The title says it all, but I'll break the situation down for the sake of transparency since this is a serious accusation to make. User @virtualgrowth is currently scamming me out of $1000 worth of Bitcoin. I feel like not being transparent with this situation with the public and the community would make me guilty of letting someone get away with conning other community members. I'm writing this as a warning since @virtualgrowth gets around a lot both online and in the crypto space at conventions, events, etc. People need to know who they're potentially dealing with and will hopefully avoid falling prey to a con artist/scammer that spins them a hard luck story.
I absolutely hate making this post since I considered @virtualgrowth a good friend of mine, but I have to do this. He has left me no choice and I've given him countless opportunities to remedy this situation but he chooses to figuratively continue to spit in my face. @virtualgrowth is Jimi Jacob Hanafin. He's around 40 year's old, and this is what he looks like in case you run into him in person:
I think that, that is enough information to release about him without totally doxxing the guy, which I could do at this point. I'm only releasing enough information so that people can utilize it to protect themselves and to avoid a shitty situation with Jimi.
Here's how it all began: https://steemit.com/life/@virtualgrowth/need-an-extra-usd1000-for-the-next-month
In the comments, you can see our initial interaction, here's the thread that I'm talking about: https://steemit.com/life/@virtualgrowth/need-an-extra-usd1000-for-the-next-month#@matt-a/re-virtualgrowth-need-an-extra-usd1000-for-the-next-month-20190706t235758328z
I message VG on telegram and then continue the conversation with him via text. Take note of the double checkmarks on the Telegram log, that means that he has not only received the message, but opened and read it as well. Here's our conversation on Telegram:
After this, we took the conversation to Signal Messenger (text messaging). We chatted a bit, agreed on the terms that he would pay me back on or before August 7th 2019, I sent him the Bitcoin, he thanked me and that was it. Below you see that I started contacting him on August 6th 2019 to see what was up and if he was ready to settle up, here's how that played out.
At this point, I discovered that he had been home and not only had he been home, he had been going to the casino . . . So I this makes me think that he just straight up lied to me and gambled my money away, then chose to ghost me. There are many more messages on almost a daily basis, all delivered just fine, but literally NO reply from Jimi, AKA @virtualgrowth.
Unfortunately, after trying to get ahold of @virtualgrowth and talking in his telegram channel, I was kicked (censored!) because apparently they're fans of scamming people, betraying their trust, and censorship. After voicing the situation in there, I had around 5 people contact me privately talking about similar experiences that they've had with Jimi, so sadly this doesn't seem like something new . . .
And that's that! @virtualgrowth currently carries the status of scammer, con artist, and thief in my book and I think that everyone should know about it.
This post can be edited/deleted if and when Jimi pays me back by sending 0.08736588 BTC to this address to square up:
1CAe4gWz5v7TH2DqJxD8wvLAD88uWFmh9X
This address and amount has been known since the start and is where payment is needed, so if you're interested, feel free to monitor the status of the deposit at: https://www.blockchain.com/btc/address/1CAe4gWz5v7TH2DqJxD8wvLAD88uWFmh9X
It sucks that it has come to this, but I've gave him countless chances to avoid this situation, but as I said before, he has chosen to figuratively continue to spit in my face and rob me.
@virtualgrowth, the ball is in your court, buddy. Fix this situation, you're the only one that can do it . . .