Bitcoin Forum

In Discord, it's possible to change username for different server. You can use different username on different servee. As a result, it's very easy to impersonate.
One of my friend recently lost $20 because a scammer impersonate to be his known person and Amazon Gift card seller. My friend used to buy this card. So he sent $20 in BTC to the scammer but later he got that he have been scammed.
Always check the #ID number.

Hi,
The issue is not releated to discord, If someone contacts you privately on discord for money is a red flag.

That sucks. On the bright side, it wasn't a larger amount.

Also, that scam happens on social media fairly often so it's one of the oldest trick in the book.

AFAIK you can tag your friend with a custom nickname. Do that and call him "real X" or something. When talking with someone, you can confirm he is legit by checking if he has the nickname.

Discord & scammers. Check user IDs and user colors of strangers send you PMs (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5171908.0)
To do that, they have to active the developer mode and it is a warning to pay attention on color of users who have roles as moderators, admins, etc. In Discord groups, admins and moderators, and the others who have roles allocated by admins usually have special and recognisable colors.

Yeb thats one thing and will helps you to see if that is the right one !
When you have your one channel and server its possible to get an ID Bot there and it tells you if somebody change the name or what main Name he has !
Also there are some more things you can do Verify Users and also you should activate your pm settings so just friends can message you !
And at least check the servers you share together when you get messages so it shows the servers.

You are right that we should all carefully use Discord  Scams have become so commonplace now that they are spreading everywhere  I think they are scammed like a good wire for not using discord. We should always stay away from these people because they are taking back information from our people.

Your topic is not relevant with Discord general criteria. Besides, scammers are doing this thing in a rough way. So, all should be careful about this.

This also happens in Telegram.

With both messengers, they can change their usernames quickly and that's the reason many members that became a victim of those scams on the other platforms are complaining here. There should be some other medium to confirm that you are talking to the legit guy.

If your friend had previously conducted business with the original Amazon gift card seller, then your friend should have previous chats of businesses conducted earlier, so a new chat should have been a red flag.
I also know it's possible for one to change usernames on those networks, but I don't think it's possible to change it to already used usernames, so I don't know how the impersonation worked.

i personally see discord platform as a darkweb platform for scammers. i am not condeming the site but it is not common just like other social sites. i prefer stack than discord. the idea of having a central username and password used to access different servers are not accessinble.

Idk, I for one never use discord as a medium to look for people to transact with. I'm more up with people in forums, those of which are quite well known and are easy to know that are trusted and has transacted with a lot others. Discord is originally used to talk to people regarding various hobbies and the like. If you were to use it to find people to buy stuff, you'd basically be turning it into a 2nd telegram, in which we all know is filled with scammers here and there.

Sides, if one were to participate in telegram groups, you'd be quite used to it that you wouldn't trust anyone, even if they have transacted with you in the past. Just take care tbh, especially when it comes to money.

I recently found new thing scammers use they send a QR code to scan we get money and all the common shit

Discord has a new feature to login with QR code so if anyone scan the qr code and give login access scammer get access to your discord account

It is a new thing to learn when using Discord. This risk again warns us that we should never store our identities and private things (private keys, mnemonic codes, passphrases, PINs) online, on Discord or any other platforms. Don't trust cloud storage providers as well.

If you maintain your internet usages like that, you are safe even if attackers successfully hack and steal your accounts.

In addition to that point, don't have habits to trade with the others online and on many channels. You should only stick with only one channel. It will gives people who want to trade with you knows that anyone try to deal on other platforms are scammers or hackers.

Your friend really did a poor job on initiating a trade using Discord. He should at least practice some of the safety precautions when it comes to trading using Bitcoin like using an escrow and asking for a sign message from his know Bitcoin address of his so-called friend in Discord. Your friend was actually lucky to only be scammed with that small amount since 20$ is actually very cheap to learn a valuable lesson of internet scams. Also when we are talking about preventing from a scam happening chatting servicess like Discord especially Telegram should be avoided, deals and transactions should be negotiated on an alternative way where both people know that they only have accessed to those accounts.

Old but efficient, always have to be with the eyes opened, there is always someone ready to take your money.

Or at least he should use many exchanges available, like Remitano. It is something like Escrow service, and you won't lose your money because scammers can not use it to scam the others. They have to deposit their bitcoin to that platform, and when you are a buyer confirm that you already receive your bitcoin, that seller will receive correspondent amount of money.

Trading directly with strangers on insecure platform is always the worst idea to think of.

One of the best communication tool today with the use of gaming industry is with the use of discord this web-based or application software you can use to communicate to other players by just sending the group id to let them join and enter you can use the discord to send chat or make a voice call but if there is a third party included better to avoid on that becaus this may cause of scamming and hacking.

There are things to be emphasized in the workplace  Now scams are almost everywhere you say right you ought to check id number to avoid scam  Then they're going to not be ready to change the name. Scammers should refrain from providing their own private keys when using Discord to seek out a replacement platform Do business carefully.

It should have been obvious in the first place. If the transaction was done correctly, there will be no issues but I think there was miscalculations in your part.
When we are doing online transactions we first should have our checklist so we can spot red flags. Here is my own (I am open for changes or correction)
1. The platform should have a way of tracing identity for accounts (This can be helpful in a way because you can physically chase the perpetrator) one example is contact number.
2. If the deal is in "Money first system"(sometimes its not the case), it is automatically red flag, especially if they are upfront talks about the amount and they are not building rapport with their transaction.
3. Review the platform, if there had been testimonies of scams happening at that platform then it is another red flag.
4. If possible, make the transaction a meet up in the real world(this might be unlikely because we are talking about online transactions). Cyberspace is not our enemy nor our ally, it depends on how we use it.
5. Check for the profile of the account if there were past transactions.(Duh!)
6. Use legitimate and trusted websites where you can still appeal and get help when a scam happens.
7. Use your common sense, if its fishy just peace out.

That's all, again I hope this will help so no one will become a victim. (Feel free to add something to the list just quote this, and for translation just message me.) ;D ;D ;D

Agree with you, this isn't a discord issue, the identity supply is a vulnerability with multiple attacking vectors, it could happen by mail, by a phone call, even by skype, telegram and discord.

We should be careful about who are we talking with and how we make business.

I looked remitano up and I see that it some kind of crypto exchange that also has an escrow service. It's the first time I'm hearing about this website and maybe one of the reason why is it is incorporated in an island country of Secyhelles. So I'm not against the idea of you using a escrow service from a website as long as the rates they are charging you is fair as well as their service being reputable and safe. With the emphasize on the reputable and safe part since I have no experience with using a escrow service from a website aside from the ones built-in in an e-commerce sites I shop in so you really have to research first if these escrow websites you are using can be trusted with your money.

They are reputable and safe but you are right that there are big gaps from their service between available buy and sell orders. They offers some fiats for users so if locals don't find any exchange that provides them gates to buy bitcoin and enter the crypto market with their local fiats, they have to use that site (or any others) and must accept gaps at the beginning.

Even there are gaps of price, safety should be placed at first priority. Don't try to save gaps, and use other less secured trading gates, that ends with all capital lost.

I thought discord has some security issues when I read the title.

Well, discord isn't really for business purposes, some projects adopted it due to its good features but in reality, it's used for gaming and streaming due to its mic and audio feature. So I think it's your friend's fault for trusting someone easily on discord like that. Every platform has holes where clueless people can be targeted easily by scammers. Try to consult and always ask from experts, we can do research on google how each application work. In discord, there's a unique number after the # on the profile, it can't be changed.

And please, don't do money first transaction, if the person didn't show any good reputation or proofs of legitimacy then don't.  ;)

You found a good point that OP should improve (the title) to avoid misunderstanding if readers only read the title.

If I was OP, I would have used the title: "Pay attention on multi-digit ID number (with developer mode), and user colors on Discord"

I have a topic for it too: Discord & scammers. Check user IDs and user colors of strangers send you PMs (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5171908.0)
Projects don't need mic and audio features but Discord provides some other good features. In Discord, you can create many sub-channels for different goals: Announcements (Project developments), Announcements (Bounties); Important Links, etc. These features can not be found in Telegram or some others platforms. I like Discord because of this but Discord users have to aware of risks from scammers.
Don't go first with strangers.

simply dont give-out information to any random inbox messages and dont click links and fall for scams in any platform then we are good , there are lot of  scams in telegram , youtube too in different way so just be cautious

If you are dealing with cryptocurrency, and you are unable to recognize when something is true and when it is fraud, it may be better to stop using social networks. I understand people's need for information and connection, but I don't understand the amount of naivety that is present in a large number of social network users.

There are people who do nothing but try to deceive other people in every way possible, and for that they just need a cheap device and the internet. Here again we have at least two groups, amateurs and professionals. The former will be content to cheat you for $20, the latter of course raise it to a much higher level and cheat for a few thousand dollars, or even millions.

When paying with crypto, always try to use escrow and check who you are actually doing business with. Identity theft is a common occurrence, and to create a fake profile anywhere is very simple and mostly completely free.

Yeah that's true it also happen in telegram and in fact telegram is notorious on this, I think these are the same people who tried to scam gullible, because they do not know this things work, so you will reading every channel that the dev or the admin of the channel  will not message you first, because scammers are impersonating these admins and devs.

i was wondering how come that the scammer did Get the Username of the card seller and made your friend believe that he is the legit one?isn't hard to disguise as the one when you dont really have idea whom you are talking to?

well scammers are expert on this but for me this is isolated cases in which the buyer did very comfortable on the seller so he have not checked literally if the person is legit or not,so yeah better keep safer and check always the ID than the name.

Telegram is even worse, at least discord gives unique id to every user. It's not fault of discord like that title implies.

I accept as true with you that regardless of what site we use it isn't fair to offer you password access It hurts us more especially when discord shows the greed of those sites usually personal information is out there we should always all check the idle ID number before giving it somewhere in order that they will be found later.

All platforms can be compromised and they are bad or good depends on how people use those platforms. Bitcoin is bad in dark market, silk road, years ago and even now when there are always shady foundations that use bitcoin for their shady behaviours. At the same time, there are good people use bitcoin for good things, charity donation for the poor, to help reduce poverty, etc.
Telegram is worst than Discord, in both their platform design and their protective methods to fight against scamming. Fundamentally, if you aware of the platform you use well, and manage to use their available features, you will be safer.

"Worse than the best, but better than the worst". Use any platform carefully and knowledgeably.

Yeah, although they're called nicknames and can easily be caughy
The main username is what it matters.
Impersonators use some characters that aren't quite noticeable to the people so they could easily impersonate someone and scam people.
I'd never prefer discord for deals although if using it comes as a compulsory to get in contact with client or a seller , I'd recommend you to verify each other on site and then only proceed.

We should be thoroughly scrutinized in every way of doing things, so there is less risk of getting scammed. You are right in saying that scammers are disguised to deceive the common people but more and more new ones are wearing them.

Small feedback. Not just user ID's (represented with 4 digit number), the important is Unique User ID (represented with 18 digit numbers long).
How? Check this thread :

Scammers are very knowledgeable in doing this act, they manage to really let you believe that you are talking to the person that they've impersonating but by doing proper checked and having such awareness to this kind of scamming you'll be able to perform security measures before sending anything to each users that you wanted to deal with. Always be very careful do the routine checks before communicating to anyone especially if you are dealing with money or any important information.

I'm getting to know about this for the very first time and I think discord developers should find a solution to it rather than using ID number to ascertain the authenticity of the user, getting scammed can be so painful and disheartening and this is a sure way of getting scammed.