Bitcoin Forum

Just thought I would throw that out there. I'd say about half of the people I've dealt with have either been obviously scammers or just kind of stupid. Not to discount the good people I have dealt with, because there have been just as many, but seriously, make sure you watch who you deal with.

Scammers, specialized virus ... all of them will target BTC as it goes massive.

Some steps can be taken to lower the risk of ripped off, e.g. Clearcoin: https://clearcoin.appspot.com

I haven't been scammed yet.  But of course my first few trades and transactions were only with people who had tons of posts on the forums or ran a business (like CoinPal) or had a super good OTC rating, and I always sent first and started out with small transactions.  Now I have a bit of a rep, and I'll do small transactions with new people (provided they send first), and larger transactions with well established people.

I feel like it's pretty easy to not get scammed if you structure how you go about trading in a reasonable way.  Yeah, if you do a 400 btc transaction with a guy you've never seen before and you send first, there's a really good chance you'll get scammed.  But that's freaking stupid.  How have you been scammed, and is there anything about how you've been trading that you think might lend to scammers seeking you out?  Like always sending first, or trading large amounts with new people over Paypal, or something like that..??  Use your head, and plan ahead of time if you need cash for bitcoins, so that you don't have just jump on the first buyer you see.  Use not just the OTC web of trust, but your own brain's web of trust.  Does the person have a lot of posts and arguments in the econ forum about why Bitcoins are a good currency, and his account was created a year ago?  Even if I haven't traded with him, that makes him seem more legit.  Does he have a high OTC rating and can sign something form that account's key to prove it's him?  Also good.

Or does he just have one post saying he wants to buy bitcoins with Paypal?  There's good ways to reasonably protect yourself, even in an anonymous environment like this.  It takes TIME to build a reputation, and TIME is something fly by night scammers don't want to spend.  So look for people who've been around, and the people that THEY recommend.  Build your own "web of trust" via this community and other good places like it.

+1

Of course there's ways to protect oneself, I've only had one person get one over on me from a small transaction early on. However, I see a lot of people try. And then there's things like on BiddingPond where you have non-payers. They just say, "Oh, I forgot that I don't have any Bitcoins." I'm just saying people need to take your advice and use caution, because there are a lot of people out there right now trying to get Bitcoins in any way they can.

I'm jumping into the bitcoin community head first and getting scammed is essentially the only logistical concern I have. Would you guys say that these forums, or #bitcoin-otc's bot, or some other place is the best to establish someone as honest? I only say that because I'm inclined to trust anyone from here with a few good trades to their name but I'm also brand new to this and I am going to have to earn trust as well so I'd like to start in the place most people prefer.

I also looked at clearcoin but as I'm intending to be the one supplying the bitcoins and they allow you to simply not confirm receipt and get your bitcoins returned it doesn't really work irrespective of trust level.

Yeah, you'll want to do a full spectrum evaluation. Don't just look at one thing. I dealt with a guy who I ended up not doing business with even though he had a few good otc web of trust ratings, but hardly any forum posts and a horrible habit of non-communication. I also found out everyone else who had dealt with him had problems too. So use your head, and use ClearCoin. If you offer ClearCoin and the other person refuses, don't do business with them.

Re: Distribution

Ok thanks I'll use ClearCoin exclusively then until I too get established so my lack of reputation doesn't matter so much.

Just like in a real world flea market people will have to learn how to recognize scammers through their mistakes.

lol so after posting this great advice, I just got my first paypal chargeback today.  lol just had to let you guys know....

Doesn't surprise me. I'm telling you, they're horrible people.

Why did you vote me down?  My advice was good, whether or not I happen to follow it!

I didn't vote you down. I haven't voted at all. Did you vote me down?

DIdn't get scammed yet.

I am lucky.  ;)

No, but my first downvote happened very soon after your reply, so I thought it was you.  I actually don't even know how to vote on reputation around here...

Well to give my 2 Bitcents,
It is anyonmous and not face to face. Scammers are inevitable and you need to be a smart buyer when using bitcoins.
However, I truly posted because it said read 666 times when I opened ths thread. Apearantly scammers are the devil.

You can also look up the person/business on bitcoinfeedback.com.  It's a short list right now, but growing...

I was a little confused when my first post in Marketplace->Selling got such a negative response. Now I see why.

It seems anonymity brings out the worst in people, from my experience. Many people have issues dealing face-to-face, but are actually brilliant minds capable of quick, dirty scams online. I can see the BitCoin community peaking in this regard in the coming month/months, as a massive amount of new people seem to be joining to get in on the action (so to speak.)

I guess the real solution to this is to only deal with people who seem to have good feedback. The link SgtSpike posted (bitcoinfeedback.com) looks promising; let's hope it develops.

pretty sure this whole joint is getting lit up by a small set of organized scammers operating out of canada that used to focus primarily on mischief involving online pharmacies, drug forums, and steroids.    You poor kids are in for a real dissapointing (as in losing faith in humanity dissapointing) treat because these characters are nasty.

Damn shame!

You see them everywhere. I've had them on Ebay, I've had them in business. There's just been such a large influx of them lately in the Bitcoin world. But that's why people don't even want to deal with people who have a few posts and no other reputation.

I am not surprised in the least.

With Bitcoin's anonymous nature, it is inevitable that scammers and frauds will infiltrate the marketplace.

Those with the most common sense (and paranoia) will prevail!

I'm confused how this should be astounding to anyone but those who haven't ever used the internet.

Maybe it is a measure of Bitcoin's potential... you don't get scammers if there is no value or worth...

heh, on the other hand, maybe it's a nail in the coffin.   ;)

Nah, if it were then ebay, paypal, most online stores, etc. would have gone defunct a decade ago. This is just one of the major growing pains of a new and popular service, that the community needs to take time to work out. When EBay first started out it was scam central, kind of a wild frontier, and over time it got refined in such a way that it's (perhaps excessively) safe. There will always be people looking to get something for nothing, fleecing sheep, just one of the sad little lessons of life, but I think most people understand this, and as they become more familiar with a service and safeguards are made easier and more readily available it will be less and less of a detriment to the service as a whole.

In relation to OP, there is a quote I enjoy:

"You cannot cheat an Honest man."

Sadly I'm not an honest man, but it's a good concept to keep in mind.

Use Ubitex. Face-to-face exchange, with reputation.