Be safe: READ THIS BEFORE TRADING/BUYING/USING YOUR MONEY

[batang_bitcoin]

What will happen if I decide to trade with a credible person without involving escrow.

If that person is credible and trusted, you can have successful deal with him but still it's always been advisable to deal with escrow.

What is the best way to ensure we are interacting with a trustworthy member? Many users are offering to help us with services but we are not sure who is a reliable member.

Good questions, there's a list of trusted escrow ( https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=855778.0)  and you are the one to choose of whom you want to ask. You can also see the trust rating of that guy and that will tell his worth as an escrow.

[lepbagong]

1) Don't just trust the status of a member, anyone can be a hero member. This just means that he invested some time on his membership. He can always decide that a profitable scam will be a good payment for his time. However, a Hero account without negative feedback can be sold for more than 0.5 btcs. Therefore, he probably won't scam you for less than that, because a negative feedback from you would lower its value substantially.
2) Never deal with anyone without doing a search in the forum with his nickname, in order to check if he has scam accusations.
3) Ask for his coin address and always search it on http://blockchain.info, www.cryptocoinexplorer.com or other similar site, to verify if his address has the amounts he wants to sell.
4) Be very suspicious about proposals well under market price or if he accepts your proposal under market price with no negotiation.
5) Look for the reputation/trust of the member, checking also his successful trades, in the form of vouches from the other party on the deal. Be aware that positive trust can be forged by making and using more bitcointalk accounts and the trust system can be more or less avoided by changing its settings.
6) Even if he has some reputation, never send all the money in one transfer: send one first small tranche (ex. 0.05 btc) and wait for his payment. Send a second little higher tranche and wait again, etc. Small increments, because he might decide to pay you the first and second, to scam a bigger tranche. Always suspect if he doesn't accept to trade in small tranches, unless he has an excellent reputation.
7) If he has no reputation (specially if he is a newbie or Jr.), even small tranches are very risky. Better use an escrow system, like the one of www.btcrow.com, or a trusted member, or you might need to send more than 10 very small tranches. Think well before sending more than 0.15 btcs (it's considerable money in some countries) and only after 3 or 4 successful payments of 0.05 and 0.1 btcs.
8] For big amounts use an escrow system, unless the member has an excellent reputation. If he doesn't accept, forget the deal. Always protect your capital.
9) Only trade codes (ex. of virtual gift cards) with members with a very good reputation or using a very trusted escrow member that will have to go to the account and apply the code himself. The buyer will have to give the escrow person his password and change it again after. With an automatic escrow system, the buyer can claim falsely that the code was already redeemed when he received it or that his account was blocked after.
10) Don't sell any cryptocoin to paypal or other reversible system, unless the buyer has good reputation. The buyer can chargeback and, since it's against paypal's TOS to trade currency, paypal usually gives your money back to the buyer.


Here is a list of escrow members: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=108716.0

Thank you very much for the enlightenment that has been given, hopefully after reading this many who are not complacent with the persuasion that lead to bankruptcy itself

[Trnsmssn]

Not all the newbie are scams, but even though I am a newbid I have to agree that you have to be cautious with newbids, thay have nothing to lose. But on the other hand thieves can build up their status and than jack you for your money.

[Leickens]

 ;DeWallets are good if you are on the go or dealing with pocket change. If you want to control your own security and be independant, you will need a Client. A Client is an application that manages your Wallet independently from third party software on your computer. With it, you become your own bank.
There are many Clients out there. The one developed by the core team is the Standard Client, also known as Bitcoin-QT. You can download it. After you start it, it will synchronise itself with the Bitcoin Network. It might be a long process and take up a couple gigabytes of your hard drive space, but this is the way to ensure nobody is trying to cheat.
Once that is done, the Client will control your Wallet file. Be sure to protect it with a password and back it up regularly. It is stored in a file called "wallet.dat" in your Bitcoin data directory. If you lose it or it gets stolen, you lose your money.

[leirou]

Thanks for the information on how to prevent being scammed. And guess some status will be a good indicator for this.

[XOOMBOX]

Thank you for giving us tips and information. Be cautious everyone.

[ImGenius]

1) Don't just trust the status of a member, anyone can be a hero member. This just means that he invested some time on his membership. He can always decide that a profitable scam will be a good payment for his time. However, a Hero account without negative feedback can be sold for more than 0.5 btcs. Therefore, he probably won't scam you for less than that, because a negative feedback from you would lower its value substantially.
2) Never deal with anyone without doing a search in the forum with his nickname, in order to check if he has scam accusations.
3) Ask for his coin address and always search it on http://blockchain.info, www.cryptocoinexplorer.com or other similar site, to verify if his address has the amounts he wants to sell.
4) Be very suspicious about proposals well under market price or if he accepts your proposal under market price with no negotiation.
5) Look for the reputation/trust of the member, checking also his successful trades, in the form of vouches from the other party on the deal. Be aware that positive trust can be forged by making and using more bitcointalk accounts and the trust system can be more or less avoided by changing its settings.
6) Even if he has some reputation, never send all the money in one transfer: send one first small tranche (ex. 0.05 btc) and wait for his payment. Send a second little higher tranche and wait again, etc. Small increments, because he might decide to pay you the first and second, to scam a bigger tranche. Always suspect if he doesn't accept to trade in small tranches, unless he has an excellent reputation.
7) If he has no reputation (specially if he is a newbie or Jr.), even small tranches are very risky. Better use an escrow system, like the one of www.btcrow.com, or a trusted member, or you might need to send more than 10 very small tranches. Think well before sending more than 0.15 btcs (it's considerable money in some countries) and only after 3 or 4 successful payments of 0.05 and 0.1 btcs.
8] For big amounts use an escrow system, unless the member has an excellent reputation. If he doesn't accept, forget the deal. Always protect your capital.
9) Only trade codes (ex. of virtual gift cards) with members with a very good reputation or using a very trusted escrow member that will have to go to the account and apply the code himself. The buyer will have to give the escrow person his password and change it again after. With an automatic escrow system, the buyer can claim falsely that the code was already redeemed when he received it or that his account was blocked after.
10) Don't sell any cryptocoin to paypal or other reversible system, unless the buyer has good reputation. The buyer can chargeback and, since it's against paypal's TOS to trade currency, paypal usually gives your money back to the buyer.


Here is a list of escrow members: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=108716.0

Thank you very much for the enlightenment that has been given, hopefully after reading this many who are not complacent with the persuasion that lead to bankruptcy itself

Well said sir. Thank you for giving this kind of info sor. Well appreciated.

Not all the newbie are scams, but even though I am a newbid I have to agree that you have to be cautious with newbids, thay have nothing to lose. But on the other hand thieves can build up their status and than jack you for your money.

What will happen after that sir? atleast now I have an idea. Thank you for that sir.

[chillcott]

thanks for this information. it help a lot of people.

[Guerrix]

Thx for this VALUABLE information.

[shishir khan]

Thank you for awarning

[Abiel]

Thank you very much for the enlightenment that has been given, hopefully after reading this many who are not complacent with the persuasion that lead to bankruptcy itself

[ICO_Estate_Coin]

Very useful and necessary information. Thank you.

[watemp]

Valuable information, especially for the beginner.

[kr-sama2]

Can I ask whats the meaning of "escrow"? Thank you

[cryptonoobie]

thank you for all the info,its very enlightening to say the least.ive been very scepticle about these kinds of trades.if you value your money just do a little research.the info is out there for all to educate themselves,you just have to put the time in.

[Shajid Hossain Biplob]

Its very useful information so be aware about of this.

[summonerrk]

And NEBER do not open links from letter at your email box. Example link with MyEtherWallet.

[Shajid Hossain Biplob]

Good information.

Thanks for useful information.
Good luck for us!

[Eth-Jackcoin]

1) Don't just trust the status of a member, anyone can be a hero member. This just means that he invested some time on his membership. He can always decide that a profitable scam will be a good payment for his time. However, a Hero account without negative feedback can be sold for more than 0.5 btcs. Therefore, he probably won't scam you for less than that, because a negative feedback from you would lower its value substantially.
2) Never deal with anyone without doing a search in the forum with his nickname, in order to check if he has scam accusations.
3) Ask for his coin address and always search it on http://blockchain.info, www.cryptocoinexplorer.com or other similar site, to verify if his address has the amounts he wants to sell.
4) Be very suspicious about proposals well under market price or if he accepts your proposal under market price with no negotiation.
5) Look for the reputation/trust of the member, checking also his successful trades, in the form of vouches from the other party on the deal. Be aware that positive trust can be forged by making and using more bitcointalk accounts and the trust system can be more or less avoided by changing its settings.
6) Even if he has some reputation, never send all the money in one transfer: send one first small tranche (ex. 0.05 btc) and wait for his payment. Send a second little higher tranche and wait again, etc. Small increments, because he might decide to pay you the first and second, to scam a bigger tranche. Always suspect if he doesn't accept to trade in small tranches, unless he has an excellent reputation.
7) If he has no reputation (specially if he is a newbie or Jr.), even small tranches are very risky. Better use an escrow system, like the one of www.btcrow.com, or a trusted member, or you might need to send more than 10 very small tranches. Think well before sending more than 0.15 btcs (it's considerable money in some countries) and only after 3 or 4 successful payments of 0.05 and 0.1 btcs.
8] For big amounts use an escrow system, unless the member has an excellent reputation. If he doesn't accept, forget the deal. Always protect your capital.
9) Only trade codes (ex. of virtual gift cards) with members with a very good reputation or using a very trusted escrow member that will have to go to the account and apply the code himself. The buyer will have to give the escrow person his password and change it again after. With an automatic escrow system, the buyer can claim falsely that the code was already redeemed when he received it or that his account was blocked after.
10) Don't sell any cryptocoin to paypal or other reversible system, unless the buyer has good reputation. The buyer can chargeback and, since it's against paypal's TOS to trade currency, paypal usually gives your money back to the buyer.


Here is a list of escrow members: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=108716.0

i can't thank you enough - the information is really worth it.

[deddod01]

Alright, so I've been PM'd by a few people what red-flags to look out for since I have a pretty good track record of spotting scammers. Sometimes I get it wrong, but better safe than sorry.  Here's a couple rules to follow to avoid becoming a victim:

1. Newbies, NEVER DO BUSINESS WITH OTHER NEWBIES, EVER. There are plenty of veteran members to do business with and ALWAYS use escrow. If you're a newbie and you're doing business with another newbie, there's nearly a 100% chance that one of the parties is a scammer. I can not stress this enough.. just work with people who have been here at least a year.
2. Always use escrow.
3. See rule #2.

I'm a Newbie;
1. thank you for the information
2. I will be careful if doing business on the internet.
3. Please advise if there are any ads, people, or other scamer stuff especially at bitcointalk.org