Policy on Impersonation, Misrepresented Identity, and Fraud

[Twarden]

I recently encountered a situation where an individual attempted to impersonate a well known figure within the Ripple community when making a deposit to XAGATE.  I contacted the person who this individual was attempting to impersonate an confirmed that they didn't attempt to make a deposit to the Gateway after sending an obligatory identification request to a Gmail account.  The suspect in question has so far been smart enough to not provide me with a cryptocurrency address to refund so that I could attempt to find more details about who may have attempted this impersonation; which is a definite crime within many legal jurisdictions.  

In any event, I want those of you to know that if you were ever planning of attempting to impersonate another individual, misrepresent your identity in any fashion, or attempt to commit identity fraud through my service when you make any transactions with my Gateway, then your funds will be donated to my own choice of open source projects through Bountysource whenever I gain sufficient evidence during any further occurrences an their associated investigations.

Edited March 15, 2016 by Twarden

[nikb]

Interesting. You may want to consider whether it makes sense, from a legal standpoint, to report attempts to do this. Caveat lector: I'm not a lawyer and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

[Twarden]

1 hour ago, nikb said:

Interesting. You may want to consider whether it makes sense, from a legal standpoint, to report attempts to do this. Caveat lector: I'm not a lawyer and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

Yes, since this was a suspicious transaction, I will be reporting this occurrence.

[JoelKatz]

Obviously, if your jurisdiction requires you to notify them of suspicious transactions, then you have to do it. Otherwise, it's a judgment call. One good reason to make appropriate notifications -- the last thing you want is your first contact with them to be when they have a problem with you. It's definitely a good idea to take the initiative to let them know that you're an honest person trying to do the right thing, and not someone who is hoping not to be noticed and cutting corners wherever needed to stay hidden.

[Twarden]

The individual in question had an opportunity to verify their identity for their ripple account to be funded or they had the choice of receiving Litecoin to the address of their choice.  Since no reply was received within 24 hours for my introductory KYC email an a further 24 after I confronted the individual that I knew they were an impostor there was no response; in any further cases in which funds end up being retained then they will be donated to a team over Bountysource.

I am obligated to report this event to FINTRAC an I have done so.  This announcement is a stern warning to anyone who thinks they can create a Gmail account with a name of any well known person in the community an assume that I will just fund an account without any question because of a name then think again because I have financial regulations to abide by.  

[thinlyspread]

Well done @Twarden.