edited using canva
So far I've been able to highlight over 6 major scams that you may be unaware of in P2P trading, while you may be less concerned that it's very safe, there are some risks associated with it which if care isn't taken, one may fall for it. These scams were fake credit alert, charge back fraud, romance scam etc. Let's look at the last three.
This may sound real weird but it involves two scammers taking up orders from a particular seller simultaneously, confusing this particular seller into releasing more of his crypto than what has been. How does this work?
To understand this better, let's take this example. If Steemian X takes an order with 10k steems while Steemian Y takes an order worth 50k steems. Steemian Y makes a transfer of 10k steems to the seller while Steemian X on the other hand has marked his order as paid.
The seller then releases the crypto to Steemian X which completes the order of 10k steems. Steemian Y who happens to be a buyer then sends another 5k steems to the seller and then provides the seller with proof of payment for the 10k steems they received from Steemian X plus the 5k steems and then forces the seller to release his crypto to Steemian X. It turns out that the seller has actually released 10k steems + 50k steems which is 60k steems in total but has been paid only 50k steems. He hasn't been paid 10k steems because of the confusion involved.
How can we possibly avoid this scam?
Always ensure you confirm transactions in your wallet or bank account that you have received the exact payment including kobos so as to avoid this scam.
Another person scam is the phishing. This is a type of malicious attack where a scammer uses a fake profile to lure users into sending their assets or information to them. If you notice, they usually use profiles of top ranked users on the exchange or profiles of celebrities to deceive users who may actually think it is the original person. A scammer me try doing impersonation on a P2P platforms customer service representative to gain access to private information of crypto Traders.
It is more like what is done via commercial banking. A user would be called and would be told it's the bank's customer care that is calling to tell the person or user that his account would be blocked in no time if he doesn't take decisive action in giving private information like codes on his phone SMS or their pin even bvn of the user.
They appear to the users that it is the bank calling but it is not true. The impersonate an even talk like this customer care service.
_How can we possibly avoid this kind of scam?
Some scammers may send fake security alert to your account that it would be blocked if you don't take drastic actions in preventing such from happening. When checking these messages which may include links, don't click on any on authorized link otherwise you'll be susceptible to the attacks.
You should only seek assistance from the official P2P exchange if such would actually happen. how to identify risks before and during trading?
Always check the P2P advertising profile and don't just choose a random buyer or seller. Checking his profile will give you a clue to who the user is in terms of transactions and how well he does it. Sum of these important information you should note when doing this check is the number of trades the person has done in a month. Low number of trades aren't bad though but to be on the third side the numbers should be over 1,000 trades, making such a counter party reliable and legit.
Check the completion rate of the individual in person to see how effective the Trader is in completing transactions or backing out. Check the reviews of this user before placing your trade with him.
In conclusion, these are all the major scams associated with p2p trading starting from the fake credit alert, charge back fraud and phishing. As a trader, you need to be extremely careful so as to avoid being a victim of this scam.
Disclaimer :Any financial and crypto market information provided in this post was written for informational purposes only and does not constitute 100% investment advice. It's just basic knowledge every crypto trader or investor should have
