An acquaintance just relayed a story to me about his use of the Mycelium Local Trader. I will write it down here, because it contains useful hints about how to trade safely.
My acquaintance, I will call him the trader, wanted to buy bitcoins and had an open offer in the Mycelium Local Trader. One person entered into a trade and asked him to come into a fast-food restaurand late at night. The trader went there with a bundle of bank notes in his pocket. Both announced by Mycelium Local Trader chat that they were now in the restaurant. My acquaintance described himself, so the other person could find him.
Then communications broke off. The other person stopped chatting for good. So the trader started to worry. He was vulnerable because of the cash he carried and because at least one other person know where he was and what he looked like. He thought of a possible robbery. Not too likely in the middle of town, but who knows?
So he called a taxi and asked the taxi driver to park before the entrance, come into the restaurant and escort him out to the taxi.
What could have happened? There are several possible explanations, and I'd like to hear more, so if you can come up with another explanation, please reply.
- The person's mobile phone battery died exactly at the least favorable minute. I consider this highly unlikely.
- The person is an idiot and just wanted to get the feeling for a trade without actually carrying it out.
- The person saw the trader and did not like him.
- The person knew and recognized the trader and did not want to identify himself to the trader.
- The person wanted to identify, possibly photograph the trader.
- The person got cold feet and got afraid of being robbed himself after taking the cash.
- The person had planned not to do the trade but to wait until the trader leaves the meeting place, then rob him or have him robbed.
Lessons to learn:
1. If you carry a large amount of cash, do not identify yourself. Let the bitcoin seller describe himself and find him.
2. If something happens that leaves you vulnerable, call a friend, a taxi, or an Uber car, ideally by text chat with your smartphone, so nobody can overhear what you are doing, and ask the driver to escort you into the car.
3. Choose a meeting place where the distance to a taxi is short in the first place.
4. If the amount of cash you carry is too high for comfort, bring your own bodyguard. Let your bodyguard be near you at all times, but not in direct contact, so other persons cannot know that you have a bodyguard. The bodyguard does not have to be a professional and does not have to be armed. His purpose is two-fold. He should watch the surroundings attentively, spot followers in time, and warn you. And he should step in when an obvious problem comes up and act as a deterrent.
It all depends, of course, on how much cash is carried. I would not worry too much about four-digit dollar figures, but at five digits this posting becomes relevant.