the same place twice.

I can’t find it now, but I remember reading something similar about Silk Road when they took down Ross Ulbricht in the San Francisco library- the FBI had a couple stage a fake fight in front of him to distract him while they swooped his laptop.

Post: #577

(06-19-2018 02:07 PM)frozen-ace Wrote:  He still had a chance to do something with his computer once he heard the crash at the gate.

If I was living that life I’d be so paranoid every loud noise would spook me and I would probably go Yasser Arafat and never sleep in the same place twice.

If you don't keep an industrial zorba shredder spun up next to your desk, you've got to step up your security game.

Post: #578

(06-19-2018 02:07 PM)frozen-ace Wrote:  I hadn’t seen this earlier-
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/artic...rest-video

I thought they smashed through his front door and nabbed him at his computer. It turns out they had an undercover car crash into his gate in front of his house to make a distraction. Alex came running outside to see what was going on (if it was his gate he was probably pissed off) and then once a bunch of agents rushed him he realized the game was up. His computer was left inside logged in to the admin of Alpha Bay so he handed over all the keys without much effort. He still had a chance to do something with his computer once he heard the crash at the gate.

If I was living that life I’d be so paranoid every loud noise would spook me and I would probably go Yasser Arafat and never sleep in the same place twice.

I can’t find it now, but I remember reading something similar about Silk Road when they took down Ross Ulbricht in the San Francisco library- the FBI had a couple stage a fake fight in front of him to distract him while they swooped his laptop.

If the cops had to resort to that kind of measures, then no wonder that others try again and again. He seems to have been able to easily secure everything, have massive measures in place if he were paranoid and he would have gone almost unharmed as a lengthy process might have only hinted towards some email connections and nothing else. You get the mafia treatment of everybody knowing that it's you, but nobody being able to pin it down to him.

Though he was beyond careless as we noted, anyone of us would have recommended him to behave like a prepper-Illuminati-everywhere-fearing fanatic, have zero social media, zero forums, even limit and change prepaid mobile phones frequently, have multiple options in place even in case of an arrest with encryption up to the bazoo or even some kind of destruction mechanism embedded.

Ah well.... he paid dearly for it all.

Post: #579

(06-19-2018 02:20 PM)Simeon_Strangelight Wrote:  

(06-19-2018 02:07 PM)frozen-ace Wrote:  I hadn’t seen this earlier-
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/artic...rest-video

I thought they smashed through his front door and nabbed him at his computer. It turns out they had an undercover car crash into his gate in front of his house to make a distraction. Alex came running outside to see what was going on (if it was his gate he was probably pissed off) and then once a bunch of agents rushed him he realized the game was up. His computer was left inside logged in to the admin of Alpha Bay so he handed over all the keys without much effort. He still had a chance to do something with his computer once he heard the crash at the gate.

If I was living that life I’d be so paranoid every loud noise would spook me and I would probably go Yasser Arafat and never sleep in the same place twice.

I can’t find it now, but I remember reading something similar about Silk Road when they took down Ross Ulbricht in the San Francisco library- the FBI had a couple stage a fake fight in front of him to distract him while they swooped his laptop.

If the cops had to resort to that kind of measures, then no wonder that others try again and again. He seems to have been able to easily secure everything, have massive measures in place if he were paranoid and he would have gone almost unharmed as a lengthy process might have only hinted towards some email connections and nothing else. You get the mafia treatment of everybody knowing that it's you, but nobody being able to pin it down to him.

Though he was beyond careless as we noted, anyone of us would have recommended him to behave like a prepper-Illuminati-everywhere-fearing fanatic, have zero social media, zero forums, even limit and change prepaid mobile phones frequently, have multiple options in place even in case of an arrest with encryption up to the bazoo or even some kind of destruction mechanism embedded.

Ah well.... he paid dearly for it all.

Without forums, he never would have been able to develop the ideas that made him the money. Forums are fun, but they're not just recreation.

Post: #580

(06-19-2018 02:07 PM)frozen-ace Wrote:  I hadn’t seen this earlier-
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/artic...rest-video

I thought they smashed through his front door and nabbed him at his computer. It turns out they had an undercover car crash into his gate in front of his house to make a distraction. Alex came running outside to see what was going on (if it was his gate he was probably pissed off) and then once a bunch of agents rushed him he realized the game was up. His computer was left inside logged in to the admin of Alpha Bay so he handed over all the keys without much effort. He still had a chance to do something with his computer once he heard the crash at the gate.

If I was living that life I’d be so paranoid every loud noise would spook me and I would probably go Yasser Arafat and never sleep in the same place twice.

I can’t find it now, but I remember reading something similar about Silk Road when they took down Ross Ulbricht in the San Francisco library- the FBI had a couple stage a fake fight in front of him to distract him while they swooped his laptop.

Credit to a military background, but my instinct is that to run outside is usually the worst thing you can do in a situation like that. If something crazy is going on that is potentially the result of a hostile actor, your #1 priority needs to be not giving away your position or what your intentions are.

Look at it this way. Hypothetically on the off chance it is someone armed then the first thing they're going to do when you show your face is shoot at it. To prevent that from happening you need to make sure that you assess the situation from a concealed vantage.

Post: #581

(06-19-2018 02:20 PM)Simeon_Strangelight Wrote:  If I was living that life I’d be so paranoid every loud noise would spook me and I would probably go Yasser Arafat and never sleep in the same place twice.

Though he was beyond careless as we noted, anyone of us would have recommended him to behave like a prepper-Illuminati-everywhere-fearing fanatic, have zero social media, zero forums, even limit and change prepaid mobile phones frequently, have multiple options in place even in case of an arrest with encryption up to the bazoo or even some kind of destruction mechanism embedded.

Or he could have gone to Simcity and Interpol would have never been able to get him, as Crimea is outside of international jurisdictions (with the exception of those of the Russian Federation, of course), while at the same time being perfectly safe, warm and full of cute Russian chicks.

Or he could have asked a friend to discreetly rent him an apartment in Palermo (Buenos Aires), and posted his (disgusting) shit from one of BsAs (still) innumerable cybercafes, and nobody would have caught him; hardly would he have had to hide.

But as he was a mere amateur, and rather clumsy and unstable, he went to much-hyped Bangkok, where the outcome for a Farang was unavoidable . Now, granted, even a pro like "Buddy" Bout was lured to BKK: strange. Rich people sometimes are surprisingly stupid, which usually means that they got rich by sheer luck, sneaky crimes and opportunity.

Post: #582

Read an article on compilation of studies done on IQs of self-made millionaires, homeless and multi-millionaires.
Sure - the white homeless were in the 80s on average with few exceptions similar to most violent criminals.
But what was funny was that self-made millionaires clocked in at averages of 112-118. Men who made tens of millions were the same. That number is not so impressive because even in the US you have tens of millions of men and women beyond that IQ level who never made that kind of bank. There is a certain threshold necessary that most cross, but you don't need to be a genius to make it that big.

Though some guys are also socially awkward and naive in many respects. Intelligence does not equal fully social awareness, wisdom, street smarts and common sense - sure there are certain thresholds you have to reach, but then a lot is decided by other factors like conscientiousness, industriousness, risk-taking, luck even (as in difference between making 2 mio. $ or 200 mio. $) I even read a surprising study on some Nobel price winners - with many scoring only in the mid 120s - would not even pass MENSA. And yet - they contributed to science by working on topics which were dry and uninteresting to most people for decades.

Post: #583

I reckon he was murdered for his money. If you apologise to a liberal same treatment is coming for you. I say he was a woke individual and got murdered once he gave up the location of his cash. The lesson, never apologize, its what your enemies want.

Post: #584

This guy got arrested-
https://www.reddit.com/user/trappy_AB/comments

He was possibly #2 within the Alphabay organization. His writing style seems very unique. For all of his services seems like he was paid around 15 bitcoin. Is that a fair wage in the dark net? Or was Alex just cheap? Seems pretty risky. And he was operating from within the US. Pretty stupid.

Mr Trappy got to experience the IRS Criminal Investigation unit (as opposed to the DEA with Rawmeo). They probably left his front gate intact and there were no towels in the jail cell. But he did lose his bitcoin.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga/pr/alp...conspiracy

Post: #585

< They got him mostly for promotion of access device fraud / credit card fraud and for not paying his taxes on his gains to the IRS.

Quote:Wheeler’s duties included moderating the AlphaBay subreddit on the internet website reddit.com; moderating the AlphaBay message board forums; mediating sales disputes among AlphaBay users; promoting AlphaBay on the internet; and providing non-technical assistance to AlphaBay users. In return for his work, Wheeler received a salary in Bitcoin. Throughout his participation in the conspiracy, Wheeler advised the public on how to access AlphaBay and encouraged the public to use the website.

Sounds more like an employee - should have demanded more than 15 bitcoins due to the nature of the business.

Post: #586

I found this interesting:
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/opinion/30354431

Quote:Cazes arrived at the door and the police pounced. He rushed to tell his wife to turn off the computer, but officers got their first to make sure the machine was still online. There was still the problem of the locked phone, though. Police already knew that Cazes had been having an affair. They told him he was being arrested on a charge of having an affair with another man’s wife. “We told him that the husband [of the woman] would settle the case if he [Cazes] phoned the husband,” Pisal recounted. Cazes was stunned to hear his lover was married. He promptly phoned the husband – in reality, a policeman – and offered to pay Bt100,000 as compensation. The “husband” demanded Bt1 million and without missing a beat Casez asked for his bank account code. As the conversation ended the police seized his phone – which he had unlocked. “If his computer or mobile phone had been found locked and encrypted, it could have taken around 300 years to crack the code,” Pisal said.

So he basically unlocked his phone for them too.. again not sure how legitimate the source is.