Complete Newbie Question on safety of transaction number & stuff

[rafflesia]

Hi,

Apologies in advance! I'm a complete newbie. I have no wallet and have never used bitcoins. But I trying to buy something from someone online, but he wants to be paid in bitcoins ONLY.

He says he'll send me the product first, but he says I need to confirm FIRST that I have bought the bitcoins by sending him a screen shot which shows:

- Agent ID
- Transaction #
- Conflicting Transaction #
- Block #

He says that I can send him the bitcoins AFTER I received the product. But BEFORE he sends the product, he says I need to send him the above screenshot.

Is this safe? Can use the screenshot with the above info to take the bitcoins from me?

Thank you in advance!

[ranochigo]

What service are you using? It would differ from service to service, with it being a service, there is a little chance of them being able to social engineer stuff from your account.

[HCP]

So he wants you to prove you have enough bitcoins to pay for the product in your wallet? or is he wanting you to use an Escrow service?

- If it is the former, the guy is an idiot... a very trusting idiot...
- If it is the latter, then he is being smart...

[rafflesia]

What service are you using? It would differ from service to service, with it being a service, there is a little chance of them being able to social engineer stuff from your account.

Hi, I'm thinking about using bitpay.com. Is there any other service I have to use? And, is it safe to send him my screenshot?

[rafflesia]

So he wants you to prove you have enough bitcoins to pay for the product in your wallet? or is he wanting you to use an Escrow service?

- If it is the former, the guy is an idiot... a very trusting idiot...
- If it is the latter, then he is being smart...

Hi, actually, the product is a flight ticket using his miles, so if I pay first, he can take the payment and then redeposit the miles to his account, so he says he's willing to let me fly first and then pay him the bitcoins. His only condition is that I've paid for the amount of bitcoins and send him the screenshot of my wallet first. Then, he'll let me pay after I fly.

Does this seem safe?

As for his miles, I think he gets them in a way that costed him nothing, so he just needs to get rid of his miles or lose it, and therefore he's willing to take the risk that some people will never pay him after the flight.

[HCP]

Fair enough... honestly, if he doesn't want to use an Escrow service, that is his perogative I guess

I think he would be better off asking you to sign a message from your bitcoin address that contains at least the minimum amount of bitcoins required for the transaction... that proves that you own the address, and that it has the coins in it. (He can also check the address on a block explorer to make sure you don't move the coins).

I can't recommend that you use bitpay.com... I don't recommend you use ANY web-based wallet... but the wallet you want probably depends on whether or not you intend to continue to use bitcoins after this particular transaction.

I have no idea what he means by "Conflicting Transaction#"? But once you buy your bitcoins and have them sent to whatever wallet you decide to use, you will be able to provide him with the transaction number without worrying about safety. He won't be able to steal your bitcoins or anything. All transactions on the blockchain are publicly viewable anyway... and the contents of any given bitcoin address is also publicly viewable.

Whatever you do... DO NOT send any information relating to "private keys" or "seeds" or "wallet words" to anyone...

[rafflesia]

Hi,

What the conflicting transaction # is what I saw on his brainwaller screenshot (he sent me this as an example of what he wants to see of mine):
http://imgur.com/a/f2Kel

As for how I do this transaction, sorry, I'm a total newb on this, what should I use? I thought wallets are online. Do you mean I should use some sort of app on my phone?

[Abdussamad]

- Agent ID
- Transaction #
- Conflicting Transaction #
- Block #

There are no agent IDs or conflicting transaction #s in bitcoin.

Yeah you should install a wallet app on your phone or download software for your PC. Web wallets are not safe. Custodial wallets at exchanges are also not safe.

Bitpay wallet is actually an app that you install on your phone or PC. It's good so go for it.

Don't use brainwallets. They are not safe either.

[HCP]

Ok... well I have no idea what service he is using... Most wallets do not even include that information (AgentID, Conflicting Transaction# etc)... It is just weird. Did he give you a link to a website or something that he wants you to take a screenshot of?

As for wallets themselves, there are "online" or "web" wallet services like blockchain.info, Xapo, bitpay, coinbase... (Most bitcoin experts will advise you to avoid web wallets, as most don't actually give you complete, proper control of your bitcoins, private keys and/or fees which can lead to issues).

You can also get apps for iPhone or Android... and there are desktop applications for Windows, OSX and Linux...

You should have a read here: https://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet

My personal recommendations would be:

Desktop: Electrum (has versions for Windows/Linux/Mac)
Android: Mycelium or Electrum
iOS: maybe BreadWallet?

[rafflesia]

Hi both,

He suggested rushwallet.

I want to use a Windows app, so I'll check either bitpay or electrum.

Thank you all for ur help

[SopaXT]

This might be a scam. If you're trying to buy something on eBay, Craigslist, etc, just google "eBay Bitcoin scam", and you'll find many such cases.
If the seller tries to make you pay off-site in general (where payment is possible on the site itself), then he's probably trying to evade the security of the listing service and running away with the money.