Joined: Dec '12
Location: Bulgaria
Age: 47 (M)
Posts: 1022
============================================================ PokerStars Returns $35,000 to High-Stakes Player After Computer Hacking Investigation ============================================================
Hi Mobsters,
I found really something very, very interesting and shocking! The information is from 8th of Aug 2013 and I am really speechless! This summer I was working a lot, so I didn't know anything about this case. I will publish it right now. It is going to be a very long story, but read it, becase it's very interesting! That will be the longest thread which I've ever created, but really I find this case very interesting.
Doug "WCGRider" Polk, a regular in some of the highest stakes online, revealed this week that he was the victim of a deliberate attack on his PokerStars account by a hacker earlier this year. Polk's computer was compromised at some point this spring, allowing a player to see his hole cards during a high-stakes match. During a session on PokerStars on March 26, Polk lost around $35,000 to an unknown "fish" named "Forbidden536." Polk first sat down at the $5/$10 no-limit hold'em tables, lower than he usually plays, and after a brief match he and "Forbidden536" moved up to $25/$50, and then even higher to $50/$100. Polk was getting crushed, and he started to notice some unusual trends in his opponent's play.
"I began to get absolutely wrecked," Polk explained. "He was leading 45%, min 3-betting and calling huge 4 bets with 83o, and then also c/r and c/f 28%. In 3 bet pots he raised every spot I didn't have it, and was c/f at an alarming frequency when I had the goods. I was beginning to get worried."
Polk contacted PokerStars about his concerns, and a week later he got a call from the support staff saying they were investigating the matter. Then, on April 19, Polk was informed that PokerStars had frozen the "Forbidden536" account. "It does appear extremely likely that this player was able to see your hole cards during your recent playing session," the email from PokerStars read. On June 26, PokerStars concluded that Polk was in fact the victim of a superuser-style attack and credited his account with a full refund of $34,397.10. Polk stressed that the incident was not the fault of PokerStars' software.
Doug Polk
While Polk isn't certain of the identity of the perpetrator, he does have a suspect. Polk recalls that in January, fellow high-stakes player Dan "Jungleman" Cates introduced him to a person named Joshua Tyler, an IT specialist from the U.K. In the following months, Polk allowed Tyler to stay at his apartment in Las Vegas on multiple occasions, even while Polk was out of the country, and it was after Tyler's visit from March 22-24 that the bizarre session against "Forbidden536" occurred.
Polk divulged an alarming story from that weekend:
"One of my roommates saw Josh go into my office. The office is only accessible if you walk through the master bedroom into a balconied hallway that leads to it; the office is the only room in this area. My laptop is stored in my office, and is my exclusive computer used for poker while traveling. I don't understand why Josh would be in my office to begin with, nor what happened while he was there."
Polk warned the poker community to be watchful of Tyler. "At best he has poor ethics and takes part in suspicious activity, and at worst he has the ability to hack high stakes players for significant amounts of money," he said.
========================================================== Posted by WCGRider, 08-05-2013, 12:02 AM (member of another poker forum) ==========================================================
Computer Hacked / Pokerstars Refund/ Joshua Tyler
The information that I am posting today is a presentation of facts followed by my concluding opinion. I will try not to make assumptions and inferences furthering my own agenda in the presentation of facts. The post contains three separate parts. Part one is about my experience on pokerstars. Part two is about my experiences with Joshua Tyler. Part three is my own conclusions and inferences on the matter. Part one and part two occur roughly over the same time period, the second part begins before the first part and ends after it. Pokerstars Account Hacked, Refunded 35k
On March 25th 2013, I arrived in Tokyo Japan. I was on what you could call a business trip, my goal was to play online poker and enjoy some of the local flavor. On March 26th, I was excited to play poker, and immediately hit the streets trying to conjure up any action I could find. I had a match against Ike at 50/100, and was in the midst of a game against gomir at 200/400, when I got a fish from the UK at 5/10. While 5/10 is low for me, Ike was quitting and I only had one game going (albeit 200/400) so I decided to sit in.
This fish at 5/10 went on to turn his $650 into about 3.8k. He was opening 69%, and had a defend of something along the tune of 80%. He was min 3 betting, betting small a lot, overbet leading the flop 45%, and yet absolutely crushing my face in won hands %. I was winning only 45% of hands, despite him opening 69% of buttons.
At this point my opponent said zzz this is boring in the chat. I questioned as to why a player with zero play history at high stakes, whose primary game is $5 sngs would suddenly find his bankroll being on the line to be too boring. Afterall, i cannot remember the last time I had a recreational player tell me that this is too boring. With my attention still being on my higher stakes game, I asked him if he wanted to play 25/50, to which he obliged.
As my 200/400 game broke, I started to focus on the play of the opponent at hand. He started things off with a quick victory.
PokerStars Hand #96201951512: Hold'em No Limit ($25/$50 USD) - 2013/03/26 19:10:50 ET Table 'Landi VII' 2-max Seat #1 is the button Seat 1: WCG|Rider ($5025 in chips) Seat 2: Forbidden536 ($5439.50 in chips) WCG|Rider: posts small blind $25 Forbidden536: posts big blind $50 *** HOLE CARDS *** Dealt to WCG|Rider [Tc 4c] WCG|Rider: raises $100 to $150 Forbidden536: calls $100 *** FLOP *** [9h 5s Kc] Forbidden536: bets $250 WCG|Rider: raises $550 to $800 Forbidden536: calls $550 *** TURN *** [9h 5s Kc] Forbidden536: checks WCG|Rider: bets $1050 Forbidden536: calls $1050 *** RIVER *** [9h 5s Kc Qc] Forbidden536: checks WCG|Rider: checks *** SHOW DOWN *** Forbidden536: shows [Jc 2h] (a pair of Kings) WCG|Rider: mucks hand Forbidden536 collected $3999.50 from pot
I began to get absolutely wrecked. He was leading 45%, min 3b and calling huge 4 bets with 83o, and then also c/r and c/f 28%. In 3 bet pots he raised every spot I didn't have it, and was c/f at an alarming frequency when i had the goods. I was beginning to get worried.
I'd like to take this moment to say I am not a $10 sng grinder or a small stakes tournament player. I am also not a bumhunter in the least, and I play up to some of the highest stakes online. I have never felt like I have been cheated at any point, never complained about how lucky my opponents must be to beat me. I am a hard worker and I believe that skill and intellect overcomes opposition. But at this point for the first time in my career, I began to feel like this was an unbeatable opponent. He then challenged me to 50/100.
We played a hand at 50/100 off the bat, where he again over bet led into me on AA7 and i had QJ. the turn was a king, and despite this being likely a situation where most players would slow down, my opponent again bet the pot or slightly more. The river was a ten, and for the first time in the match my opponent went into the tank, and then came out with a half pot bet that he folded to my shove. Maybe he bet to try to keep the dream alive, who knows. But what I do know is that over 300 hands of hunl my opponent made 1 incorrect call and it was at 5/10, with all hands at higher stakes being played for a raise or a call.
At this point I was just too worried about the integrity of my hole cards, and I sat out. Forbidden then left the tables, and didn’t sit any other reg.
I immediately emailed support, and they told me they were looking into it. I was now worried that with my computer compromised, I would have to be very careful who I played. The fish had won over 35k from me, starting from his $650 buyin. Over the course of that week, I had on two separate occasions had fish from the uk, with virtually no play history, sit me at 25/50. I sat out vs both. To one of their credits, he did sit a couple other players, however then left quickly afterwards. I knew I had to reformat my computer to carry on playing poker. Upon my computer reformat, and no longer having skype or facebook on this computer. These uk fish have stopped sitting me entirely. I wish i remember the second account, all i know is Forbidden536 and flexaccou.
Since that point, zero of these fish sat me. There was another fish that got me for 11k on ftp as well, by making several very liberal hero calls, which happened on the same day as the forbidden incident. I emailed full tilt as well and hoped they would follow up with me. They told me that in that case, no foul play was found.
On April 3rd, I had just finished up an all night session at 100/200. After quitting, I immediately got a call from pokerstars. They told me that they wanted to inform me that they were looking into the matter. They told me that I shouldn't get my hopes up, as no foul play is found in the vast majority of cases. He did however tell me that they were talking as a team and working on the issue.
On April 19th, I got an update
“Hello Doug,
We are writing to you to keep you updated regarding our investigation into your recent play with account 'Forbidden536'.
As you may have noticed, we have frozen this account pending the resolution of our investigation. We are not in a position to officially confirm anything as yet, however, we can inform you that it does appear extremely likely that this player was able to see your hole cards during your recent playing session.
We note that you have reformatted your computer and no longer have skype or facebook on that machine. We believe these to be sensible precautions to take, but please do not hesitate to let us know if you encounter any future instances of suspicious behaviour.
We will contact you again regarding this matter when we have reached a final conclusion. In the meantime, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to let us know.
Kind Regards,
Jim Senior Manager, PokerStars Game Integrity Team”
This email is to inform you of a credit made to your account today in connection with your play against 'Forbidden536' on 26th March 2013.
We have determined that 'Forbidden536' violated the Terms of Service for using their PokerStars account during their play with you. We have reviewed the play with both player's hole cards exposed. We are sure beyond any reasonable doubt that 'Forbidden536' was able to see your hole cards whilst they were playing against you.
As we stated to you previously, we closed 'Forbidden536' whilst our investigation was ongoing. We can confirm that it will not be reopened at any time in the future. The funds in 'Forbidden536' at the time of closure was $34,397.10. We have transferred this amount to you this afternoon. We regret that this is not full compensation for the amount you lost ($34,827.40), however, we trust that this matter has now been concluded to your satisfaction.
If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to let us know. Kind Regards, Jim Senior Manager, PokerStars Game Integrity Team”
Pokerstars also wanted me to note the following should I post quoting their emails
“You are welcome to publish our email to you online if you wish. However, if you do so, could we please ask that you make it clear that your hole cards were *not* compromised as a result of a hole in PokerStars' security. We would like to avoid people misinterpreting the situation if possible!”
This concludes my interactions with stars and I have received a full refund for money that had been cheated from me. The issue that my hole cards were seen had been deemed a computer side error.
My interactions with Joshua Tyler
On January 27th, my friend Daniel Cates brought his UK friend Joshua Tyler over to my house to introduce him to me. He had told me previously that he was one of his good friends, and that he wanted me to meet him. He said he thought Joshua was a nice guy, and they had gone out together on several occasions. He had apparently played poker in the past, and now had moved onto something that was tech related. He seemed to be a nice guy overall, and we became somewhat friends.
Several weekends later, Josh asked if he could spend the weekend at my house on his trip to Vegas. I have always been welcoming for friends to stay with me, and said sure. I asked him why he was coming for the trip, he said that he had a meeting with someone one night and was planning on seeing friends for the rest of it. During his weekend at my house, I know that at least one night he did not spend the night, and I think he might not have spent either night. Regardless, he was there intermittently. I specifically remember one afternoon, I was about to head out to get lunch and I invited him to join me to get some food. He asked me to pick him something up and he would stay behind at the house. He would come and go, and often had times alone in my house. When we took him to the airport, I asked him about his meeting. He told me that it fell through and never happened.
The rest of my roommates also play online poker for a living. A few days after Joshua left, one of them lost something to the tune of 13 buyins to a 1 tabling fish, playing the same style. He told me that it was as if the guy could see his cards. Another one of my roommates lost 22 buyins over the same stretch to the same opponent, while beating everyone else on the site. Finally on March 9th, a third one of my roommates was beaten for 8k at 3/6 with them playing the exact same way. Lots of leading when they don't have it, etc. This fish played a very unique and recognizable style, and we started calling him “the fish”. We had dinner at a local restaurant following that final session, and we were unsure as a group what was to be done about the situation. Leaving dinner I didn't feel very worried, oftentimes players go on large downswings and being that I hadn't played poker in awhile, I hadn't seen anything suspicious yet myself.
During these losses, we were also undergoing some internet stability issues at my house. At times certain computers would go offline, while other roommates were online. I remember very specifically a point where all of my roommates and myself were disconnected, except one of my roommates who was getting crushed by this same style player that was beating everyone else. We had decided that we can't have unstable internet, and in the middle of march we changed out our router for a new one. To my knowledge we did not have any additional problems with this player at my house following this router change.
Joshua was in contact with me fairly continuously since his first visit. I told him that I was heading to Japan on the 25th, and asked if he could spent another weekend at my place. He said that he wanted to hang out before I left. I said that was fine. We agreed for him to stay at my place on the weekend of March 22-24th, and one of my roommates would pick him up from the airport.
Over the course of the weekend several bizarre situations occurred. The first was we spent very little time hanging out at all. We hung out perhaps one evening, but in general I did not see much of Josh. Although one day, I did see a lot of Josh, when I stepped out of my office into my bedroom, where he had helped himself to showering in my master shower. My house has multiple showers and I was in the area, I was confused why he would shower in the room in front of me. A couple hours later, we were all going to go out. He said that he would catch up later using one of my roommates cars. That night, we didn't meet up.
After I left, one of my roommates saw Josh go into my office. The office is only accessible if you walk through the master bedroom into a balconied hallway that leads to it; the office is the only room in this area. My laptop is stored in my office, and is my exclusive computer used for poker while traveling. I don't understand why Josh would be in my office to begin with, nor what happened while he was there.
That night he hit my roommates car while driving my other roommate's car out of the driveway. He told the other person in the vehicle not to tell my roommates. We are getting somewhat off the topic I understand, but i'm trying to highlight the character of whom I believe to be the perpetrator. At this point I confronted Joshua, and he made up a list of excuses as to why he didn't say anything. In the following weeks he paid the balance for the damage done to the vehicle. At this point I realized that he was a character that did not belong in my life, much less my home, and I decided that this would be his final stay.
Since this point I have done my best to distance myself from Joshua. He has called me once and has messaged me a few times as well to initiate a conversation regarding the issue, I have not responded as I am not sure which direction I wish to take. Conclusion
The way that the timeline works, all of the issues that I and my roommates had were preluded by a trip from Joshua to my residence. He made his second trip to my house in mid february, and it was in late february/early march that we experienced issues. We changed the router in early/mid march, and he wanted to visit us after this but definitely before my trip to Japan. On his trips, minimal time was spent with me and my friends, and it always included alone time at my house in areas that he should not have been in.
There are a series of other facts that I find to be particularly notable. Joshua is from the UK, and all of the accounts on stars that tried to sit me are from the UK. I also know that Joshua works for some type of tech company, so he has at least a fairly advanced understanding of technology and the way computers work. There are also some rumors of alleged hackings taking place that he is involved in. After the incident I searched around a bit and found the following threads where Joshua is mentioned.
Certainly none of these instances on their own prove that Joshua is a hacker. However, it is my opinion that given the timeline and factual evidence of what did occur, there is enough evidence to make Joshua one of the most likely suspects. In any case, I would advise the poker community to stay away from him. At best he has poor ethics and takes part in suspicious activity, and at worst he has the ability to hack high stakes players for significant amounts of money.
TLDR ;My holecards are compromised, Pokerstars issues me a full refund for lost funds. Prior to this Joshua Tyler was suspiciously around my computer, I believe he may be the hacker.
=========================================================== Posted by cbt5000, 08-07-2012, 02:00 PM (member of another poker forum) ===========================================================
This disturbing conversation between Matt (Adz124) Marafioti and Samer Rahman was sent to me via e-mail from a very reliable source who chooses to remain unnamed. I feel compelled to share it with the community to warn others who may have had their computers compromised by either of the two. *I don't want to get involved, however, I can't sit on this information knowing that people may have been victimized by these *******s. Does anyone know anything else about this Samer kid?
[12-01-04 10:42:36 PM] Matthew Marafioti: u here [12-01-04 10:43:40 PM] Matthew Marafioti: habibi [12-01-04 10:43:46 PM] Matthew Marafioti: we keep missing eachothe [12-01-04 10:43:51 PM] Matthew Marafioti: when we going to get to work [12-01-04 10:44:43 PM] samerrrr: hehe [12-01-04 10:44:44 PM] samerrrr: im here [12-01-04 10:44:46 PM] samerrrr: bro [12-01-04 10:44:51 PM] samerrrr: im working 24h [12-01-04 10:44:54 PM] Matthew Marafioti: man [12-01-04 10:44:55 PM] Matthew Marafioti: lets def [12-01-04 10:44:57 PM] Matthew Marafioti: get molswi [12-01-04 10:45:02 PM] Matthew Marafioti: i can access his computers i think [12-01-04 10:45:07 PM] Matthew Marafioti: and he will play me all day [12-01-04 10:45:10 PM] Matthew Marafioti: there is all these dutch guys [12-01-04 10:45:11 PM] Matthew Marafioti: i want to get [12-01-04 10:45:12 PM] Matthew Marafioti: like [12-01-04 10:45:15 PM] Matthew Marafioti: fmylife [12-01-04 10:45:19 PM] Matthew Marafioti: and ****ind0nk [12-01-04 10:45:22 PM] Matthew Marafioti: and others [12-01-04 10:45:23 PM] samerrrr: math [12-01-04 10:45:25 PM] samerrrr: easy now [12-01-04 10:45:28 PM] Matthew Marafioti: ok [12-01-04 10:45:45 PM] Matthew Marafioti: so [12-01-04 10:45:47 PM] Matthew Marafioti: what u mean [12-01-04 10:45:54 PM] Matthew Marafioti: skype convo? [12-01-04 10:45:56 PM] Matthew Marafioti: w/ me [12-01-04 10:46:22 PM] samerrrr: like i said before be careful and dont trust anyone. and avoid conversations until Im done [12-01-04 10:46:33 PM] samerrrr: 5 more days [12-01-04 10:46:48 PM] Matthew Marafioti: ok [12-01-04 10:46:50 PM] Matthew Marafioti: i understand now [12-01-04 10:46:52 PM] Matthew Marafioti: 5 more days [12-01-04 10:46:55 PM] Matthew Marafioti: affirmative [12-01-04 10:46:57 PM] Matthew Marafioti: wont mess this up again [12-01-04 10:47:47 PM] samerrrr: u havent done anything wrong I understand you . But we have to trust us this line between me and you. dont let anything break it. [12-01-04 10:48:03 PM] Matthew Marafioti: i will listen harder from now on [12-01-04 10:48:10 PM] Matthew Marafioti: ok [12-01-04 10:48:11 PM] Matthew Marafioti: understood [12-01-04 10:48:13 PM] Matthew Marafioti: fix it for us ya? [12-01-04 10:48:19 PM] samerrrr: yes [12-01-04 10:48:32 PM] samerrrr: Me and you 100% safe before anything else [12-01-04 10:48:38 PM] samerrrr: thats the rule nr1 [12-01-04 10:48:59 PM] samerrrr: I will meet you soon [12-01-04 10:49:04 PM] samerrrr: habibi [12-01-04 10:49:07 PM] samerrrr: hehe [12-01-04 10:49:29 PM] samerrrr: what is the time [12-01-04 10:49:33 PM] samerrrr: on your side? [12-01-04 10:53:12 PM] Matthew Marafioti: 10 53 [12-01-04 10:53:12 PM] Matthew Marafioti: umm [12-01-04 10:53:13 PM] Matthew Marafioti: sorry [12-01-04 10:53:15 PM] Matthew Marafioti: i was looking at my imac [12-01-04 10:53:18 PM] Matthew Marafioti: cuz im playing 109 rebuy [12-01-04 10:53:19 PM] Matthew Marafioti: on adz [12-01-04 10:53:28 PM] Matthew Marafioti: i cant wait [12-01-04 10:53:30 PM] Matthew Marafioti: till after pca [12-01-04 10:53:33 PM] Matthew Marafioti: we r gona **** these mother ****ers [12-01-04 10:53:36 PM] Matthew Marafioti: and every1 wants to play me HU [12-01-04 10:53:37 PM] samerrrr: haha [12-01-04 10:53:44 PM] Matthew Marafioti: **** them all [12-01-04 10:53:48 PM] Matthew Marafioti: they are all ****ing pieces of **** [12-01-04 10:53:50 PM] samerrrr: love the spirit [12-01-04 10:53:54 PM] Matthew Marafioti: and i have nothing to lose [12-01-04 10:53:56 PM] Matthew Marafioti: i dont care about money [12-01-04 10:53:57 PM] samerrrr: they are all cheaters [12-01-04 10:53:57 PM] Matthew Marafioti: one day [12-01-04 10:54:00 PM] Matthew Marafioti: i will put a gun [12-01-04 10:54:02 PM] Matthew Marafioti: to my own head [12-01-04 10:54:03 PM] Matthew Marafioti: and blow trigger [12-01-04 10:54:07 PM] Matthew Marafioti: cuz of poker and what its made me [12-01-04 10:54:08 PM] Matthew Marafioti: i hate poker [12-01-04 10:54:10 PM] Matthew Marafioti: and every1 in it [12-01-04 10:54:11 PM] Matthew Marafioti: they are all **** [12-01-04 10:55:23 PM] samerrrr: I dont trust them either they are all cheaters sharing [12-01-04 10:55:29 PM] samerrrr: hehe [12-01-04 10:55:30 PM] samerrrr: ****it [12-01-04 10:55:52 PM] samerrrr: so you are leaving tomorrow [12-01-04 10:55:54 PM] samerrrr: ? [12-01-04 10:58:17 PM] samerrrr: listen [12-01-04 10:58:30 PM] samerrrr: you talked about molswi [12-01-04 10:58:37 PM] samerrrr: are you going togheter to pca [12-01-04 10:58:38 PM] samerrrr: ? [12-01-04 11:01:30 PM] Matthew Marafioti: no we arent [12-01-04 11:01:32 PM] Matthew Marafioti: hes with his gf [12-01-04 11:01:34 PM] Matthew Marafioti: and ill be with mine [12-01-04 11:01:40 PM] Matthew Marafioti: but i can go visit him he lives 3 hours away [12-01-04 11:01:41 PM] Matthew Marafioti: hehe [12-01-04 11:01:51 PM] Matthew Marafioti: hes up 155 k on me on Stars for now [12-01-04 11:02:02 PM] samerrrr: is he going 2 pca [12-01-04 11:02:04 PM] Matthew Marafioti: ill beat him back for it! [12-01-04 11:02:06 PM] Matthew Marafioti: yes [12-01-04 11:02:08 PM] Matthew Marafioti: hes playing the 100k tmrw [12-01-04 11:02:23 PM] Matthew Marafioti: can we talk via webcam [12-01-04 11:02:29 PM] samerrrr: sure [12-01-04 11:02:33 PM] samerrrr: let me go to my office [12-01-04 11:03:08 PM] Matthew Marafioti: ok [12-01-04 11:04:52 PM] samerrrr: im caliing [12-01-04 11:10:19 PM] Matthew Marafioti: if u give it to me now [12-01-04 11:10:22 PM] Matthew Marafioti: i can use it in bahamas [12-01-04 11:10:49 PM] Matthew Marafioti: they dont think im smart enuf [12-01-04 11:22:18 PM] Matthew Marafioti: i know mafia [12-01-04 11:22:20 PM] Matthew Marafioti: big mafia [12-01-04 11:22:22 PM] Matthew Marafioti: italian [12-01-04 11:22:27 PM] Matthew Marafioti: they protect and collect money for me [12-01-04 11:22:30 PM] Matthew Marafioti: men [12-01-04 11:22:30 PM] Matthew Marafioti: like 60 year old [12-01-04 11:22:34 PM] Matthew Marafioti: not 25 year old donkeys [12-01-04 11:22:41 PM] Matthew Marafioti: she knows [12-01-04 11:22:45 PM] Matthew Marafioti: i dont want her to hear me telling u tho [12-01-04 11:23:45 PM] Matthew Marafioti: massage parlors [12-01-04 11:23:47 PM] Matthew Marafioti: strip clubs [12-01-04 11:23:49 PM] Matthew Marafioti: and he is mob [12-01-04 11:23:51 PM] Matthew Marafioti: so then the big mob king [12-01-04 11:23:52 PM] Matthew Marafioti: go to get him [12-01-04 11:23:55 PM] Matthew Marafioti: cuz he wont call police [12-01-04 11:23:57 PM] Matthew Marafioti: cuz he is a gangster [12-01-04 11:24:34 PM] Matthew Marafioti: calabria [12-01-04 11:25:19 PM] Matthew Marafioti: so what do you need me for [12-01-04 11:25:21 PM] Matthew Marafioti: thats what i want to know [12-01-04 11:27:03 PM] Matthew Marafioti: i knew from [12-01-04 11:27:05 PM] Matthew Marafioti: when i met u [12-01-04 11:27:06 PM] Matthew Marafioti: because [12-01-04 11:27:09 PM] Matthew Marafioti: i used the alladiin account [12-01-04 11:27:13 PM] Matthew Marafioti: then i asksed i am soso
Facebook chat:
Samer Rahman Hi there m8
January 2Matthew Marafioti sup dood merry christmas/happy new year how u doing
January 2Samer Rahman im fine I wish you the best year ever hope 2012 can be the best one for us both
January 2Matthew Marafioti i hope so too habibi
January 2Samer Rahman tell me how are you and whats your plans for the next 2 month
January 2Matthew Marafioti **** all these mother ****ers
January 2Samer Rahman haha thats the spirit lol how is everything going for you? havent see you or your friends online the since black friday
January 2Matthew Marafioti lol things are well i like live poker alot better tho but ive been playing
January 2Samer Rahman me 2
January 2Matthew Marafioti the walls have ears
January 2Samer Rahman tell me? are you working for stars?
January 2Matthew Marafioti what do you mean
January 2Samer Rahman going to quit poker soon... i've got what i wanted from it ?? tell me about your plans m8
January 2Matthew Marafioti well i bought a house for 2 million ive travelled the world
January 2Samer Rahman usd where?
January 2Matthew Marafioti or at least what i want to see in toronto just at the point where seeing every1 in poker is miserable and im gona get out
January 2Samer Rahman before its to late?
January 2Matthew Marafioti ya exactly exactly my point habibi
January 2Samer Rahman maybe I can help
January 2Matthew Marafioti and then its game over well if u can help then do it im a man of action im ranked top 20 in the world for live tournament cant find a solid backing deal i like
January 2Samer Rahman I have been offline for 2 years more or less I have invested alot of money
January 2Matthew Marafioti just tired man ya
January 2Samer Rahman in a business there I know we can make enough money and there I can make your name so BIG it reach the sky
January 2Matthew Marafioti yea well explain more im listening what kind of business and how is my name going to be involved
January 2Samer Rahman I really want to meet you private nothing I can take over fb
January 2Matthew Marafioti what about phone call or skype and how much would i need 2 invest
January 2Samer Rahman I just need to know where you stand about the business there you need to work before it gets profitable. You dont need to invest money at all
January 2Matthew Marafioti u know me from our past experience im always willing to work and hard for the right price ill do anything effectively
January 2Samer Rahman yes i know and since that year I have been develope this business I didnt believe it worked but today i know it works Lets talk at skype add me www_samer
January 2Matthew Marafioti ok
January 2Samer Rahman tell me when you have add me
January 2Matthew Marafioti going on now on different comp better
January 2Samer Rahman let it be a mac not a pc dont trust pc
January 2Matthew Marafioti haha i love your humor
January 2Samer Rahman maybe you will love me forever or hate me after this
January 2Matthew Marafioti i know enough about you where nothing you could tell me would make me hate you if it hasnt already and it hasnt i think your a genius r u samer gbg on skype from sweden or is that someoene else
January 2Samer Rahman yes
January 2Matthew Marafioti ok i added u
January 2Samer Rahman calling you
January 2Matthew Marafioti **** i unplugged comp when i turned it its turning back on 1 second
January 2Samer Rahman ok
January 3Matthew Marafioti bro do u think im ****ing stupid
January 3Samer Rahman ?
January 3Matthew Marafioti dude sangelloti sangellotti
January 3Samer Rahman ?
January 3Matthew Marafioti there is a new server showing up on my laptop called sangellotti and the laptop i left in ur room in san remo had a server show up on it after if u want to do business with me u cant put trojans on my ****ing machines asdfsasfsaa
January 3Samer Rahman What are u talking about?
January 3Matthew Marafioti man this was not showing up before if i look my my desktops and there are servers on there too im gona be so pissed i am ready to work and do business but if u start messing with my machines im gona go dizzy and im not like these other p***y nerds im a little more powerful and a little more calculated so please lets do things the right way thats all im gona say im going downstairs
January 3Matthew Marafioti to skype in a minute these servers make me nervous and i just woke up im delerious
January 3Samer Rahman Plz call My phone ******** Im in the casino
January 3Matthew Marafioti ok i will give me 10 minutes make this ****ing server go away or i throw all these computers away and we do no business thanks
January 3Samer Rahman Ok bro dont stress and you dont need to worry. Be smart!! I havent harm you !! Dont be stupid!! Just call me if you feel better.
Cliffs of this thread as of 8/10 - KM Quote: Originally Posted by ibleedbenjamins Cliffs (Long)
- Anonymous source posts chat log by Matt Marafioti (ADZ) & alleged hacker Samer Rahman where they discuss planting trojans into other high stakes players comps & cheating them out of $$$. - ADZ discovers trojans on his computers likely planted by Samer. It appears ADZ is a target & pawn in said scam to cheat others & then get cheated himself - ADZ confirms via twitter he is friends with Samer & alleged conversation took place but was doctored - Mr. Hickey posts on behalf of "reliable source" claims Matt has stated Samer is responsible for several other hackings & operate the Alladin account on FTP - Samer is an IT expert known to have connections to Mohammed Kowssarie aka TerrorofSweden & Fast_Freddy who hacked Patrik Antonius & Johnny Lodden for mils. Samer & Mohammed are found to have strong ties to Swedish Bandidos, a violent biker gang - Becomes known many HS swedes have been scammed by said gang & threatened in person. Thread documenting cheating on a Swedish poker forum apparently deleted by OP at his request due to said threats - This is no secret throughout the Swedish poker, swedish poker players are rightfully scared of the criminals - ADZ goes off on twitter & blows up, denies various accusations, people lol @ him & those that know him IRL confirm he's an doucher, scumbag, cheat, multiaccounter etc. Virtually noone defends ADZ - aggo receives PM from unnamed source who won't post in public bc it would "send him to his grave" stating Mohammed's older brother is or used to be President of Swedish Bandidos, later discovered by Matacow Mohammed finance a restaurant with President of Bandidos Mc Sweden Mehdi Seyyed, restaurant is later seized by state as assetts of Bandidos ciminal activities - Owner of PokerListings was killed by Swedish Hells Angels in order to avoid giving testimony against former business partner. - More info posted, biker gangs in Sweden are v. prominent & feared especially in the poker community, especially the Bandidos - Samer Rahman posts ITT, denies any wrongdoing, claims his computer was hacked & is being framed, claims to be a public figure in Sweden, contacts Mat Sklansky & asks thread to be removed - People lol @ Samer's response & immediately tear it to shreds. During initial skype log Matt requests a video chat which is assumed to have taken place making Samer's denials impossible -Thread is taken down at Samer's request & pending review... 3 hours later thread reopened because it is decided many of the accusations are credibly - pokervangelist reports ADZ was @ Bellagio last night & claims ex gf Lauren Kling had to be anonymous source who sent out the chat logs - Jas posts who was scammed out of 260k+ on pokerstars mostly by the accts saman_r, and westisbestis who played extremely similar with insanely loose stats. He discovered a trojan on his comp shortly after & had it reformatted with dif security, 3 days later he find saman_r playing 1/2 plo, asks if he wants to play 25/50 hu & saman insta leaves the table - Many new accounts presumably from Swedish players hiding their identities post ITT confirming much of the speculation regarding organized crime's violence & influence to online poker & overall culture in Sweden - Picture is posted by new acct with 1 post shows ADZ & Raman playing online side by side in a hotel suite during EPT San Remo in 2010. In the same pic is Zoran Zoric who is accused participant in Casino Cosmopol scam 2011 in Gothenburg. Zoric was convicted for assault the same year & is out bail awaiting trial for the Casino Cosmopol incident. - NVG asks Swedish players for more info while maintaining anonymity, relevant posts from new accts are given more credence than in the past on 2+2 & lots of relevant info is posted.
Throughout the thread other posters chime in mostly discussing ADZ & his personality, the validity of original chat logs, Saman R & mohammed K, hacking, & Swedish Mafia (not the dj's!) From August 19: Quote: Originally Posted by wazz (member of another poker forum) Haven't kept up with the last few pages of this thread but sent an e-mail to stars security a few days ago and got a response, if anyone is interested:
Hello Michael,
Thank you for your email. Your email was escalated to me as a Senior Manager in the PokerStars Security Team for further review. Since you have raised a number of issues, let me take the time to address each point in turn.
* 1) Is there an investigation into the events * detailed in the thread as mentioned?
PokerStars has previously reviewed a whole series of the accounts alleged to be involved in the fraud here. PokerStars has consistently found insufficient evidence of fraud.
We are also continuing to review new evidence as it comes to light, and this continuing investigation includes analyses that have been conducted after the most recent thread on the issue was started on TwoPlusTwo.
As you would be aware, PokerStars is regulated by the rule of law, and when considering confiscation and redistribution of player funds, we need to make decisions that are consistent with the regulatory regime that we operate under. Consequently, before confiscating funds from a player, we need to have strong and clear evidence of misbehaviour, such as hand histories or equivalent.
PokerStars is aware of no new evidence that we could rely upon in a court of law to prove these allegations.
* 2) What things are being investigated - HHs, IP * addresses, software running on machines, * softplay / collusion signs, tweets, 2+2 posts?
PokerStars reviews all the data that is available to us on any given issue. While we do take into account information that is posted on Twitter and TwoPlusTwo (and equivalents) please do keep in mind that the original post of the TwoPlusTwo thread was an anonymous individual who received information from another anonymous individual, who themselves received the alleged information in an unclear manner - that information is hardly very strong.
* 3) In similar cases, what has been the outcome? * Have player balances been seized and distributed * to those affected? Have players been banned?
Where PokerStars has proven that players have been able to see the hole cards of other players, and used that information to defraud players, PokerStars has taken action including seizing and redistributing funds to victims. The accounts of offenders have then been banned.
Please note that these situations relate to offenders installing malicious software on the computers of their victims. There has been no player who has been the victim of insecure hole card storage or transmission by PokerStars.
* 4) High stakes players should clearly take * responsibility for their own hardware, but are * there any measures either in place or being * planned that could help defend the poker * community against this sort of attack?
Theoretically, it is possible that some malicious software might reveal your hole cards to a particular player. Such a scenario is unlikely, and our investigation has found insufficient evidence to prove that this is the case here. However, in the interests of openness and honesty, we do highlight this theoretical risk to players who voice a concern about such issues. If players are concerned about such possibilities, they should consult with a computer security expert to secure their computer.
At the end of the day, the onus is always going to be on the end user to protect the security of their computer. We simply have no ability to monitor whether your computer has malicious software on it, and it is true that a clever cheater of this nature may be able to hide from detection on the basis of the poker play alone. To make a simplistic analogy, in a live poker environment, it is the responsibility of each player to protect their hand - but the house will step in if it becomes aware of concerted efforts to deliberately defraud other players (such as through marked cards or similar).
This is why we advise that you consult with a computer security expert with physical access to your computer machine if you are concerned about this - the poker experts employed by PokerStars have found insufficient evidence of fraud here.
* 5) Would you ever contact the relevant police in * this sort of case, or have you ever been * contacted by the police?
We certainly have a real and genuine interest in operating games that can be trusted, and if there is a criminal investigation into the alleged hacking of computers, PokerStars will cooperate with law enforcement officials in accordance with the regulatory regime that we operate under.
PokerStars routinely cooperates with police forces in various jurisdictions.
I hope that this further email clarifies PokerStars' position on the matter, but please let us know if there is anything else that we can do to assist you.
Well Mobsters, this is the whole story! I am really speechless if all this is true! As you know The BankrollMob Terms & Condions will not allow me to tell you which is this poker forum, that is why it is not mentioned in the thread.
Joined: Mar '09
Location: Greece
Age: 47 (F)
Posts: 14136
Wow, thats a long read for another time since ouzo doesnt help with it But on my quick scrolling down i managed to see the part where PS staff were saying to the player that his opponent was able to see his hole cards...
Joined: Dec '12
Location: Bulgaria
Age: 47 (M)
Posts: 1022
Mober, read the whole story! It is really... I am speechless! They putted viruses on other computers, they stole a lot of money from PokerStars high stake players, they see the whole cards of other poker players, one of them bought a house for $2 million.
The skype chat and the facebook chat between them is very interesting!
I read about the first part of this (before the emails etc.) on another site a while back but the additions you have found certainly make this a more compelling story.
Joined: Dec '12
Location: Bulgaria
Age: 47 (M)
Posts: 1022
Yes Henry, the first part of that story is easy to read from other famous sites, but the additions (skype, facebook, PokerStars emails etc) to that story are very interesting!
Joined: Jun '13
Location: Macedonia, The former Yugoslav Republic of
Age: 70 (M)
Posts: 541
Posted by Peter7878: Mober, read the whole story! It is really... I am speechless! They putted viruses on other computers, they stole a lot of money from PokerStars high stake players, they see the whole cards of other poker players, one of them bought a house for $2 million.
The skype chat and the facebook chat between them is very interesting!
You know man this is not first time in Pokerworld , and its nothing new. THey managed to rober some accounts that have a nice bankroll Not talking about 1000$ or less , i'm talking about 50000 ++++ But i think that if pokerstars prove that you are robbered they will return some $ to your account , before pokerstars caught hackers and after they fund their accounts the pokerstars remove all amount and suspends accounts.
Joined: May '08
Location: Lithuania
Age: 39 (M)
Posts: 10090
yeah i remember that story was floating around some time ago, nothing really too shocking to be fair - everybody should know that their money is not safe online, especially when you allow some unknown IT "experts" to work on your pc...i think a lot better approach when you pc stalls, would be to buy a new one, rather then risk to have it infected with some spying software when having it repaired...
Joined: Apr '09
Location: Australia
Age: 40 (M)
Posts: 6483
Posted by pochui: nothing really too shocking to be fair -
Sadly I have to agree with this.. sadly, because it would be nice if this *wasn't* common in our game.. But these kinds of things are unbelievably common.. If you read 2+2 you'll see people posting ways they got scammed pretty much every day, including a few other pretty major scams.
Joined: Mar '12
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 40 (M)
Posts: 1277
Posted by jessthehuman:
Posted by pochui: nothing really too shocking to be fair -
Sadly I have to agree with this.. sadly, because it would be nice if this *wasn't* common in our game.. But these kinds of things are unbelievably common.. If you read 2+2 you'll see people posting ways they got scammed pretty much every day, including a few other pretty major scams.
What other sort of stuff??
I mean it doesn't surprise me that big stakes are getting hit, not sure if there is any of this at lower stakes. In a way they'd have much more chance of getting away with it if they did.
Also poker players are often tech savvy and working in the IT industry, so again you have a perfect marriage if you want to combine cheating and poker.
Joined: May '09
Location: India
Age: 37 (M)
Posts: 4873
Posted by noonlion:
Posted by jessthehuman:
Posted by pochui: nothing really too shocking to be fair -
Sadly I have to agree with this.. sadly, because it would be nice if this *wasn't* common in our game.. But these kinds of things are unbelievably common.. If you read 2+2 you'll see people posting ways they got scammed pretty much every day, including a few other pretty major scams.
What other sort of stuff??
didn't hear about the girah scam? they made-up a pro just like that and thru him cheated a poker site and many pros.
cheating thru Trojans has been reported many times
Joined: Dec '12
Location: Bulgaria
Age: 47 (M)
Posts: 1022
Posted by SuperNoob:
didn't hear about the girah scam? they made-up a pro just like that and thru him cheated a poker site and many pros.
cheating thru Trojans has been reported many times
The Portuguese Poker Prodigy José “Girah” Macedo Scammed HSNL players for >$30,000 HSNL xpost
========================================================== Posted by MossBoss, 08-06-2011, 11:26 PM (member of another poker forum) ==========================================================
Hi 2p2, I’m a 6m and HU player on iPoker by the username of “jajay1963”. I met José in a strategy skype group which was set up by TooCuriousso1 to discuss HU strategy amongst good players.
José’s strategy contributions to this group were exceptional, and many top players were very impressed. Early in July, José created a second group which he said was for the best players to further discuss strategy, review each others videos and do some live sweats, to discuss hands just after they had happened. José and everyone elses’ strategy discussion continued to be very good and in early July, somewhere around the 10th, Joséwatched 2p2 poster ImFromSweden whilst he played a session. During this session IFS played sauron1989 HU on iPoker. IFS lost just over $10,000 in 70 hands of $10/$20 but both of them typed into the skype chat group that they thought that this sauron1989 was very bad. About 10 days later, José offered to watch me whilst I played a session on iPoker. Thinking that this was a good opportunity for me to have my play reviewed by a top player, I agreed and he watched my session start out as a 6max session but soon I had sat with sauron1989 on an empty 6max table, after José had told me that this guy was bad and spewy and proceeded to lose a total of $21,900 to sauron1989 over the course of 2 matches at $25/$50. I felt like something was wrong during the matches, not a feeling I can explain, but it just didn’t feel like any other HU match I’ve played and I got suspicious.
After reviewing the skype chat logs, it became fairly clear that José was massively pushing this sauron1989 to anybody who had iPoker funds, saying that he was very bad and that everyone should play him (and let him watch when they did). I voiced my concerns to TooCuriousso1 and we proceeded to work hard to dig up evidence to prove this. Lots of circumstantial evidence was available; José’s chat logs were extremely suspect, where he would push players to play sauron1989 despite not seeming to play him himself. We soon witnessed that whenever José would disconnect from skype, sauron1989 would sign out of the ipoker lobby and would sign back in when José reconnected to skype. This happened 3 times in 20 minutes and all 3 times both José’s skype and sauron logged out and in at the same time. During our attempts to find more evidence, it became clear that José was also operating under the username of dollarman223 on the Merge network. He scammed TooCuriousso1 for $900 and appeared to be setting up another member of the group for a further scam at $50/$100, which we anticipated would be his biggest scam. Once we voiced our concerns to the rest of the group it became apparent that José was setting up quite a few of them for a scam.
Obviously it was naiive and stupid of me and of the others to allow José to watch our screen whilst we played high stakes, but based on a few months of internet friendship and the great strategy José posted, we believed he was entirely trustworthy (despite the scepticism voiced in José’s NVG thread).
To José’s credit, before we had fully conclusive proof, though our suspicions were becoming apparent, he confessed what he had done, and promised to pay us back all of the money plus was adamant that he would pay compensation for the time that we had been forced to put in to unearth the cheating. We have been promised reimbursement for the money stolen by Jose while superusing. Once I receive the funds, I will then send IFS and TC what they are owed.
We have co-ordinated this with José to allow him to write his statement in here for all to read. His statement will be posted below.
edit: regarding the confession, we received a full admission of guilt at a point at which it was more or less apparent that we already knew we had been cheated.
============================================================ Posted by girah, 08-06-2011, 11:26 PM (member of another poker forum)
This is the explanation of the Portuguese poker player Prodigy José “Girah”: ============================================================
I'm going to be taking a break for a while. There is no right or wrong way to say any of this, so I'm just going to say what happened.
A while ago, I did something stupid. A friend of mine, who I introduced to poker, made a suggestion to me which was, I'm not going to sugar coat it, cheating. I had introduced this friend to poker and he was losing money, badly. He asked to play some of my poker friends and said why don't you sweat them and we'll see their hands. I don't know why I agreed. I don't know why I did it. I guess it was a mixture of guilt and stupidity and feeling ****ty for getting him involved in something which seemed to be bad for him.
This went on for a short while but I felt so bad, I had to say something. I confessed. I told the guys involved what I had done, I told my friends and the people who I respect and who respected me.
I told my Mum, confessed everything to her. I could see the disappointment moving across her face as she told me she was not proud of me despite all my success in poker; she was not proud of her son. She said how she hadn't raised me this way and what had poker done to me. Thats when it hit me, how badly I had let people down. I felt ashamed, I had no explanation; explanations don't cut it in situations like this and often come across as excuses.
There is a quote on the wall in my school which I always see as I pass the nurse's office. It says that the real mistake is not tripping up, but staying down. I thought of that and that's why I'm writing this.
I'm holding my hands up and taking whatever consequences come. I realise the severity of this, but I also realise that I have to take responsibility for my actions and so I'm paying back everyone involved and in addition paying them compensation of $30,000. I've also told my sponsor etc and whatever happens there I will take the consequences too. They have been really amazing to me and I've enjoyed every minute of working with them. Representing Lock and being part of their amazing team, witnessing the incredible growth, was a pleasure and an honor.
I'm young, I made a mistake and I hope that this doesn't define me; I hope that how I deal with this and move forward is the thing that does. And people will say I have no excuse and I know and understand that. I agree. I just want to let everyone know, I'm sorry. I apologise to the guys who lost their money, the people who I love and care about and I have disappointed and the guys in the poker world who have supported me for letting them down. I wish Ish I had something to say to you all, to say to my parents and my friends and all of those who thought I could do no wrong.
Joined: Apr '11
Location: Romania
Age: 35 (M)
Posts: 6669
The story is indeed old but now there are so many details that pop out about it.
I think as a general conclusion is that if you reach such a level(high stakes) you should better have a laptop/pc just for poker and another for the rest of your activities. Plus allow no one to operate it than you.
Joined: Dec '12
Location: Bulgaria
Age: 47 (M)
Posts: 1022
Posted by dlkiv: Again I will say that LIVE is the only way to go
dlkiv, I support and agree with your statement! Actually, I realized that fact this summer, when I had the opportunity to play a lot of live poker and I discovered it's very exciting and fun. and the LIVE poker can not be compared with the ONLINE poker at all.
Joined: May '09
Location: India
Age: 37 (M)
Posts: 4873
this is just a part of story. it's much more complicated and worse than this. there's another thread on 2+2 which has all the cliffs, try finding that if u interested.
Joined: Aug '08
Location: Canada
Age: 58 (F)
Posts: 2558
Posted by SuperNoob: this is just a part of story. it's much more complicated and worse than this. there's another thread on 2+2 which has all the cliffs, try finding that if u interested.
Joined: Dec '12
Location: Bulgaria
Age: 47 (M)
Posts: 1022
Sorry, I hijack from this thread with this post also. I just wanted to say SuberNoob that India is a very beautiful country.
SuperNoob, I was at Dera, the Beas river, Punjab district two years ago! We were a lot of people from around the whole world. Our host was The Master Baba Ji Gurinder Singh Dhillon from Radha Soami Satsang Beas. We were at Delhi also.
This little town Dera is so beautiful. There we met a lot of Satsangis from India. I remember everything was free there: the food, the houses where we slept, the hospitals, the libraries. I still remember these happy moments from my stay in India!
I realized there, that the Indian people are very poor materially, but they are the happiest people in the world. They are very rich spiritually!
Posted by SuperNoob: this is just a part of story. it's much more complicated and worse than this. there's another thread on 2+2 which has all the cliffs, try finding that if u interested.
Well, I go back to the topic now. SuperNoob, I found a lot of info on 2 + 2 about this case. But I published only the main thing about this case. There are 78 huge pages about this case, so I find it very difficult and almost impossible to post everything here!
If I have to post everything here about the girah scam case, I will need at least one month to do it!
Joined: Aug '10
Location: Germany
Age: 52 (M)
Posts: 2219
I´m womdering, that i heart the first time about this Story. But if he made screenshots and send the hand historys, si i´m sure that he get back the money from stars. But what we can do against the magic golden suckout river card from stars?
Joined: Dec '12
Location: Bulgaria
Age: 47 (M)
Posts: 1022
Posted by DaCapo71: I'm womdering, that i heart the first time about this Story. But if he made screenshots and send the hand historys, si i'm sure that he get back the money from stars. But what we can do against the magic golden suckout river card from stars?
Yes, of course PokerStars detected the collusion and returned the player $35 000. Read the whole story and you will see it.
If I have the opportunity to play one day in future at high stakes cash games at PokerStars, definately I will buy another laptop which will be only for online poker. And I will install and buy also the most expensive antivirus software program to protect the machine from hack attacks!
But that could only happen if I hit the a big jackpot!
