The Austin Cain Facebook Scam

We received multiple reports of a bitcoin scam run by “Austin Cain” on Facebook going dark this week. It sounds like a classic ponzi scheme exit.

This is one of the “Invest Coins with Austin” addresses 1FXNLk9BVUt7fCHuu8GQtSCukR4CiyYA6D with total received balance of 39.84 BTC. The Facebook group is no longer accessible. It appears the ponzi is over and Austin is on the run. One of our informants has reported him to the Australian Cybercrime Online Reporting Network (ACORN).

You can run but it’s hard to hide forever on the Bitcoin blockchain Austin.

These are some other of his scam addresses Continue reading The Austin Cain Facebook Scam

1BTC Casascius Bitcoin Sells For USD$7,100

$7,100 “Casacius” physical bitcoin
UPDATED 6/13/17: A second 2011 first series Casascius physical bitcoin has sold on eBay for $10,100, eclipsing the previous record set last week by $3,000! This one was not in mint condition either having been “removed from the capsule only twice”. The address 16cVGhzpeNzCKNcz4q5jBoKzNJRKHds4av still shows 1 BTC.

ORIGINAL: A mint 2011 series 1 Casascius physical bitcoin sold for USD $7,100 on eBay yesterday. The address, 17xS2adEin5TYQU4xnaBYaHoQDEzHvkg6L, containing 1 BTC, attracted 14 bidders and started at $.99 on May 26th. A bidding war for the “physical” bitcoin reached $2,500 after the first day and $4,050 to start the last day June 5.

First series Casascius coins are highly sought after by collectors. During the last bitcoin price spike in 2013 many changed hands on eBay for about ~USD$3,000.

5,140 of the 11,000 first series 1 BTC Casascius coins in circulation contain the same error, a missing “s” in the watermark, according to elianite. Continue reading 1BTC Casascius Bitcoin Sells For USD$7,100