Bitcoin Forum

Be careful out there if trading in person. Somebody just attempted to rob me of my phone after setting up a local trade.

I'm in a French city (not Paris) and somebody contacted me over localbitcoins for an in person trade.
He wanted to buy 500 euros worth of BTC.
We agreed to meet at a big open public square where there is a bar and lots of people milling around.
When we met up two people arrived and we started to talk about how the site works and how he can verify the transaction BTC.
I then whip out my phone and log in to my account stressing the whole time that I need extra passwords to release the funds. Then when I ask him for the moeny, one guy grabbed the phone while the other pulled out a tear gas canister and sprayed me. Luckily I had managed to grab back my phone and started to shout and swing a few punches and they ran off. I was glad that the place was quite full and people quickly helped me. I will be filing a police report but I'm not sure that it will do any good.

TLDR- Be careful when trading in person, criminals are starting to realise what bitcoin is about.

Wow. I am glad you got out of that situation okay. maybe inside a coffee shop or restaurant would be safer next time. 

good lad for having fast reactions. and please do not feel that nothing will happen due to it being bitcoin.. a crime is a crime. so here is what i think the charges should be
theft (mobile phone)
assault (pepper/tear gas)
extortion (threat to gain your password to steal your assets)

Wow! Maybe you should've been in a more public place. But glad you're okay!

Glad you got out of that ok.

Since you were in a semi-public place, I do recommend filing a police report, there might have been cameras that registered the offenders or what happened. Next time perhaps only meet in a restaurant or coffee place where it's harder to run in or out quickly.

Also, let this be a lesson to everyone, NEVER EVER carry around more bitcoins than you ABSOLUTELY have to, make sure that whatever app you use on your phone has password protection and that you have a backup of your wallet somewhere so you can pull out your coins in case your phone gets stolen.

I'd like to see them try that past metal detectors, armed personnel.

If you prefer in person trade, you bring one or two people with you.  OP's unfortunate experience is a warning for us.

Thanks for the messages.
Just happy that they got away with nothing and if they did get my phone it had double protection and a limited number of bitcoins. Just posted this to warn others that you should never let your guard down when dealing in person. Any transaction involving money will atract the worst kind of people.
I will update tomorrow when I file the police report.

Glad that you're safe, I have a face-to-face trade lined up myself at a local bitcoin meet-up and after reading this I think I should take cpl of my friends with me to be safe.

I would suggest meeting in a cafe, or something. And bringing a friend. At least one that can defend you. You don't want Teddy the Bitch crying in a corner while they try to steal your Starbucks.

you should be aware that if you have someone with you even if they are not good at defense, unless the accosting people trying to steal your stuff, KNOWS that teddy is a bitch and will cry instead of fight, then they are going to assume he is dangerous and not try anything :)

So are you going to use your smarts to avoid problems, or are you going to turn this into an arms race?
I bring two people, next time you bring three, pretty soon we're all walking around with armed bodyguards to protect our phones.

Good to see you are able to get your phone back in the end.

After reading your story, I guess I will take a picture of the trader and upload it to my dropbox, before doing anything else...

Well, as OP stated, he met with the guys in a crowded public place. Maybe next time you should bring a friend with you, especially when handling sums that might tempt muggers/scammers.

Also, it isn't mandatory to have the wallet with you when you do a trade. Bitcoin allows a lot of stuff, just use your imagination.

I think meeting in a building is better. If they would've gotten his phone in that square, he probably wouldn't have ever found them again. Being walled off is a bit better than being out in the open. In a building, two guys running with gas canisters to the doors is suspicious. In a square, it's still suspicious, but they have more freedom to roam.

The way this needs to work is...

"Free Coffee for Biggest Toughest Fried!!!"

Is this you or someone else plagiarizing?

http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/27gke8/attempted_to_steal_my_bitcoins_and_phone_in_local/

This is someone plagerising. My pseudo on reddit is LeBitco1n

I went to the police today but there was a 2 hour wait so will go back tomorrow.

Cops...never one around when you actually need one :p

Glad you got out of that intact...and with the phone no less :)

Oh! Its nice to hear that you are okay. It is better to trade BTC in BTC-e or Bitstamp or in other good trading sites.
Kindly,
       Muhammed Zakhir

Glad to see both you and your bitcoin is okay.
Is the account of that guy new and has no trade history on localbitcoins?

Yeah! that is a nice question. Didn't you check feedback of the guy?

Is there any advantage to doing a localbitcoins deal face to face? Wouldn't it be easier for the buying party to just go do a cash deposit in your bank account and you send the BTC through the localbitcoins escrow? Don't have to leave the house and no chance for any funny business.

That's a pretty crazy story by the OP.
A suggestion to anybody doing face to face trading- make sure it is one-on-one and there is a table in between the 2 people.

Check the feedback of the person too. :)
Kindly,
        Muhammed Zakhir

A tear gas canister?? Dafuq. Always do face to face trades in public.

It's generally a lot faster than having to deal with your bank and is useful for smaller amounts. However alot of sellers on localbitcoins tend to charge ludicrous markups.

Glad you got out of there ok! You should be able to get his personal info since you contacted him to do the meetup. Open a ticket with Localbitcoins and tell them what happened, and if they can be of any help to divulge info to the police. They most likely won't since you can't prove to them you got mugged, but it's worth a shot.

Jesus, i would never imagine something like this could happen.
First time i sold in person, i was a bit edgy, but after 10+ sales, i learned to deal with it.
Insane what happened to you

Whenever you trade Bitcoin irl, always trade in a Bank or a place with armed security guards. Always carry a tape recorder and a camcorder and record the transactions taking place.

If someone attempts to mug you, do one of two things:

1)Beat the shit out of them and bang and have an affair with their wife, "When a rich nigga want cha" "These hoes aint loyal" etc.

2) Give them your phone willinglingly and get mugged

A lesson for us all to take heed of.

A good place to make an in person trade would be at an airport.  I doubt anyone would pull any kind of funny stuff there.

True. Public places and places with a lot of security are perfect for local trades.

I doubt someone wouldn't. Airport security is a fucking joke. They wouldn't even need to bring a weapon, just scream "he said he had a bomb!", grab your smartphone, and run while all hell breaks loose in their wake.

Very true...I could see that happening. I guess the best way to trade in person would be, to go to a Police Station/Headquarters(with a lot of police present), explain to them what you're going to do, and then do the trade with the other guy.

OR

Hire your own bodyguards and do the trade with all 30 of them carrying assault rifles present. That should stop any mugging from happening.

When I did high value tech trades I would let them know I was bringing friends and I would in fact take 1 friend.  I would say I brought some friends and here's 1 (pointing at the 1 I brought).  Doesn't even need to look tough.  The fact there's more than 1 person keeps almost anybody from trying something stupid - lot easier to find squishier targets.

Reading this makes me think any person to person sales I'll be doing in the future will be in well populated areas.  Like the local bi-weekly meetup(s).

That's great as a precaution, but really...99.8% of the time it will work out as just a normal transaction without any issues.

Man that's crazy, you're lucky!

Are their any bitcoin ATM's in your area?

Glad you escaped from a tricky situation, take care