Max Ashkar - scamming big time

I want to present you a lovely fella from germany, Mr. Max Ashkar:



He is allegedly responsible for one of the biggest player to player scams in the history of online poker.

The first reports came in october 2011 and threads popped up on pokerstrategy.com and 2+2.

As it is rumored he scammed several players with the help of a trojan which he installed manually on the victims computers for over 7 figures.

His line was to befriend many succesful poker players mainly at the european tournament circuit. His FB friendlist included almost everybody. During the events he got access to the victims computers and allegedly installed a virus with a usb stick. He also visited some poker houses to pull his scam there. He was very well known in the poker circles and back in the days he was beating the games in a fair manner until the games caught up on him and he went broke. Thats when he started his shady comeback.

In the threads many famous players piped up such as Timex McDonald and Andrew Lichtenberger who got to know him.

One of the bigger casualties was Niki Jedlicka (KaiBuxxe/RealAndyBeal) who lost 350K to the scammer. The most victims are from England (many German pokerpros live there), Austria, Switzerland and Germany.

One player who normally played the 2K hunsngs got beaten by the scammer and then hunted down by him till his BR was to small to play the 100$ husngs. The scammer used differnt accounts to do that.

At the Poker-EM (EuroCup) in Baden some of the victims confronted Max with the allegations and interrogated him until he confessed and they recorded it on a mobile. After it they brought him to the police but Max revoked his testimony at the police and claimed (as it is reported rightfully) that he was forced to the confession.

The investigation is ongoing. Some say that the victims have no real hopes in the official investigations and are searching for evidences on their own and want to bring it to court in England.

The mainstream media reported about the scam in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

At the moment Max is on the run and allegedly he hides in Qatar.

Good post! This is exactly what this forum is for. Now question for you are I haven't followed the story.

How was he giving people the trojan? Having them click on a link? Do these players, not have simple virus protection? Gimme the details if you have them.

He got access to their laptops (hotelrooms while on tournaments or visits to their homes) and installed the trojan with a usb stick.

He was considered as a friend by the victims.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pavoe

He got access to their laptops (hotelrooms while on tournaments or visits to their homes) and installed the trojan with a usb stick.

He was considered as a friend by the victims.

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Ah got cha. So about a minute or two with alone with a computer was all he needed.

Thanks for bringing this story here. Very interesting.

Can you post some links to the threads involving this matter?

I am surprised that the guys who cornered him and taped a confession didn't just beat the crap out of him, or at the very least strongarm whatever money he had on him.

Is it known what trojan he was using? Installing one isn't as simple as just putting a USB stick on a computer. At the very least, you need to install the trojan from the USB stick in the same manner you would install a program you just downloaded from the web. This doesn't take long, but does require at least a minute or two alone with the computer.

The thing I don't understand is the software he was using. There are many clandestine keylogging programs you can install (to steal passwords), but programs that let you see the other person's computer screen remotely (which it sounds like he used) are not as trivial. Does anyone know specifically what program was being used for this? The ones I know of don't "hide" themselves (such as Teamviewer), though it's not unreasonable to believe there are malicious programs that were written to cover their existence on the host computer.

If he is really hiding in Qatar and stays away from live poker events, he will have gotten away with this.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

Thanks for bringing this story here. Very interesting.

Can you post some links to the threads involving this matter?

I am surprised that the guys who cornered him and taped a confession didn't just beat the crap out of him, or at the very least strongarm whatever money he had on him.

Is it known what trojan he was using? Installing one isn't as simple as just putting a USB stick on a computer. At the very least, you need to install the trojan from the USB stick in the same manner you would install a program you just downloaded from the web. This doesn't take long, but does require at least a minute or two alone with the computer.

The thing I don't understand is the software he was using. There are many clandestine keylogging programs you can install (to steal passwords), but programs that let you see the other person's computer screen remotely (which it sounds like he used) are not as trivial. Does anyone know specifically what program was being used for this? The ones I know of don't "hide" themselves (such as Teamviewer), though it's not unreasonable to believe there are malicious programs that were written to cover their existence on the host computer.

If he is really hiding in Qatar and stays away from live poker events, he will have gotten away with this.

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As it is reported Max offered to transfer money he had in one Pokeraccount and in some e-wallets (neteller, moneybookers) to the guys who confronted him (irrc N. Jedlicka was amongst them) to let him go but it wouldn't have covered nearly as much as was stolen. They refused it.

Regarding to beat him up. Sure it is an option, but not if you want to bring him to court imo.
Maybe it was already too much. The police investigated against the victims of the scam because of coercion and deprivation of freedom (not sure if that is the right term). No idea what came out of it.

No idea which kind of programm was used, I am a tech-noob. There is some info in the 2+2 thread irrc, didn't follow that because I understand nothing of it. In the German pokerstartegy thread is a duscussion about that, but it's chinese to me.

2+2 link:
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/29...rojan-1120121/

Maybe I add some translated stuff from the German outlets later but I think much of it is coverd and translated in the 2+2 thread.

Wait, so he offered to transfer them money (albeit way less than what was stolen), and they refused it?

Why would they have done that? Accepting partial payment doesn't legally absolve him of any further debts. Or were they worried he would have gone to the police on them for extortion?

By the way, I am 90% sure I have played with this guy before.

Don't remember much about him, but I seem to recall that he came off as being really weird.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

Wait, so he offered to transfer them money (albeit way less than what was stolen), and they refused it?

Why would they have done that? Accepting partial payment doesn't legally absolve him of any further debts. Or were they worried he would have gone to the police on them for extortion?

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don't know about the extortion thing, maybe.

and imgine you are jedlicka and he scammed you for 350k, now you confront him with 2 or 3 other guys and he offers you 20k which would be split in some way with the 2 or 3 others as a first payment and to not take him to the police..dont know.
the hole confrontation wasn't planed and they took him to the police at 6am. maybe their minds weren't total clear.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

By the way, I am 90% sure I have played with this guy before.

Don't remember much about him, but I seem to recall that he came off as being really weird.

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no idea if he played in the US, luckychevy met him at ept madrid.
one of his screennames on Stars is probably Mexx86.

Excellent write-up! This was the guy I was referring to in my Online Cheaters thread. Hopefully there is some kind of resolution to this case in the future.

Interview with Niki Jedlicka from hochgepokert.com:

I translate it a bit freely


....

Götz Schrage: „Ich sehe dich im Moment auch nicht so sehr als Pokerspieler. Eher als Betrugsopfer und Gewalttäter.“

At the moment I dont see you that much as a pokerplayer. More like a vitim of a scam and a violent criminal.

Niki Jedlicka (lacht): „Gewalttäter, wieso das?“

laughing; Violent criminal, why that?

G.S: „Na ja die Sache mit dem Trojaner ist ja allseits bekannt und der Schaden hört man muss ja recht hoch sein - Soweit bist du Betrugsopfer. Andererseits hört man, dass Maximilan A. Anzeige erstattet hat weil ihr ihn in seinem Hotelzimmer zu einem falschen Geständnis gezwungen hättet.“

On the one hand the case with the trojan is widely known and the damage seems to be high, on the other hand there are rumors that Max reported to the police that you forced him to a wrong cofession in his hotelroom.

Niki Jedlicka: „Das stimmt so nicht. Da müsste gegebenenfalls der Staatsanwalt von sich selber tätig werden. Es handelt sich ja für den Fall nicht um zivilrechtliche, sondern strafrechtliche Tatbestände.“

Thats not really correct. The district attorney would have to start this process because it would not be civil case

G.S.: „Wie man hört steht der Vorwurf Kidnapping, Nötigung und Freiheitsberaubung im Raum. Respektabel! Diese Vorstrafen hätte ich auch gerne auf meiner Karte.“

What I hear is the accusation of kidnapping, coercion and deprivation of liberty. Respect!

Niki Jedlicka: „Nur das mit dem Vorwurf der Nötigung hat einen Wahrheitsgehalt. Kidnapping wird mir nicht angelastet.“

There is only some truth to the coercion. I am not charged with kidnapping.

G.S.: „Ok, also wie war das jetzt? Du und ein anderer Spieler marschieren also in das Hotelzimmer von Maximilian A. und zwingt ihn zu einem Geständnis? Wie muss man sich das vorstellen?“

So, what was that all about? You and another player walk into the hotelroom of Max and force him to a testimony?

Niki Jedlicka: „Wir waren zu viert, aber zu den Namen der anderen möchte ich nichts sagen und nichts kommentieren. Und all zu viel kann ich nicht erzählen, weil im Moment mit Hochdruck von der rechtlichen Seite an dem Fall gearbeitet wird.“

There were 4 of us, but i do not want to name the others or comment anything. I can not say a lot because there is an ongoing investigation.

G.S.: „Schon klar, aber wie kommt man nur auf so eine Chuck Norris-Idee da rein zu stürmen? Ist doch nicht wirklich typisch für dich.“

I see, but why did you storm his room Chuck Norris-like? Does not really fit your character

Niki Jedlicka: „Wir hatten das auch niemals so geplant. Es musste aus der Situation heraus einfach so sein.“

It was never planed in that way. It justed arised out of the situation.

G.S.: „Na ja, immerhin hast du und dein Rollkommando jetzt die historischen Verdienste Maximilian A. gestoppt zu haben in seinem betrügerischen Handeln.“

Whatever, at least it is yours and your troops historic merit that you stopped Max scamming.

Niki Jedlicka: „Wir haben eher die historische Arschkarte in der Sache. Den Verdacht gab es ja schon länger. Wir waren nur zum raschen Handeln gezwungen, weil ein dummer ebenfalls geschädigter Pokerspieler nicht warten wollte und Maximilian A. am Telefon mit den Vorwürfen konfrontiert hatte.“

Not really, historicly we more got the shit end of the stick. The suspicion was there for longer. We were forced to act quickly, because another stupid victim did not want to wait any longer and confront him on the phone with the allegation.

G.S.: „Verstehe, was war denn der eigentliche Plan?“

Ok, what was the first plan?

Niki Jedlicka: „Wir wollten wie brave Staatsbürger zusammen mit der Polizei vor seiner Londoner Wohnung stehen. Den Überraschungsmoment nutzen und hoffen, dass die britische Staatsanwaltschaft alles an technischen Geräten und Beweisen vor Ort beschlagnahmen kann. - Dadurch, dass uns ein emotional verständlich wütender Geschädigter diesen Überraschungsmoment genommen hat, waren wir zum handeln gezwungen aus unserer Sicht.“

We wanted to surpise Max with the police at his home in London to get all the evidence such as his technical devices. An emotional handicapped victim did not want to wait that long, so we were forced to act.

G.S.: „Ok und ihr tretet also die Tür vom Hotelzimmer ein...“

Ok, so you kick in the door of his hotelroom.

Niki Jedlicka: (unterbricht mich) „Wir haben einfach angeklopft. Maximilian hat nach einiger Zeit geöffnet und gemeint, er habe gerade geschlafen. Das war alles ganz zivilisiert. Wir haben ganz normal gesprochen und ihn mit den erdrückenden Beweisen konfrontiert. Wir musste ihm auch keine Angst machen oder so. Wir haben einfach unsere recherchierten Fakten auf den Tisch gelegt.“

interupting..No, we justed knocked. Max opened after a while and claimend he was sleeping already. We talked to him in a normal fashion and confronted him with the evidence. We did not have to threaten him. We just told him what we know already.

G.S.: „Und dann?“

Go on!

Niki Jedlicka: „Dann haben wir ihn ermutigt, jetzt auch aus seiner Sicht Schadensbegrenzung zu betreiben. Mit einem Geständnis und Schadenswiedergutmachung aus der Sache so gut es geht, rauszukommen. Deswegen sind wir gemeinsam zur Stadtpolizei gegangen.“

We encoureged him to do damage controll and to confess. That is why we went with him to the police.

G.S.: „Und dort hat sich Maximilan A. dann umentschlossen und stattdessen euch vier wegen Nötigung angezeigt. Vielleicht hatte er ja wirklich Angst vor euch? Vier wütende Jungs im Hotelzimmer.“

And there Max decided to press charges against all of you because of coercion? Maybe he really felt threatend by you guys. 4 angry guys in his hotelroom.

Niki Jedlicka: „Dort waren bewaffnete Polizisten, da hatte er ganz sicher keine Angst vor uns - und hat er auch vorher zu keiner Zeit haben müssen - Maximilian A. ist auch auf der Stadtpolizei noch weiter vier Stunden bei seiner Story geblieben. Hätte er mit uns alleine irgendwas aus Angst zugegeben, spätestens auf der Polizei hätte er ja unmittelbar umschwenken könne. Aber wie erwähnt, mehr als vier Stunden blieb er bei seinem Geständnis.“

No, at the police were armed officers, so he did not have to fell threatend - and also in his hotelroom he did not have to. Max stayed to his confession for 4 more hours. At least there he could have told his truth directly. But as I said, he stayed to his confession for 4 hours.

G.S.: „Wo war dann der Bruch und wieso habt ihr als Geschädigte so lange auf der Polizei bleiben müssen?“

Where/ why did he changed his mind und why did you guys had to stay that long at the police?

Niki Jedlicka: „Nun es hat einmal eine ganze Weile gedauert, bis sich um die Uhrzeit ein „computer-afiner“ Polizist gefunden hatte. Ich glaube die sind aus Wien extra nach Baden gekommen. Abgesehen davon, ich fürchte Maximilian hat seine Strategie geändert, als ihn der eine Polizist mit der strafrechtlichen Schwere des Deliktes konfrontiert hat. Es fiel einmal der Satz: „Zehn Jahre Strafrahmen“. Ich kann sogar irgendwie verstehen, dass Maximilian dann doch lieber „gambelt“ und die Tat bestreitet solange er kann.“

It took some time to find a cop who knew something about computer. I think he came extra from Vienna to Baden. And as the police told Max about the possible consequences Max changed his startegy. Once there felt the sentence: 'Up to ten years in prison'. I can somewhat understand that Max wants to gamble under this circumstances.

G.S.: „Du bist überhaupt so heiter und sprichst über den Täter ohne Hass, ja fast ohne Groll. War der Schaden denn doch geringer, als in den Medien kolportiert, oder wieso diese Milde?“

You seem so happy and in no way depressed talking about that. No hate or ill will towards Max. Was the damage smaller than reported?

Niki Jedlicka: „Ganz im Gegenteil. Der Schaden war für meine Person deutlich höher. Ich habe zirka $350 000 verloren. In weniger als zwei Stunde Gesamtspielzeit, verteilt auf drei oder vier Sitzungen. Das war schon recht krass.“

No, the opposite is the truth. The damage was higher. I lost $350K in less than 2 hours total over 3 or 4 sessions. It was really heavy.

G.S: „Aber kein Gefühl des Hasses? Kein Wunsch nach Rache?“

But no feelings of hate? No wish for revenge?

Niki Jedlicka: „Nein. Ich hasse Maximilian A. nicht. Ich kannte ihn ja schon einige Zeit. Ich war zwar nicht gut mit ihm befreundet, aber ich mochte ihn. Man darf ja nicht vergessen, er war ja durchaus ein guter Pokerspieler. Hat vorher auf der großen Omaha-Partien noch bei Full Tilt sicher eine Million Dollar ganz korrekt gewonnen. Immer spendabel und großzügig. Bis er dann zweitweise broke war, große Schulden gemacht hat bei anderen Spielern und dann irgendwann wohl auf die Idee gekommen sein muss mit den Trojanern sein Comeback zu starten“.

No, I do not hate Max. I knew him for a while. We were not big buddies, but i liked him. You do not forget that he was a good pokerplayer before. He won up to 1million in a fair manner in the big omaha games on FTP. He was always generous. Until he was broke for a time, got into big depts and decided at one point to start his comeback with the help of this trojan.

G.S: „Die Idee mit dem Trojaner ist ja eine Sache, aber wie kam der dann eigentlich auf deinen Computer.“

The idea of the trojan is one thing, but how did he get access to your computer?

Niki Jedlicka: „Nun, das war wirklich kein feiner Zug. Ich hatte Maximilian auf meine Geburtstagsparty eingeladen. Er ist auch noch weiter an meinem Tisch gesessen, hat mit meinen Eltern zusammen gegessen und irgendwann eben den Trojaner montiert.“

Yeah, that was not a fine move. I invited Max to my birthday party. He was at my table sitting with my parents and installed then the trojan somehow.

G.S: „Hättest du einen Mac gehabt, wäre dir das nicht passiert.“

With a Mac that would not have happend.

Niki Jedlicka: „Götz, du irrst dich gewaltig. Die meisten der Geschädigten waren Mac-User. Die hatten überhaupt keine Chance. Bei Windows gab es wenigsten beim ersten Neustart eine sonderbare Fehlermeldung. Die haben halt die meisten Pokerspieler weggeklickt - wie man das halt so tut als Amateur. Bei Mac gab es gar nichts.“

Götz, you are wrong big time. The most victims used a Mac. They had no chance. Windows user at least got a strange notice as they started their computers again. The most pokerplayers just clicked it away - like you do it often as an amateur. There was no notice for Mac users.

G.S.: „Ich bin schockiert als Mac-Gläubiger. - Was kannst du mir technisch zum Trojaner erzählen. So halt in simplen Worten, dass ich es auch verstehe.“

I am shocked as Mac fan. What can you tell me about the technical aspect of the trojan. In simple words, that I also can understand it.

Niki Jedlicka: „Techniker bin ich auch keinesfalls. Alles was ich weiß ist, dass das Ding recht schlau konstruiert war. Die codierte Eingangsmeldung der Karten konnte ausgelesen werden und wurde ihm übermittelt. Sonst hat sich der Trojaner mit keinem der gängigen Programme angelegt. Also nicht etwa versucht Skype-Chats zu lesen oder sonstiges. Vielleicht hätten dann die Sicherheitssoftware doch gegriffen. Aber wie erwähnt, es wurden ausschließlich die Hände der Geschädigten gelesen.“

I am also no expert. All I know is that the thing was a smart one. The incoming data could be read and sent to Max. Aside from that the trojan did not correlate with any other programms. The trojan did not try to read skype chats or something like that. Only the hands could be seen.

G.S.: „Weiß man denn etwas über die Gesamtschadenssumme und wie viele Opfer es gibt?

Do you know the complete sum that was scammed and how many victims there are?

Niki Jedlicka: „Das ist nicht ganz so einfach und da gibt es eine Menge zu klären. Es gibt sicher auch Zufallsopfer, die einfach am selben Tisch saßen. Es gibt nachweislich Geschädigte, die keinen persönlichen Kontakt mit Maximilian A. hatten und den trotzdem den Trojaner installiert bekommen haben. Das spricht wieder dafür, dass es doch mehrere Täter gibt. Ich schätze die Schadenssumme wird zwischen einer und zwei Millionen liegen. Aber wer weiß, was da noch kommt?“

Thats not so easy, a lot of things to look into. Maybe there are some random victims who just happend to sit at the same table. There is evidence that there are victims who had no personal contact with Max but had the trojan installed. I guess in total the sum will be between 1 and 2 million. But who knows?

G.S.: „Und alles von einem Account kassiert?“

And he did that all with one account?

Niki Jedlicka: „Nein, eben nicht und das muss man ihm wirklich zum Vorwurf machen. Ich bin nicht so wütend und empfinde keinen Hass, erstens weil mir Geld nicht soviel bedeutet und weil er mich auch prozentual in meiner Bankroll nicht so großartig beschädigt hat. Andere Spieler hat er regelrecht zertrümmert und dann auch in die Limits nach unten verfolgt.“

No. I am not that angry at him, one thing is money does not mean that much to me and it is not such a big % of my BR. Other players got destroyed by Max and hunted down the limits till there was nothing left in the victims accounts.

G.S.: „Was heißt: In den Limits nach unten verfolgt? Du meinst, wenn sie aus Gründen des Bankroll Managements kleinere Partien gespielt haben, ist er wieder da gesessen? Das muss denen doch aufgefallen sein.“

What do you mean by hunted down the limits? The victims must have recocnized Max when he played them also in the smaller games.

Niki Jedlicka: „Mit verschiedenen Accounts! Ich weiß von einem Opfer, der hat angefangen bei $2000 Sit and Goes heads-up zu verlieren gegen Maximilian A. und war am Schluss schon so dünn mit dem Geld, dass er nur noch $100 Sit and Goes spielen konnte.“

With different accounts! I know of one victim who played the 2K husngs and got hunted down to the 100$ husngs.

G.S: „Und da konnte sich der Arme wieder erholen wie ich hoffe?“

I hope the poor guy could recover from this losses at the 100$ level.

Niki Jedlicka: „Leider nicht, weil ohne es zu wissen ist er wieder gegen Maximilian angetreten, der mit einem anderen Account gespielt hat, aber durch den installierten Trojaner immer noch die Hände einsehen konnte.“

No, he did not know it but he played against Max again under a different account and Max could see the cards.

G.S. „Pfui Teufel, das ist aber wirklich ekelig und unverzeihlich. Wenn er das mit bösen Jungs gemacht hätte. Will ich mir gar nicht vorstellen.“

Uh, thats really nasty and unforgivable.

Niki Jedlicka: „Fein ist das nicht. Und zusätzlich erschwert wird das Ganze noch dadurch, dass Maximilian den privaten Kontakt mit seinen Opfern auch weiterhin geradezu gesucht hat.“

Thats not the fine way. Max also searched the personal contact to his victims while he scammed them.

G.S.. „Der Täter kehrt an den Tatort zurück und der Online-Betrüger will sehen, ob es den Betrogenen auch persönlich wirklich schlecht geht. - Andere Frage: gibt es denn eigentlich Support und Hilfe von den Online-Rooms?“

The offender returns to the crime scene and the online scammer wants to see of the scammed are really feeling bad. - Another question: Is there any help and support from the pokersites?

Niki Jedlicka: „Pokerstars bemüht sich und scheint mit den Behörden voll zu kooperieren. Prinzipiell muss man ja sagen, dass die Online Pokerrooms ja nicht wirklich was dafür können. Schließlich waren wir Spieler so unvorsichtig jemand an unsere Computer zu lassen. Andererseits was in weiterer Folge passiert ist war sicher auch kein Ruhmesblatt für Support und Security-Abteilung der Online-Pokerrooms.“

Pokerstars tries to und seems to cooperate with the authorities. But I have to say that nothing was the fault of the pokersites in the first place. It was our fault to let someone get access to our computers. On the other side with what happend afterwards, it was nothing the pokersites could praise themselfes and their support/security.

G.S: „Wie muss man das verstehen? Was meinst du damit?“

What do you mean by that?

Niki Jedlicka: „Diverse Spieler haben nach kürzester Zeit Bedenken geäußert. Das Spiel von Maximilian A. war zeitweise zu perfekt. Keine Auszahlungen und wirklich kranke Value-Bets am River. Da haben sich einige an die Supports der jeweiligen Seiten gewandt. Als Antwort gab es dann die Standardmails, die wohl alle bekommen, die zweimal nacheinander die Asse verlieren in großen Pots und sich deshalb beschweren.“

Some players made reservations. Max play was too perfect. No pay offs, really sick value bets. Some contacted the various sites. The answer was the standard mail.

G.S.: „Da muss offenbar auch noch aufgerüstet werden in allen Belangen.“

Something that has to be improved.

Niki Jedlicka: „Das glaube ich auch.“

I think so.

Götz Schrage: „Abschließende Frage. Bist du optimistisch dein Geld wieder zurück zu bekommen?“

Last question. You think you will get your money back?

Niki Jedlicka. „Grundsätzlich ja. Das Geld scheint ja noch da zu sein. Die Behörden ermitteln meines Wissens in Österreich, Deutschland und auch in England wie ich gehört habe. Ich kann auch irgendwie verstehen, dass Maximilian A. versucht sich der Verfolgung zu entziehen. Vielleicht hat er nicht darüber nachgedacht, dass das Gefängnis bedeutet. Oder er hat nicht damit gerechnet aufzufliegen. Jedenfalls in seiner Haut möchte ich nicht stecken.“

Basically yes. The money seems to be still there. The authorities are investigating in Austria, Germany and England. I see why Max tries to run- Maybe he did not think that this things could mean prison time for him. Or he did not expect that his scam got caught. Whatever, I dont want to change with him right now.

Götz Schrage: „Ich glaube das möchte keiner von uns. Im Namen der Hochgepokert.com Leser bedanke ich mich für das Gespräch und ich bedanke mich, dass du dir Zeit genommen hast.“

I think nobody wants to....

Niki Jedlicka: „Gerne und bis bald.“

Thanks and see you.



It was a bit of a pain to translate it because the interviewer, Götz Schrage, is a moron who always tries to be funny.


from http://www.hochgepokert.com/2011/11/...r-zertrummert/

BUMP

Over 6 years later, Max hired a "reputation" service to try and get this story scrubbed from the internet.

Quote:

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Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

our client Mr. Maximilian Ashkar commissioned yourreputation24.com with the improvement of his online reputation. We will contact you as to your website unwanted content found on behalf of our client.

We refer to the link:

https://pokerfraudalert.com/showthre...mming-big-time

The critical entry is on your website, we have identified you as responsible operator (or hosting provider with the request to forward this writing).
In the mutual interest, we ask for cooperation and removal / alteration of the designated online entry. We would be very happy if you fulfill this request.
For your efforts, we would like to thank. Of course, we assist you with any questions or problems with pleasure as your contact person. Take in this case please the writing (letter, fax, mail).
Please note the file number of the document in all the answers and questions.
Best Regards
Reputationteam
Operator Support (specialist/ in HA29)

---

Note to Max: This will only come down if the victim contacts me, proves his identity, and tells me that everything was made right.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

Thanks for bringing this story here. Very interesting.

Can you post some links to the threads involving this matter?

I am surprised that the guys who cornered him and taped a confession didn't just beat the crap out of him, or at the very least strongarm whatever money he had on him.

Is it known what trojan he was using? Installing one isn't as simple as just putting a USB stick on a computer. At the very least, you need to install the trojan from the USB stick in the same manner you would install a program you just downloaded from the web. This doesn't take long, but does require at least a minute or two alone with the computer.

The thing I don't understand is the software he was using. There are many clandestine keylogging programs you can install (to steal passwords), but programs that let you see the other person's computer screen remotely (which it sounds like he used) are not as trivial. Does anyone know specifically what program was being used for this? The ones I know of don't "hide" themselves (such as Teamviewer), though it's not unreasonable to believe there are malicious programs that were written to cover their existence on the host computer.

If he is really hiding in Qatar and stays away from live poker events, he will have gotten away with this.

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Looking back 6 yrs ago now Druff lets be honest.. A lot of poker pros are a bunch of pussies.. The days of guys like Doyle who would've pulled a gun and put it to a cheating POS skull are long over.. Nowadays without fail poker players are risk adverse even to the point of letting guys like Mike Dentale be assholes with impunity.. Funny thing is pretty sure if Dentale had been a victim he would've gotten on a plane hunted this POS down and beat him senseless and who knows maybe one of his mafia buddies would've fitted him with a pair of concrete shoes.. (No I have no obvious proof Dentale has mobs ties but hes Italian working in a labor intensive job sector and from NJ??? yeah that doesn't scream mafia at all)