I pretended to be poppermachine and got into a news article

I did a really half arsed joke saying I was fronted money by IRL drug dealers and when Evo went down, I couldn't pay them back and they were going to start breaking toes, etc:

https://pay.reddit.com/r/DarkNetMarkets/comments/2zf4yl/psaarticle_evo_down_journalists_incoming_watch/cpietkq

I was contacted by a journalist via PM saying:

Hi - I'm a writer for the Guardian, looking into the Evolution marketplace scam. I'm so sorry to hear about your situation. If you would like to speak to me about it - anonymously, of course - I would greatly appreciate it; want to get this story out there. Just reply to this DM if you want to tell me a bit more about your situ.

Nicky Woolf The Guardian

I decided to play along and replied:

I can't talk much vbecause i am too fucking stressed right now. The 2 dealers fronted me the money needed for the Evo bond and to buy stock of a reasearch chemical i was importing from china to sell. They had no idea about the online drug world even existing. I was in prison and had to make this work to survive and not be homless. I don't have enough money to pay them back., I can't go on the run with no cash. The 2 dealers are holding me and took the remaining product and any money as collateral while they decide what to do with me.

They didn't reply again but decided to put some of it in their article:

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/mar/18/bitcoin-deep-web-evolution-exit-scam-12-million-dollars

The scam may well have serious consequences for users. One wrote that he owed money to drug dealers in real life. "I think they will start breaking toes," the user wrote. "I'm shaking."

By the way, thanks for all the people that tried to contact me asking "Are you OK?" or similar. I was surprised just how many people were concerned with my situation.

tl;dr Newspapaers are full of shit, people are naturally good at heart.


Comments


[38 Points] CocaineNose:

My favorite quote from all this is still: “I have lost everything I had worked for over the past year. That was my retirement fund,” the user said..


[29 Points] AgoraMarket:

Someone from Forbes (Thomas Fox-Brewster) contacted me after the Evolution scam, totally unsolicited, and asked for my thoughts on the scam, specifically if I thought it was "good for Agora". I told him I was just a random subreddit moderator, gave him the admins' real reddit handle, but said they're notoriously silent and will never answer him. He never replied back.

It wasn't a troll either, he gave me his legit PGP key, Jabber, Skype, etc... and they were real, I double-checked outside sources.

TL;DR -- could have pretended to be Agora Admins to Forbes.


[20 Points] queryox1:

The Guardian (UK newspaper) are actually a really unbiased and pro-drug reform paper, as much as I hate journalists they supported Ed Snowden on his leak all the way through to the point the UK police raided their offices and made them destroy all hardrives related to him in front of them.

I have a lot of respect for that paper, they often release articles on the failure of the drug war and its one I read daily, fair enough with what you did but the Guardian are one of the good guys, just saying. :(

Its hard to distinguish the good from the bad with journalists but as a paper on the whole I find them pretty good.


[15 Points] jubilly:

So sorry you lost your retirement funds. Do you accept donations?


[12 Points] None:

Well, I started the journalist thread for a reason. Figured we could troll Buzzfeed or something. We also got another quote out of it.

Trololololo.


[5 Points] Lucid_Enemy:

you were also on subredditdrama NICE ONE!


[7 Points] GIEV_RP_PLZ:

He wrote this article too http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/mar/19/speed-dating-event-blindfold what a diverse portfolio.


[5 Points] sullyrb:

i spent a day arguing with the editor of the independent over something trivial via email, guy was as into the argument as me


[5 Points] damn-right:

Journalist here. Mea culpa - you got me. It's been corrected:

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/mar/18/bitcoin-deep-web-evolution-exit-scam-12-million-dollars


[6 Points] OnAcidButUrThedum1:

This is a beautiful, troll-esque, social experiment and it's hilarious. You're just proving so many points.

And I agree with CocaineNose; lolz @ the retirement fund hahaha.


[6 Points] None:

[deleted]


[2 Points] illpoet:

i bet said journalist is gonna see this and be like "sonofabitch" then forget about it.


[4 Points] userrr69:

It just goes to show how bs the news is


[3 Points] long_wang_big_balls:

I love 'journalism'


[3 Points] shitterplug:

Good way to put all this under an even worse light.


[2 Points] hdheuud:

Dude fucking props. I was amazed that everyone didnt realize the poppermachine joke


[1 Points] ObersV:

Bro I'm happy you did this!!!


[1 Points] JunglistJunkie:

lol the guardian! Respect man thats a big paper in my country :)


[0 Points] None:

[removed]


[0 Points] TotesMessenger:

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