You may recall that almost three weeks ago I wrote a post (here) in which I told you about a comment in my spam folder from someone who threatened to do all kinds of horrible things to my online presence if I didn’t pay his ransom.
My “hosting account and domain” would “be blocked forever” and I would, in an awkwardly worded threat, “receive tens of thousands of negative feedback from angry people.” I would be ruined and banned from the internet for life.
But for the low, low price of one-half a Bitcoin (approximately 4,060 US dollars), I could avoid having my site blocked for life, losing everything, and earning the reputation as a malicious serial spammer. All I had to do was send him the half a Bitcoin by June 1, 2019.
So naturally, I wire transferred this culprit his half a Bitcoin in order to keep my blog, my domain, and my sterling reputation intact.
Just Kidding!
I ignored the ransom threat and deleted the spam comment and nothing bad happened. Here it is, June 13th and my life is not in tatters, my site is still functioning, my reputation is no worse than it was before the ransom threat, and I still don’t really understand what Bitcoins are or how they work.
By the way, my reputation is okay, isn’t it? You’re not part of a horde of tens of thousands of people who are angry with me, are you?
This, That, and the Other 
I was thinking many of us may have received a similar demand but as I rarely read anything in the spam folder I’m none the wiser.
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I check spam regularly just to check to see if some legit comments get caught up in the spam filter.
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Reputation? Definitely intact! Now to more political commentaries 🙂
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You’re good! No worries
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I would never be allowed to be part of a horde….I’m too obstreperous for admittance.
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“obstreperous.” What an excellent word!
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You’re still one of my faves!
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Aw, thanks, Paula.
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I knew it was all a hoax. You’re not going anywhere! 😊
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“Insulted believers.” I’m guessing this bit of trollery comes from a fear-driven part of the online world based in the fear-driven Muslim world and that they neither know nor care that “Insulted believers” is a phrase with no meaning to you.
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These sad individuals pushing threatening buttons to make a living are to be pitied. I warmly say goodbye and farewell when I empty my Spam aka sad folder. You’re all good with me my friend 🙂
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I actually did get blocked.
I back up my stuff, so I unblocked, reported it to the cops, paid nothing and everything is fine. If you back up your files, you can always just reinstall your OS and you’ll be fine. Congratulations on not paying for something ridiculous and mean.
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I had no idea ‘bit coin’ were worth so much. 😐 And weren’t those things (or the site or something) indicted for fraud or hosting a pyramid scheme or something? I seem to recall that. I’m just glad I’m nowhere popular enough to garner the interest of anything (it’s a creature, IMHO, not a human being) so vile.
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I think the whole “cryptocurrency” thing — including Bitcoin — is one big scam.
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I think it was bitcoin complaining that another claimed cryptocurrency was a fraud. And I think it turned out to be true (that whatever the other one was was in fact fraudulent). Bitcoin was trying to protect the reputation of their idea. There are a bunch of different names out there, and some offer more than simply the questionable quasi-money value — such as contractual requirements coded into an exchange or transfer. Apparently, people have been able to buy things (from online graphics to real life stuff) with bitcoin. But it could be like a hot potato.
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I mean, once you’ve been able to buy something you want with cryptocurrency… you have whatever you bought (while you need to make sure you get what you bought — just as you do with anything you buy with nationally recognized money). But receiving the Bitcoin as something of worth is what I’m thinking could be like a hot potato. It lasts while it lasts (is seen as acceptable by someone who is willing and able to receive it as payment). So far, it’s lasting.
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still good
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1/2 of a bitcoin is over $4000?????
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Yep!
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The last spammer that threatened me told me that she hacked my computer and she knew all of my passwords and my banking information. She actually told me my password for LinkedIn which I don’t really use, so I just wished her good luck with that and did not pay her anything. My router crashed since then and if she was inside my computer at one time, she doesn’t know the new password.
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Oh you had it easy…I got the threat of sharing videos of me watching porn. LOL! These spammers have no idea how ridiculous they sound!
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I think it was Trump in disguise😂
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