A 2+2 member has revealed how he was taken for $20,000 in an elaborate scam that involved the bad guys pretending to be from the PokerNinjas staking group.
The victim of the scam, “Aggrodude6000”, took to the 2plus2 forum to detail how he was approached with an offer of coaching, followed by a 50:50 split for full staking on PokerBros’ app $5/10+ PLO games.
With $7k spent on the coaching, the staking offer seemed too good an opportunity to pass up. However, it turned out to be too good to be true.
The victim was asked to send $12,500 up front, supposedly “needed in case horses scammed the group or broke any of the contract rules.”
Although this was a big red flag, the victim revealed that he was sent a real PokerNinjas staking contract, which suggests the scammers had previous with the popular site.
“After I sent the money in crypto in around Jan-Feb 2023 the scammer(s) weirdly enough didn’t stop the contact,” wrote “Aggrodude6000”.
However, then “the excuses started rolling in why the staking would be delayed, from sickness to Karol S [the victim’s supposed PokerNinjas Support contact] dying in a car crash.”
With the alarm bells well and truly ringing, the victim revealed: “The scammer has now resorted to blackmail, saying that he will use my ID/personal info for illegal **** like child p***.”
Pokerninjas.org Staking Group CEO, Bocian, also took to the 2plus2 forum to discuss the scam, giving details of how the scam operated:
- They used our real PokerNinjas Staking Agreement.
- They copied the name of our Head of Support.
- They used the same platform as a Resource Repository (Mega.nz).
- They even offered mindset coaching with the real name of our top-tier esport coach (she obviously didn’t know about it).
As a safety precaution to avoid others being scammed, Bocian stated: “Please note: PokerNinjas will never make you deposit any money in advance.”
He added: “This simply doesn’t make sense – you are the one asking to be staked after all. We believe that NO STAKING COMPANY SHOULD ASK YOU TO DEPOSIT MONEY. This should be a red flag for everyone. Please be safe.”
“Aggrodude6000” also warned other players: “If you are talking to supposed PokerNinjas affiliates with names like e.g., Pavel N, Laluz Laz, Karol S (real person at PokerNinjas that they are impersonating), stop messaging them immediately.”
Have you been contacted by anyone claiming to be from a staking site who asked you to deposit money up front? Please let us know the details in our comments.
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