A drug dealer ripping off customers?Silk Road, as I reported previously, is the online illicit drug marketplace that has defied law enforcement efforts to close it down.Last month, Silk Road reported the greatest scam in its fifteen-month history, which cost the site’s users over a hundred thousand dollars in just two days.Silk Road’s vendors live and die by their reputation and feedback, which buyers give much as they do on eBay.Nobody on Silk Road had a better reputation or more enthusiastic feedback than Tony76, a vendor of heroin, stimulants and psychedelics from Canada.The site has a system of escrow in place – a user places an order, money goes into escrow and the user releases it once the order has been received.Any disputes can be referred to the site’s administrators for resolution.However, ‘trusted vendors’ have always been allowed to request that users ‘finalize early’ – release the funds immediately.New members to the site are often asked to do so until they prove themselves to be ‘trusted buyers’, and sellers will ask for early finalisation when bitcoin – the virtual currency used to trade on the site – is fluctuating wildly.

A few days before the great ‘420 Sale and Giveaway’ held on April 20, Tony76 posted in the forums that he was being targeted by a vindictive rival seller who had threatened to set up bogus buyer accounts to order thousands of dollars of drugs in “multiple orders, in multiple names, from multiple states”.Tony would have no way of knowing which were the bogus accounts and would lose the money not released from escrow.‘Don’t worry’ came the flood of replies from Silk Road’s community.‘Everyone knows and trusts you, Tony.To avoid this horrible scammer, just make everyone finalize early.’ So when Silk Road held the ‘420 Sale and Giveaway’, the site’s highest-grossing and most trusted vendor, “Tony76”, jumped on board, offering fabulous discounts on his products and for the first time ever opened up shop to buyers outside North America.Orders flooded in from users well accustomed to receiving high quality goods from this seller and from new users, excited to have the chance to buy from such an esteemed identity.

And Tony, sadly, had to ask all buyers to finalize early until he could sort out the situation with the scammer.And of course they did.He was the most highly respected and prolific seller on Silk Road; the buyers had had countless transactions that went smoothly; anyway, to not finalize might mean missing out on a bargain.A week later the rumblings started.The local orders should have arrived by now.Tony wasn’t answering messages.The bespoke site Tony had set up was gone.Two weeks later the rumbles became a roar as it became clear that the most trusted vendor on Silk Road had absconded with what buyers estimated was over a hundred thousand dollars for a single weekend’s work.One moderator of the forums placed it at a cool quarter of a million dollars.There followed much angst and hand-wringing going on at Silk Road.Some believed Tony76 was killed by Mexican drug lords.Others assumed he had been busted.Many refused to believe that someone in their ‘Community’ would do such a thing.

Then came the conspiracy theories: he is already selling under another name; Silk Road’s owners are in on it; it’s all part of a worldwide sting and nobody is safe; Tony76 is actually a Canadian bikie gang.Perhaps the greatest surprise to take from this is the number of people who are shocked that a drug dealer would rip them off.bitcoin cultSilk Road’s advice:  never trade outside of escrow.bitcoin dice mobileIt’s a lesson that will stay with their customers for a long time.cambio bitcoin usdYou may link to this post but you may not reproduce it without the permission of the authorhow to start bitcoin mining nvidiaAlthough 90 percent of Silk Road products are illegal products (okay… we are talking about drugs), Bitcoin Examiner decided to take a look through the website and found some (other) strange objects you can buy at the Bitcoin’s underworld shopping platform.ethereum arm

If you’re having a hard time thinking about what kind of items you can find at the website besides drugs, come with us and find out.The perfect gift for your hidden ninja personality for only 0.4182 BTC.Get yourself a new identity (not completely legal, we suspect…) for 0.2646 BTC.Buy anything, even some technical help to hack an ATM cash machine.mua ban bitcoin ? dauThis will only cost you 0.5652 BTC.ethereum java tutorialWell, it’s a drug… But a legal one, if it’s being used in the proper situation.bitcoin silk roadGet some pure Lidocaine at Silk Road for “only” 9.6567 BTC.bitcoin dogeFinally, something you can buy at Silk Road with a touch of legality.Get some online poker coaching sessions and improve your game skills for 0.7039 BTC.

Master the recipe of ecstasy and become a rich producer and dealer for only 0.9944 BTC.Again, we have some doubts about the legality of this item… Spy on your neighbours or your secret crush with these night vision binoculars for 6.0993 BTC.The only key that will open your Smith and Wesson handcuffs.Get this sweet item for 0.1156 BTC.Finally, a sleek gadget for you Silk Road’s list of “crazy” items.Get this product from Lenovo for BTC 19.4220.Organize your Amazon business with the help of this receipt generator for 0.1717 BTC.Again, a little suspicious.Pay 35.8830 BTC and get a completely anonymous bank account in Germany.What a treat… Or not!Get 25 grams of dried reindeer meat for 0.1263 BTC (Santa will be sad, though).Get an extremely resistant phone thanks to Bitcoin and Silk Road.This Samsung can be yours for only 20.7080 BTC.For only 6.1894 BTC you can get 1.5 million email addresses and Facebook profiles to boost your contacts’ list.Another gadget for your personal collection.