Topic: LocalBitcoins.com: New wave of scams! Steps to protect yourself (digital trades) - page 2. (Read 475 times)

I've done with traders that have "solid reputation" but still got chargebacks in the end. AVOID LBC dan Paxful. Too may SCAMMERS 

You are right that no one should ever release bitcoins from escrow before receiving payment.

But in some cases the scammers use make the payment, the seller releases the escrow and then after that the release they make chargebacks from paypal or other methods.

That is the most dangerous.

How lol ? The country where I live in,if account is credited into your Bank account,there is no way you can reverse it until you explicitly write a mail to the bank after which Bank initiates an investigation.

Correct.However these are rare cases and hence you should be dealing with profiles which have verified their details and maybe you can call them before initiating a trade.

Sorry to hear about your experience with LBC, I wasn't aware of a new wave of scammers but I am extremely wary of many around there. I've never had a single problem with any trades, but that's only because as soon as I feel something is off, I don't go ahead with the trade. Since this is about helping people navigate the trickiness of some traders, here's what I'd like to share.

Some traders will have what looks like a solid reputation: thousand over trades, huge volumes and great feedback. And they use that to try and bully you into releasing escrow right after they mark payment as complete. Do not ever do this. They might say "lol I trade for 5 years and people have no problems to do this" or try and make it seem they don't need your business but don't ever release escrow until you confirm payment. I have run into a few such people, and at least once I've come back across the same name, accused of never sending payment.


I've done a few paypals, but only when I REALLY need it (both ways buying and selling). But yes, I think in general, if you trade all the time and are in no hurry, stick with online trades. I use SEPA and local bank transfer in another country - both are actually reversible, but require >10 days, and the sender to contact the bank and provide some kind of proof. That does make it not foolproof, but I suspect the trouble to go through that at the risk of having negative feedback on an old trading account ain't worth it.

Also, I do sell (never buy) to new accounts every now and then but only if they're willing to provide full verification to me + phone call. When I started out, someone had to trust me, so I like to think I should help new traders gain reputations.

Bank transfers are still reversible. Anything centralized, is.

Just because it's not common for it to be reversed, doesn't mean it can't ever happen.

Generally I prefer to deal with nothing that can trace who I am and who the seller is on localbitcoins. That includes bank transfers. If the seller uses a hacked account to buy your bitcoins, then you may be in serious trouble by law enforcement. That's why I like cash deposits, cash in mail to a p.o. box, etc.

But paypal's a no brainer. If you need paypal you should use coinbase, even people on currency exchange board on this forum is probably going to be more trustworthy to deal with paypal, since if anything goes wrong you can report them. Localbitcoins won't care after escrow is done. Even if they do there is nothing they can do about it, they don't have the money in escrow any more.

I would rather put it this way "Be careful with Paypal trades on LocalBitcoins"
I have been using LBC for ages and without any problems till date.In my region,most of the payment methods are done though Bank Transfers and there is not much a scammer can do because I will only release the escrow if the payment is credited in my bank account.Bank account deposits are not reversible so if I confirm money is credited in my account,we're good to go.

On the other side,the case is not the same with Paypal.

In my 4 years here I have been posting here about the risks and dangers of reversible payment methods. Avoid taking PayPal payments from strangers. Give it a wide berth and only accept it if you are trading with an extremely trusted person.

Scammers are adapting to times and circumstances. They know how to talk the talk and they are extremely versatile in the way they communicate their scams.

The best solution to this dilemma is to never accept PayPal payments from untrusted sources, even if they can provide adequate documents evidencing account ownership. Documents can be tampered with and scammers know how to manipulate them to make them look authentic to the untrained eye.

Scammers will entice you with insane offers, sometimes even double the published price on exchanges. Don't fall for it.

My rule of thumb is that I never deal with paypal & reversible payments on localbitcoins. It can be deceptive because you think that you're safer on localbitcoins than if you traded without an escrow, but in fact, escrow can't help you on chargebacks.

Either do your research & only trade with people that have at least 1000 positive feedbacks with reversible methods, or prepare for your payments to get reversed at the end of the day. Just because someone sounds legit doesn't mean they are, do your own due diligence.

Thanks for coming out with this excellent info.

I find though that paxful has a lot more scammers than LBC, and generally if you deal with non-reversible methods on LBC with a tursted seller you aren't going to see any issues.

Paypal is not only the risky thing in LBC, but other payment systems can be tricky. I mean scammers tries to trick the victims.
But reversible payment systems are most dangerous and one should know how to fight back with it.

I have an awful experience in LBC while I traded btc for western union and moneygram.
I've made couples of trades for western union & moneygram with different traders, but one of them was a scammer and wasted my 4-5+ hrs.
That scammer just tried to trap me with his word-traps, so that I release the bitcoin before he sends me the payment. Newbies can fall into this traps very easily, so they need to be more cautious.

NEVER RELEASE BITCOINS FROM THE ESCROW BEFORE YOU RECEIVE YOUR PAYMENT.

There is definitely a new wave of scammers and hackers on www.LocalBitcoins.com, and while I'm savvy when it comes to selling my Bitcoin, I am reluctantly (and shamefully) posting this to help others protect themselves from what I've gone through.

The last three transactions that I've conducted on LBC for digital trades (PayPal) have all had their payments reversed. The hackers/scammers are getting extremely creative, and starting to mimic the actions and character of authentic great traders...

With that said, if you don't feel like reading the rest of this post, take this away from it: TAKE EXTREME CAUTION WHEN SELLING YOUR BITCOIN FOR PAYPAL. In fact, consider not selling your Bitcoin for PayPal at all.

So with that, here is a quote of some advice I gave to another user; I thought it could help protect you. Yes, most of it is just common sense, but reminders could prove to be helpful. Don't let that trade request for someone buying bitcoin at 20% above market price cloud your judgment!

If you have any more questions outside of what I've posted below, feel free to post here or send me a private message.

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