Bitcointalk admins will turn over your identity, IP address etc at the drop of a hat - you can bet on it!
You should DEFINITELY be using TOR for Bitcointalk and any other website you visit, whether darknet or clearnet.
I recommend using TAILS in conjunction with TOR.
Yeah it sucks! You can't even steal $80k anymore without people digging into your personal life and getting your fake Linkedin profile removed and your sites shut down. Life sucks
I'm sure there are scammers who try to remain anonymous for that reason.
Honest people have plenty of reasons to remain anonymous too though. Look at the IRS scandal. Even if you do nothing wrong, they can make your life a living hell. Just because they don't like you or your political views.
Even if you're the type who trusts government officials (hard for me to understand), look up Brett Kimberlin. He's a private citizen who goes around harassing and suing bloggers who bring up his well-known, criminal past as the "Speedway Bomber." This costs people so much time, money and energy, that the prudent thing to do is not bring it up. There's also evidence that he's engaged in "swatting" -- making false police reports that end up with SWAT teams being sent to the house of someone he doesn't like.
Bitcoiners are very unpopular in some circles. Do you really feel secure that no one willing to "swat" you or sue you will ever read something you wrote and decide they really don't like it?
Even if you feel safe now, what if the BTC/USD goes through another spike or two? There's the obvious possibility of online strangers tracking you down in real life and trying to coerce you to give them money.
The problem that everyone continues to miss is simple in my opinion...
There are generally two types of Bitcoin users, the user (like you or I) who hold their own private keys. Those people should be able to be 100% anonymous. If I want to send $1000 to my sister, that is nobodys business. Not the IRS, not PayPal, not Visa or Mastercard or Western Union or Money Gram. It is a transfer from myself to my sister. That should be an anonymous transaction and I don't think anyone disagrees with that.
But then there is the second group of people who handle bitcoin. This group runs websites or operates a store or a service online. These are the assholes (like Moriarty) who still go around claiming that bitcoin should be anonymous.... FUCK THAT
There is no way that you can remain anonymous and be in charge of other people's money or private keys. It will always... as it has with Ryan Kennedy, with Mt. Gox, with HYIP Scams and Ponzi Schemes, and with Michael Moriarty... turn out bad. This is the current problem with Bitcoin. Is the fact that a new group of people has popped up... selling Starbucks cards, selling Microsoft and Porn accounts, buying and selling BTCTalk accounts because they can remain anonymous. Well, there is the issue. 90% of these people are scammers who will walk with your money first chance they get. I mean, all it takes is one look at Michael Moriarty to see what Bitcoin has done and what it will continue to do until people stop supporting these guys. Michael STOLE $80k from RickyJames, just kept it, and yet still... 3 months later, continues to buy domains, buy Senior Accounts, and flaunt his scammy sites all around this forum. Why? Because he is anonymous. He used fake info to buy his domains, so if you go look him up, he is fake. No man by that name... the address and phone are fakes and he gets to parade around in his Mercedes and talk shit because nobody can do anything about it.
This will just continue to make life easier for these low lifes who now know that bitcoin is easy to scam with. Set up a fake website or a fake gambling site. Lie on your domain registration, use Tor and boom! Steal when you want. BUSINESS OWNERS, EXCHANGES or anywhere where someone else is able to get to your money must be transparent and real. And if they don't like it, then don't use bitcoin in your business. Or just steal like Moriarty and be a scammy cunt.