Topic: #Scam alert? Please let us know: bitscan.com @bitscanner

[devnullius]

Today I got a firm warning / complaint / request for exposure concerning the following website: bitscan.com (twitter.com/bitscanner)

After talking to complainant I decided to put up on article about them and I also requested some feedback about the accusations on twitter. I might turn this into an autotweet for some time because they are operating for a long time already and I'm curious if others have the same complaints... Let us know?

FROM: http://bitcoinmacroeconomics.com/2014/05/19/bitscan-com-review/

I came across Bitscan.com in a press release earlier in the year. I read up on how they were building the world’s largest directory of businesses that accept Bitcoin.

Please see www.bitscan.com

I liked the concept and they advertised they were looking for bloggers and that they would pay bloggers. I enjoy writing so I figured I would send in some writing samples. I am not going to cry over the fact that they did not get back to me to blog for them, but it struck me as odd, but I figured I didn’t make the cut. I can handle rejection. That’s part of life.

BECOME A BITSCANNER, LEARN AND GET PAID FOR HELPING BUILD THE ECO-SPHERE

JOIN NOW!“

So you click on the link and it goes to a new page.

“Earn bitcoin tips for referring new businesses that you know of. If we didn’t know about them already, you get paid a tip upfront and 10% of any advertising revenue your lead generates thereafter – forever!”
I am an aggressive prospector, the best, so I figured I would earn some supplemental income and get more involved with Bitcoin. I remember a family member laughing at me telling me I was wasting my time that I won’t see a dime. I said this is a legitimate business. And so I kept coming up with Bitcoin businesses and submitted them for referral. A few weeks went by and I didn’t see anything in terms of payment, so I figured just be patient…

In early March 2014, I started submitting referrals like crazy. I figured the harder you work the more you will make, with a tip upfront and ad revenue for life, 10% of any advertising revenue – forever!
I am aware how ad revenue works and the various means of generating ad revenue, so I set out to submit Bitcoin businesses. I targeted by country, I targeted by business. I used Google and put in every combination of words for target industries and businesses imaginable to acquire a listing myself of Bitcoin businesses. I was even told that I had by far exceeded all else in referrals. So I keep being patient but nothing happens.

I pay attention to social media and the Bitcoin market and I started seeing Pinterest “pinning” going on. I asked about payment but was told to be patient that ad revenue will come but there was no ad revenue coming in. Meanwhile the listing continued to grow to over 6,000 businesses worldwide. I had to ask what was their strategy for generating ad revenue as I had not seen a dime, or not one “Satoshi”. I was given an email answer that said something about having to be careful about disclosing such a strategy.

I don’t know what you think but “get paid a tip upfront” means upfront.

So I submitted referrals, and figured they needed to verify these as qualified, and weekly they gave me an updated listing of which referrals I would get “credit” for. This went on week after week. I can honestly say there were a few days I put in 16 hour days. There were many days I put in over 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. I figured this was going to be a good way to make some money and help bring Bitcoin to market.

Several listings I submitted have not been verified, in fact, the verifying all stopped, including the listing I worked on, when I quit sending referrals in. I figured I wouldn’t keep sending any referrals in until I saw something. Something never came, and so did the updates on which one’s I would get credit, including an entire backlog.

So I asked about payment and was told to be patient. I don’t know what’s going on with Bitscan but I felt this was disingenerous at best. I put in a lot of time, months, and received nothing.  I even wrote an email to the CEO telling him my thoughts and asked him if he was prepared to take down the “Earn bitcoin tips for referring new businesses that you know of. If we didn’t know about them already, you get paid a tip upfront and 10% of any advertising revenue your lead generates thereafter – forever!” because they were not paying tips upfront, and not paying anything.

I don’t know if anybody else has ever been paid by Bitscan. I don’t know if anybody out there in the world submitted any listing, but I did see on Twitter someone telling someone to be patient, though I have no idea if that was even related, but I believe so.

I even had a Bitscan section on my Page Menu that directed them right to their site. I took that down because I didn’t want to send anybody else to Bitscan only to see the referral portion of their website and spend months submitting referrals only to not see nothing, all while building the world’s largest Bitcoin directory and building the Bitcoin ecosphere.

So I contacted the CEO a couple of weeks ago about my concerns, and mentioned that I never received a “tip” upfront, nor anything other than a “thanks”. He asked me for my Bitcoin address and said he would send me a “tip”. That was a week ago Saturday. I’d say enough time has gone on from early March until May 19th. That’s over 3 months with nothing. GOOSE EGG!

So as I write, my Bitcoin Wallet QT is synching. I am going to check it one more time, and to be honest, based on what I have seen, I don’t expect to see anything there. But as soon as I see nothing there, I am going to publish this blog and submit my own blog on my own site and do a Bitscan review.

Building the Bitcoin ecosphere shouldn’t be the typical building it on the backs of others. Certainly people shouldn’t advertise on websites this or that unless they back it up or follow through on their commitments. This is a startup and they are seeking funding on an ongoing basis, so like any startups they may have cash flow issues. But this doesn’t mean they shouldn’t take down the commitments they have made on their website especially when they are updating the website with the information “Bitscanners” are submitting as business referrals. It’s one thing to not generate ad revenue, and to not pay on that, but it is another when they advertise this on an ongoing basis with people hard at work and with the reasonable expectation that they will be rewarded for their efforts, including being paid a tip upfront and for ad revenue ….ad revenue that doesn’t come and has not come in to this day.

It’s time to check my Bitcoin Wallet QT. 40 more hours of synching. I wonder if there will be a tip in there? I highly doubt it. I have a good feeling that I was taken advantage of. And the lesson will be learned once again. Get it in writing. The lesson will be learned that you can’t trust anybody. The lesson will be learned that if your going to do the hard work, that they have to pay you for it and don’t let them string you along or keep moving the carrot, or keep giving you the song and dance. Because after 3 months, that is what this lesson is about. I can’t give much more of a review than this honest review. The rest of their website doesn’t really matter.

My hard work hasn’t been a complete bust. I learned a lot from the Bitcoin businesses and those that accept Bitcoin. I learned about the ecosphere worldwide, the players, and the countries that are most prominent and that are ahead of the game. More so, I realized this is an emerging market that is taking off and expanding every day.

22 Hours Behind:
I told the CEO of Bitscan in an email that I was planning on giving a review of Bitscan and said in all fairness that I would include a statement if he cared to comment. I received no statement.
Wallet QT synched. Time is up and nothing there. Don’t fall for this kind of BS with Bitcoin or anywhere. Your time is more valuable than this, and so is mine. It’s sad that people make such claims and can’t just be a straight shooter.

If anybody else has NOT been paid I would like to see the responses here, if you see this blog. You can respond in the REPLY section at the bottom of the page. Let’s hear your version and what you were lead to “believe”. I have a great deal of this documented. I blame myself for “believing” and trusting someone based on certain factors. I guess I was wrong again. Don’t fall for Bitcoin scams. There goes months of work and many many long days and into the evenings for nada.

I have no confirmation yet: it could be this is just an unhappy customer and not truly a scam. Therefore I put up this article, I hope it gets some attention... But I did see several emails with affiliate sign-ups and requests for information and payments. The complainant told me he did not get paid.

SO - are you a HAPPY customer? Do let us know! Feel scammed? Let us know too ;-)

Thank you,

Devvie