Thanks for investigating and writing this up.. knew such things would happen, and at this state, plenty of resources are required to keep an eye out on dishonesty. Definitely something worth thinking about - how do we systematically do this, while keeping posts relatively easy to produce without the hassle of covering all angles? If his posts are fairly without good payouts, this probably would have been overlooked. So I guess when more payout = more DD required (duh).

And how do we conveniently keep track of the truth on accounts. What is universally recognized, and what is not? Will the rep system be effective in indicating dishonesty?

What I think Steemit needs to look into is a karmic vouching/referral system for new accounts. If I vouch for someone, a new account can be registered using my uniquely created ref code, just for one new account.

By vouching quality accounts, one also needs to tend to the lawn by performing checks once in a while to rectify situations, if any. The karmic system is network based. If there's a bad actor in my network, I will be affected in some way, weighted by my rep and such. But of course, I'm only talking about this with my limited experience and understanding of Arcade City's karmic (karma) system. What about those without personal connections? And what are the incentives for vouching when there's a heavy disadvantage for doing so, given the fallibility of human nature that may not stand the test of time? Obviously there are better ways to do this. Worth exploring though.