OK, too many BS redundant emails to post ATM but here's the bottom line thus far....


FTP declares the perp's IP address from the UK.

FTP recognizes the IP address tied to another real $ account. Said account has zero balance and is inactive. FTP refuse to give me the player ID or players real name.

My funds were NOT lost to any players tied to said IP address. In other words, FTP can see no reason to believe he is dumping my funds to his "friends". "It appears as though the games selected were chosen at random"

FTP has recovered 2x $33 buy-ins, nothing more... sounds like they're done trying.

FTP puts blame on me for not protecting my password properly, but agrees the password is very strong.

/stop replies.



This has me disgusted. There is nobody in my personal life that has access to my password, and no one outside of it would have a clue.

I'm thankful it's a small amount of money, but i'm at a loss to why someone would do this for no obvious reason.

I have already cashed out everything left on my account, and am still waiting for more action from FTP, but their enthusiasm has obv dropped since they refunded 2x $33.


At this point, i am in a hurry to gtfo FTP.



The only advice i can offer others doesn't seem logical to me anyways.... STAY LOW PROFILE. But why are the top players/pros never hacked? They have some REAL money to throw around.


A very sad day for me.

What has you best and worst day (money loss-gain) been?

Hi...

Best/worst "day" through challenge has been:

$25- on level 1 (first downswing)
$200+ on level 2 (MTT & SnG)
$60- on level 3 (MTT over 72 hours)
$500- yesterday to UK hacker.


Realistically though, my "success" from this challenge has come from a stretch of several days/weeks, not 1 in particular. Maintaining a steady ROI over several days/weeks is something i am happier about than 1 lucky day here and there. To me, 1 massive upwards spike from 1 game on a graph doesn't necessarily denote skill, but a steady upwards graph over many many games to me says "some skill here!"


Ending my blog today , i cleared about $250 from the initial $15. it should be $660. I'm trying to be as positive about this as possible. Of course i'm super sad atm, though.


I wish you luck in your blog bud!

Forgot to mention earlier, FTP claims the perp DID try to transfer the entire BR to his other account right off the bat, but because that account already has red flags associated with it the transfer was denied.

I am seeing NO email in my account though that suggests he did this. Don't people usually get a email when they transfer to another player?

I guess he could have changed the email address on file with my account first? Hmmm....


My head is so messed up right now. I hate this so much.

hey bud,

Yes you get an automated email stating transfer request. I am really disapointed for you how ftp are dealing with this! considering billion dollar turn-over, you would think good faith would be best business ideaology here. If they had sorted instantly then you'd beon this forum saing how happy you were with ftp for dealing with this issue and everyone should trust them blah blah blah...

to add to ftp bashing they have 3 outstanding friend referall bonuses yet to hit my account despite being cleared for over 7 days...

anyway mate hope it doesn't hit you too hard,

all the best

R

Just got this email from security@fulltiltpoker.com:





Thank you FTP. You did the right thing. Sadly, there is permanent damage to my account and it's not worth the effort to salvage it at this point.

My intention was to get staked in the Mini-Ftops and become an active member of "PTP", and i rely on stats/history for that. No longer an option.

I am withdrawing the full amount from my FTP account, leaving 1200 FTP and nothing more.

TO Captainjrod4: I know you're a visitor/member here on HSDB, there's no other explanation. I just want you to know, i forgive you. I feel sad you can't start from the ground up like everyone else. More pity for you than hate, my friend. GL to you, and stop pizzing all over other's hard work. Jerkface.

ugly but satisfying end result.

Glad FTP did eventually do the right thing for you. Little scary they seemed hesitant, but what areyou gonna do?

Best of luck with whatever new site you choose - and you don't have to kill off the blog. Just don't tell people your screen name or site if you're worried.

Up to you of course, though!

Smokey

+1 to this.

So very scary.

Once FT said the perp attempted to transfer all the $$ in your account off the bat and was declined due to red flag etc. I think this means they have a responisbility here to reimburse you the funds. If this occurred on a bank account the bank should/would immediately freeze the account to avoid any possible additional fraud attempts.

So I am obv glad they reimbursed you, but would hope they had additional security measures employed to avoid the second stage of the fraud.

I guess when this person's attempt at transfer failed, they decided to have a bit of fun at your expense.

I agree with Smokey, maybe deposit on stars and keep the screen name private.

Anyway I am happy you have had a moderately positive outcome out of a very negative scenario.

This is a wake up call for us all regarding security however.

Hope you do continue the blog though under a different (undisclosed) screen name on another site.

Take care mate.

Just a couple more things to add here fyi. Maybe redundant as I know you said that was it with ft and the blog however;

Full Tilt does have a facility to log in using your email address which would be far more secure than using screen names.

I read up on sites/accounts being hacked and it looks like some well known players on stars have been hacked (raymer-fossilman and annette).

They mention the hackers using key logging, so if you communicate with unknown people and they ask you to download some file/s, it/they can be loaded up with an insidious program/set of commands (i'm not tech savy to know exactly how it's done) that allow them to log your keystrokes - so in this instance it wouldn't really matter how strong your psswd was.

Also stars has started offering players the opportunity to "purchase" via fpp's (200 I believe) a secondary and more strengthened security application. I read that it does something like changing your password randomly every 30 mins - once again check with stars on the technical side of things.

Peace

Hi....

I took a couple days off from this subject to recompose myself. It really got in my head.

First, thanks to those who are supportive. Your feedback and comments have been helpful and that's always much appreciated! We all clash sometimes online, but the fact is we are all here for poker. None of us want to hear about this kind of thing happening to a friend or foe, or to anyone for that matter. If poker is our business, it's bad for business.

I have been able to reflect and stay positive about a few things...

#1 - This was a fun and successful project.

#2 - I invested $25 and managed $650 profit when the smoke had cleared. This took just under 3 weeks, and demonstrates the potential steady win rate at the bottom levels while using proper bankroll management. I survived a very big downswing right away while applying said rules.

#3 - I learned much about my strengths and weaknesses online. Strengths are HU and 9-man SnG and MTTs. Weakness is emotional control and applying standard aggression at bottom levels.



I am likely to continue on at FTP. My stats are salvageable, especially since i'm starting so low. I'm impressed with how FTP handled me as a customer through this, they resolved the matter in 1 day. The law of averages says that i am less likely to become a victim again in the future, so to be honest i have ZERO problem keeping my player ID public. :p

HOWEVER, my initial deposit was a mere $15 on FTP ($10 on AP)... I am now only allowed to deposit $50 minimum and this has me thinking....

I am here for fun. Poker is now a hobby, not a job. If i were to make another deposit above $15-20, i might as well deposit $5k and play in my comfort level all the time.

I don't want to do that. That sound more like going back to work, then why i started this blog in the first place... Fun/learning first, getting to/dominating nosebleed 500/1k second. Setting rules and applying them through the numerous levels is rewarding.

For these reasons i am thinking about starting another blog from the ground up, but perhaps apply some new ideas that will get others on this site interested/motivated to interact.



My FIRST idea is to sell $5 pieces for 10% each, up to $25 total - or 5 shares. This equals 50% of my action, and the shareholders are supplying a $25 starting bankroll.

For example:

ONE of you can buy all 5 shares for $25 total. They now own 50% of me on FTP.

or...

FIVE of you can buy 1 share each, and you would own 10% of me on FTP.

etc



The partnership would end WHEN:

#1 - I reach $600 (est. time 2-3 weeks like before, following BR rules). $300 split among shareholders, $300 kept to continue blog/BR.

#2 - Any shareholder cashes out. (If my current BR is $200, and u own 50% of me, you get $100 immediately)

^ Seems reasonable, if any investor needs their $ back, or gets worried about the added risk of higher level playing they can cashout at anytime.





I like this idea, and it sounds fair/low risk to all involved. 1 share is only $5 so who cares, right? There is potential to see a big return (especially if u buy all 5 shares), and i think that not only those invested but also others from the rail would keep interest to see progress.

There's a fun factor here for everyone and this would be a good reason for me to continue in the original direction i was in, before the hacker incident.

Of course all activity would be reported everyday in the blog so as to keep everyone fully aware of the progress.




I would love some feedback on this idea. Please be constructive. Considering the progress already shown in this blog, would anyone be interested? I would have fun with this idea, and see everyone benefiting.