Author

Topic: Have you ever exchanged your Bitcoins through Localbitcoins? (Read 206 times)

full member
Activity: 434
Merit: 102
I've had successful transfers, and I've had fraudulent transfers where the payments were reversed on my payment processing accounts.

Be extremely cautious when dealing with Bitcoin buyers via PayPal. I used to think that the payment was safe if sending as "Friends or Family" via PayPal, but I had a payment that was reversed because the PayPal account that was used to send me the funds for the Bitcoin I sold ended up being hacked. I actually had a conversation with the owner of the account (the hacker didn't have access to his mark's email address), and the dude got screwed for tens of thousands of dollars because of the PayPal hack.

LocalBitcoins.com is best for face-to-face meetups. Be EXTREMELY CAUTIOUS when dealing with digital transfers or bank wires. Make sure to ask for documentation for EVERYTHING, and look out for the following things (as a seller):

  • 1. If the buyer is a new account, insist that they send you documentation to prove their identity and that they are who they say they are.
  • 2. If the buyer's account is verified, look through their feedback history to ensure that there are not any large gaps in between trades. If there are gaps, this could indicate that the buyer's account was purchased from the original owner (who may not have a need for their account any longer)
  • 3. Check their feedback history and sort it by "Negative" feedback. If any of the recent negative feedback pertains to a digital payment of any kind, avoid the trade at all costs, no matter how much above market price they are offering.
  • 4. Ask the buyer to provide you with their PayPal address, and that you will send them an invoice to that address for the amount that you've entered the trade for.
  • 5. Instruct the buyer to answer an email that you send to that address, or to send you an email from the email address of their PayPal account.
  • 6. Google the email address and see what pops up. If anything looks fishy, then avoid the trade. (example: the last time I initiated a trade with someone on LBC, the email address showed results for a 79-year old farmer from Georgia. Chances are that 79-year old farmers don't know anything about cryptocurrency...

I know that this sounds tedious, but trust me; it will help protect you in the end. Even if your trade is only for $100 or less, it would suck to be charged back or have a payment reversed for that $100... Protect yourself when dealing with digital payment options on LocalBitcoins.com

Excellent reply man, wish I could give you merit but I'm out of it Angry
hero member
Activity: 882
Merit: 976
I've had successful transfers, and I've had fraudulent transfers where the payments were reversed on my payment processing accounts.

Be extremely cautious when dealing with Bitcoin buyers via PayPal. I used to think that the payment was safe if sending as "Friends or Family" via PayPal, but I had a payment that was reversed because the PayPal account that was used to send me the funds for the Bitcoin I sold ended up being hacked. I actually had a conversation with the owner of the account (the hacker didn't have access to his mark's email address), and the dude got screwed for tens of thousands of dollars because of the PayPal hack.

LocalBitcoins.com is best for face-to-face meetups. Be EXTREMELY CAUTIOUS when dealing with digital transfers or bank wires. Make sure to ask for documentation for EVERYTHING, and look out for the following things (as a seller):

  • 1. If the buyer is a new account, insist that they send you documentation to prove their identity and that they are who they say they are.
  • 2. If the buyer's account is verified, look through their feedback history to ensure that there are not any large gaps in between trades. If there are gaps, this could indicate that the buyer's account was purchased from the original owner (who may not have a need for their account any longer)
  • 3. Check their feedback history and sort it by "Negative" feedback. If any of the recent negative feedback pertains to a digital payment of any kind, avoid the trade at all costs, no matter how much above market price they are offering.
  • 4. Ask the buyer to provide you with their PayPal address, and that you will send them an invoice to that address for the amount that you've entered the trade for.
  • 5. Instruct the buyer to answer an email that you send to that address, or to send you an email from the email address of their PayPal account.
  • 6. Google the email address and see what pops up. If anything looks fishy, then avoid the trade. (example: the last time I initiated a trade with someone on LBC, the email address showed results for a 79-year old farmer from Georgia. Chances are that 79-year old farmers don't know anything about cryptocurrency...

I know that this sounds tedious, but trust me; it will help protect you in the end. Even if your trade is only for $100 or less, it would suck to be charged back or have a payment reversed for that $100... Protect yourself when dealing with digital payment options on LocalBitcoins.com
full member
Activity: 434
Merit: 102


But why use zelle transfer,if it works like paypal then the transaction can also be disputed which could mean that bitcoin goes to the buyer and his USD be returned. what is better in this transaction is fiat in exchange of BTC. This is safe than  a payment system that can be used to scam.
Well, maybe its what the OP wanted to use, cause sometimes, paypal do have long protocols or even the 21 days holding. Moreover, I heard that PayPal are restricted for some countries; they can only send but can't receive money (we can really say why PayPal or any other alternative wasn't used). But the main point here is that, the zelle transfer might have been legal but the seller lied about it and got OP scammed.


It's even got to a point where I've considered changing banks because of that. A lot of the big traders in there recommend Wells Fargo since they still accept cash deposits onto someone else's account
Well, I hope you recover your stolen fund but I doubt it you will, just be careful next time. If possible stay away from localbitcoin but if you are lucky to find genuine seller, then good.

Nope, those funds were long gone now. Localbitcoin's team recommended to go to the police to report the case, Bank of America said the same thing. What other choices do I have to exchange my bitcoins to USD?
full member
Activity: 966
Merit: 153


But why use zelle transfer,if it works like paypal then the transaction can also be disputed which could mean that bitcoin goes to the buyer and his USD be returned. what is better in this transaction is fiat in exchange of BTC. This is safe than  a payment system that can be used to scam.
Well, maybe its what the OP wanted to use, cause sometimes, paypal do have long protocols or even the 21 days holding. Moreover, I heard that PayPal are restricted for some countries; they can only send but can't receive money (we can really say why PayPal or any other alternative wasn't used). But the main point here is that, the zelle transfer might have been legal but the seller lied about it and got OP scammed.


It's even got to a point where I've considered changing banks because of that. A lot of the big traders in there recommend Wells Fargo since they still accept cash deposits onto someone else's account
Well, I hope you recover your stolen fund but I doubt it you will, just be careful next time. If possible stay away from localbitcoin but if you are lucky to find genuine seller, then good.
full member
Activity: 434
Merit: 102
I've had terrible experiences in that website (4000$ stollen because of some fucker claiming that the zelle transfer was a fraud). Tell me about your experience!


I don't get what zelle transfer is.

I haven't tried making transaction on localbitcoin, don't have any accounts either but seeing there were crimes with it where one party robbed the other instead of exchanging. This is really a scary situation which is why this is something really not worth doing unless you do meet in the public place.
Zelle transfer is just like an online payment method where you can send and receive money in minutes, it works like Paypal, Venmo etc.
At OP, it's always hard to see a genuine seller in localbitcoin though there are few. Some of the sellers there with postive feedbacks are fake. There was a time I wanted to  purcahse bitcoin there, luckily the guy was busted and i found out he was a scam, could have losed my money. Localbitcoin used to be good before but not anymore. You just can't trust it and paxful .

It's even got to a point where I've considered changing banks because of that. A lot of the big traders in there recommend Wells Fargo since they still accept cash deposits onto someone else's account
full member
Activity: 434
Merit: 102
I've had terrible experiences in that website (4000$ stollen because of some fucker claiming that the zelle transfer was a fraud). Tell me about your experience!

I’m confused, didn’t you meet in person? Did you do the exchange with the person sitting in front of you?

Nope, it wasn't that kind of trade. He was supposed to send the money through zelle to my bank account (which he did) and then I would release the bitcoins through an escrow. That's what happened but three days later I check my bank account and it turned out to be frozen! It said that I owed the bank 888,888.88$ USD. I had to make tons of phone calls in order to get my previous balance available again
legendary
Activity: 2282
Merit: 1041
I've had terrible experiences in that website (4000$ stollen because of some fucker claiming that the zelle transfer was a fraud). Tell me about your experience!


I don't get what zelle transfer is.

I haven't tried making transaction on localbitcoin, don't have any accounts either but seeing there were crimes with it where one party robbed the other instead of exchanging. This is really a scary situation which is why this is something really not worth doing unless you do meet in the public place.
Zelle transfer is just like an online payment method where you can send and receive money in minutes, it works like Paypal, Venmo etc.
At OP, it's always hard to see a genuine seller in localbitcoin though there are few. Some of the sellers there with postive feedbacks are fake. There was a time I wanted to  purcahse bitcoin there, luckily the guy was busted and i found out he was a scam, could have losed my money. Localbitcoin used to be good before but not anymore. You just can't trust it and paxful .

But why use zelle transfer,if it works like paypal then the transaction can also be disputed which could mean that bitcoin goes to the buyer and his USD be returned. what is better in this transaction is fiat in exchange of BTC. This is safe than  a payment system that can be used to scam.
full member
Activity: 966
Merit: 153
I've had terrible experiences in that website (4000$ stollen because of some fucker claiming that the zelle transfer was a fraud). Tell me about your experience!


I don't get what zelle transfer is.

I haven't tried making transaction on localbitcoin, don't have any accounts either but seeing there were crimes with it where one party robbed the other instead of exchanging. This is really a scary situation which is why this is something really not worth doing unless you do meet in the public place.
Zelle transfer is just like an online payment method where you can send and receive money in minutes, it works like Paypal, Venmo etc.
At OP, it's always hard to see a genuine seller in localbitcoin though there are few. Some of the sellers there with postive feedbacks are fake. There was a time I wanted to  purcahse bitcoin there, luckily the guy was busted and i found out he was a scam, could have losed my money. Localbitcoin used to be good before but not anymore. You just can't trust it and paxful .
legendary
Activity: 2282
Merit: 1041
I've had terrible experiences in that website (4000$ stollen because of some fucker claiming that the zelle transfer was a fraud). Tell me about your experience!

I’m confused, didn’t you meet in person? Did you do the exchange with the person sitting in front of you?

I don't get what zelle transfer is.

I haven't tried making transaction on localbitcoin, don't have any accounts either but seeing there were crimes with it where one party robbed the other instead of exchanging. This is really a scary situation which is why this is something really not worth doing unless you do meet in the public place.
legendary
Activity: 2156
Merit: 1393
You lead and I'll watch you walk away.
I've had terrible experiences in that website (4000$ stollen because of some fucker claiming that the zelle transfer was a fraud). Tell me about your experience!

I’m confused, didn’t you meet in person? Did you do the exchange with the person sitting in front of you?
newbie
Activity: 37
Merit: 0
The most risky operations with finance were when i exchanging fiat money for cryptocurrencies through the exchanger, where you first need to send money to the exchanger and wait for the transfer of bitcoins
member
Activity: 238
Merit: 10
Yes, I withdrew money from ATMs, in our country so as not to suspect an offense (laundering money) we need to deduce 50 thousand or simply pay with a bank card
full member
Activity: 434
Merit: 102
I've had terrible experiences in that website (4000$ stollen because of some fucker claiming that the zelle transfer was a fraud). Tell me about your experience!
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