{"id":3711,"date":"2019-01-19T09:32:44","date_gmt":"2019-01-19T08:32:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/schubladenerinnerungen.de\/blog\/?p=3711"},"modified":"2020-04-17T15:26:36","modified_gmt":"2020-04-17T13:26:36","slug":"on-kickstarter-the-stop-spy-scam-by-ismael-soltero-rubio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/schubladenerinnerungen.de\/blog\/2019\/01\/19\/on-kickstarter-the-stop-spy-scam-by-ismael-soltero-rubio\/","title":{"rendered":"On Kickstarter: The Stop Spy scam by Ismael Soltero Rubio"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It started all by being paranoid, lazy and browsing projects on Kickstarter. I participated in a few crowdfunding projects at the same time. Some turned out really nice and useful, but some not.<\/p>\n

One of the biggest scams was \u2013 and still is \u2013 the Stop Spy<\/strong> campaign by Ismael Soltero Rubio<\/strong> (pictured below; it\u2019s mirror-inverted). A small thing to cover web cams and the back cameras of smartphones, laptops, tablets and such things.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I could have bought this little device from another manufacturer in the first place. A yet existing thing. Or I may have got myself some plain stickers. But I liked the spirit of crowdfunding a lot and wanted to give this campaign a chance.<\/p>\n

I stepped in with a small amount. But that doesn\u2019t lessen my anger in general. The scam was and is too cheeky. And Kickstarter<\/strong> doing nothing against such scams \u2013 in the run-up and afterwards \u2013 is another matter that counts in. The money for projects should only be transferred, if a prototype has been produced or approved and the manufacturing company has lined up for mass production. That\u2019s just a quick idea … and not yet thought through to the end.<\/p>\n

Well, I\u2019m wiser now.<\/p>\n

And yes: I know, that taking part in crowdfunding projects was and is risky overall.<\/p>\n

I won\u2019t be crowdfunding ever again … that\u2019s my present opinion. I\u2019ve been fooled on Kickstarter to often.<\/p>\n

But back to the Stop Spy campaign. Read on, if you\u2019re interested or involved.<\/p>\n

The main infos were collected and researched by numba.ninja<\/strong>. I supplemented some parts and tried a chronological overview.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Some prototypes were in the works around June 2017. Here\u2019s a picture from his profile page on Facebook. If we had seen this before, maybe it would have taken another turn. The product was ready before he started the campaign on Kickstarter.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

This looks like a finished product. In September 2017. And later he told all the backers, that the production couldn\u2019t start \u2019cause of some delays in China and later \u2019cause of a missing part. A strange part which had nothing to do with the webcam covers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Ismael started the campaign on Kickstarter back in autumn 2017. On the 12. September to be exactly. The campaign ended with pledges of \u20ac 6,011 (120% of \u20ac 5,000 goal) in October the same year. On Tuesday the 24th.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s<\/a> a detailed view of the funding pattern.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The average amount was \u20ac 143,11 per day.<\/p>\n

But there were two days on which the amount has been surprisingly high. On the third day the step was \u20ac 792,00 and on day thirty-three it was \u20ac 1.668,00. Both timeframes are very important for a succesfull campaign. If a campaign doesn\u2019t gather speed it may doesn\u2019t attract other backers. So a steadily pace is important.<\/p>\n

On day thirty-two it looked like the campaign slowed down a lot and won\u2019t reach its goal. The pace was too slow. A psychological impact was needed. And it happened. Almost \u20ac 2.000 in one day gave the campaign a good push. This push enhanced the belief it would be succesfull.<\/p>\n

The pace accelerated and suddenly the campaign reached its goal.<\/p>\n

Participating backers were pleased and new once were convinced to hop on board.<\/p>\n

Those two steps look like staged. It\u2019s possible for creators to back their own campaign with a secondary acoount or by a friend\u2019s. It happens on eBay. Why not on Kickstarter too? It only narrows the profit in the end.<\/p>\n

If it was the creators own money it returned to the creator after the payments (minus Kickstarter\u2019s processing fees) got transferred. So, no risk. But some extra money…<\/p>\n

Ismael created the project page with a sligthly altered name. Just Ismael Soltero<\/strong> was visible. His full name only appeared on his bio page on Kickstarter: Ismael Soltero Rubio<\/strong>. The given link to a Facebook profile page<\/a> turned out to be wrong.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It\u2019s German. In English it says: „The link you followed may have expired, or the Page may only be visible to an audience that you aren’t in.“<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s<\/a> his real profile page.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

And here\u2019s another profil page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On his Kickstarter page<\/a> you can find links to projects he backed. That\u2019s good to manifest yourself as a real backer and creator too. Maybe he took part with the smallest amount possible. Just to send those projects good karma. He gave the lowest pledge and no rewards were sent to him.<\/p>\n

He only commented on his own project<\/a>. Never on those he backed. That may indicates a non existent interest in those projects and that he pledged the smallest ammount possible.<\/p>\n

Those were his participations as a backer on Kickstarter:<\/p>\n