[Guide] Stay safe when dealing with Exchanges.

[crypto mania]

This is not the first time that something bad happens to me on an exchange when depositing/withdraw or trade coins/tokens.
I try to avoid these exchanges next time but some of the coins/tokens are listed or have a decent volume only there.

There are a few easy steps when dealing with an exchange to be safe:

- Add 2FA authentication to your account and any other available security measures, such as the anti-phishing password for email, pin, additional security questions.
- Before logging in, double-check the URL of the site and bookmark it.
- Always check everything three times, especially the current information page (if available) for information: currently which coins/tokens should be avoided, if maintenance is carried
   out or if there are any other problems, for example with synchronization, addresses, fees, times, etc.
- During the transaction itself (purchase/sale, withdraw or deposit), use the triple check rule to check amounts, addresses, etc.
- Never deposit everything in one transaction.
- Send a small amount first and check if everything works (transfer, trade, withdrawal, confirmation).
- Continue depositing smaller amounts (smaller amounts mean less headache if something goes wrong).
- Withdraw each time before the next deposit, if possible.
- Never leave your coins or tokens on the exchange, because is not intended for that.
- Always remember that the exchange is not a wallet and is not secure.
- Never use exchange addresses for payments for bounty or for air-drops, mining, etc.
- Check exchange on google and their social network pages, in particular: Twitter, Facebook. Search for new complaints about coins or tokens, scam accusations, etc.
- Be careful about the security of 2FA itself, keep the backup codes for each 2FA secured exchange (use Authy as 2FA due to the possibility of backups).
- TOTP for 2FA (you scan a QR code by Authy or a similar program which is implementing TOTP according to the specification in RFC 6238) it is a much better solution than
  authentication by means of incoming codes via SMS because it is not difficult to take over a phone number.
- Do not send scans of documents for KYC to an unknown stock exchange immediately after registration, usually, it is not necessary to trade only with cryptocurrencies.
- Diversification is very important. Trade on a few exchanges if possible because trading on one is associated with the risk of losing all capital.
- When selecting an exchange, you can use the Blockchain Transparency Institute as a guide. The list includes exchanges with suspicious trading and money laundering
  activities.
- Register on several exchanges, so you have plenty of options available. Do not wait for the crypto mania to run before attempting your registration. Sometimes you can not have an
  opportunity at all.
- When you scan your KYC documents for verification, make a copy first and write the exchange URL or name on the document this will prevent or make it harder for hackers to use it.
- Avoid small not established exchanges if you don't have to trade there.

This list is growing every time I have a new problem with an exchange so it will be updated frequently  .

I already experienced all kinds of issues but luckily I was always able to withdraw. Sometimes with a big loss after a few months from the deposit.
Support sometimes works slow and needs almost 2 months to answer a ticket, of course with an automated message.

When dealing with support

- While contacting customer service, try to wait at least the minimum response time, often they inform about the minimum time to reply (do not create multiple tickets).
- Try to get help on the official social media website (Twitter, Facebook) if available (sometimes it works great, sometimes not).
- Use various contact options such as chat, phone, WhatsApp or Skype if available.
- Be polite, do not lose your patience, provide all the documents, they ask for (even if you have to send this same document several times).
- Do not give up when they say "no", be persistent (if you are right) and start from the beginning. Sometimes another agent will help you (they are just people and often make mistakes).

I hope my first guide will help to save a few coins/tokens or a headache.

@wwzsocki the author of the main version has published lately this post in polish language https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5119320.0

[nakamura12]

I think the best solution is if you don't like that exchange is to never use it if you always face a problem there. I'm sure there's another exchange that also trade the cryptocurrency you have. Why would you still use the exchange if you always had a problem with their exchange?, the answer would be find another exchange and never use that again.

[coin8coin8]

If any exchange have something bad happens to me, this shows that it is not worthy of my trust. Once I withdraw, I will never go there again.
Exchanges that has been blacklisted by me：（These are my personal views, others may not think so）
FatBTC：No withdrawal channel after the token is removed.
Liqui：Change deposit address many times.
stocks: Withdraw fee too high. it is very very high.
yobit: Too many scam coins，and service attitude is very bad.
FCoin: Price manipulation, liar.
CoinBene：Too many MLM coins, and some of which are their own.

For the beginners, 3 points of advice.
1. Deposit security is always the first，So choose only those exchanges with good reputation, such as binance,Huobi. At least they won't swindle your money.
2. Be cautious about unfamiliar exchanges，especially for exchanges that you have not heard of, if you want to deposit, please be sure to deposit a small amount first.
3. Before depositing, it is important to check whether the address is accurate. If it is an ERC20 token, you need to check whether the contract address are consistent. I used to deposit the same name token. Unfortunately, they are different tokens, so my token is lost.

[crypto mania]

I think the best solution is if you don't like that exchange is to never use it if you always face a problem there. I'm sure there's another exchange that also trade the cryptocurrency you have. Why would you still use the exchange if you always had a problem with their exchange?, the answer would be find another exchange and never use that again.

Like I said:

"I try to avoid this exchange but some of the coins are listed or have a decent volume only there".

[crairezx20]

I never had any issue yet on using cryptopia before and I think you must add 2FA authentication in your cryptopia account to protect your account from being compromised and always use a unique password to protect your account from other websites or email.

I use Cryptopia to exchange some bounties and to exchange my mining coins because some coins that I mining is only supported on Cryptopia and until now I still using it without any problem.

[crairezx20]

-snip-
Like I said:

"I try to avoid this exchange but some of the coins are listed or have a decent volume only there".

Why? I don't see any reason to avoid using this exchange.

[crypto mania]

I never had any issue yet on using cryptopia before and I think you must add 2FA authentication in your cryptopia account to protect your account from being compromised and always use a unique password to protect your account from other websites or email.

I use Cryptopia to exchange some bounties and to exchange my mining coins because some coins that I mining is only supported on Cryptopia and until now I still using it without any problem.

You are right added 2FA to my guide, thanks.

-snip-
Like I said:

"I try to avoid this exchange but some of the coins are listed or have a decent volume only there".

Why? I don't see any reason to avoid using this exchange.

Lucky you but as you can see I had quite a few problems when using this exchange. Of course few of them were my own fault like not checking the coin page and status of cryptocurrencies before use/transfer and many others/additional issues because of Cryptopia fault.

Like I said this guide is for every exchange and I would be happy to read it before my first deposit on Cryptopia.

[crypto mania]

If any exchange have something bad happens to me, this shows that it is not worthy of my trust. Once I withdraw, I will never go there again.
Exchanges that has been blacklisted by me：（These are my personal views, others may not think so）
FatBTC：No withdrawal channel after the token is removed.
Liqui：Change deposit address many times.
stocks: Withdraw fee too high. it is very very high.
yobit: Too many scam coins，and service attitude is very bad.
FCoin: Price manipulation, liar.
CoinBene：Too many MLM coins, and some of which are their own.

For the beginners, 3 points of advice.
1. Deposit security is always the first，So choose only those exchanges with good reputation, such as binance,Huobi. At least they won't swindle your money.
2. Be cautious about unfamiliar exchanges，especially for exchanges that you have not heard of, if you want to deposit, please be sure to deposit a small amount first.
3. Before depositing, it is important to check whether the address is accurate. If it is an ERC20 token, you need to check whether the contract address are consistent. I used to deposit the same name token. Unfortunately, they are different tokens, so my token is lost.

Thanks for sharing this scammy exchanges. I have quoted you to be sure that your post stays visible even if deleted somehow.

Exactly that is why I wrote this guide to share some useful info about exchanges and tips on how to avoid problems.

If every member shares something useful in this thread we will finally have the best guide ever written  

[cryptowisser]

This is not the first time that something bad happens to me on an exchange when depositing/withdraw or trade coins/tokens. I try to avoid this exchanges next time but some of the coins/tokens are listed or have a decent volume only there.

There are a few easy steps when dealing with an exchange to be safe:

- Add 2FA authentication to your account and any other available security measures like anti-phishing password, etc.
- Always triple check everything, especially coin info page if available, addresses, amounts, fees...
- Never deposit your entire stack in one transaction.
- Send first small amount and check if everything works (transfer, trading, withdrawal).
- If everything works still continue with smaller amounts (smaller amounts equals smaller headache).  
- Withdraw each time before next deposit.
- Never leave your coins on the exchange.
- Always remember this is not a wallet and is not secure.
- Never use exchange addresses for bounty or airdrop payments.
- Check exchange social media pages, especially Twitter and Facebook before trading, deposit, withdraw, etc.(read new complaints and which coins to avoid).

This list is growing every time I have a new problem with an exchange so it will be updated frequently  .

Already experienced all kinds of issues but luckily I was always able to withdraw. Sometimes with a big loss after a few months from the deposit.
Support works slow and they need almost 2 months on Cryptopia to answer the ticket of course with an automated message.

- When dealing with support try to wait (don't create multiple tickets).
- Try to get help using their official social media pages (sometimes works great, sometimes not).
- Be polite, don't lose your temper, provide all docs they ask.
- Don't give up when they say "no" be persistent if you think you are right and start all over again (took me 5 support tickets to resolve my case, 4 times rejected in a row).

Avoid small not established exchanges if you don't have to trade there. If we all stop using this scammy exchanges they will finally have to do something.
This will be an exit scam or they evolve and become a trusted exchange. With some volume, they make a lot of money on fees and listings and don't need to scam their clients additionally.

I hope my first guide/tutorial will help to save a few coins/tokens.

Hi crypto mania,

Great initiative!

We have recently written a Guide on Cryptocurrency Security Measures. Anything in there that you find helpful and would like to include in this thread? That would of course make us very happy.

All the best,
Cryptowisser

[crypto mania]

This is not the first time that something bad happens to me on an exchange when depositing/withdraw or trade coins/tokens. I try to avoid this exchanges next time but some of the coins/tokens are listed or have a decent volume only there.

There are a few easy steps when dealing with an exchange to be safe:

- Add 2FA authentication to your account and any other available security measures like anti-phishing password, etc.
- Always triple check everything, especially coin info page if available, addresses, amounts, fees...
- Never deposit your entire stack in one transaction.
- Send first small amount and check if everything works (transfer, trading, withdrawal).
- If everything works still continue with smaller amounts (smaller amounts equals smaller headache). 
- Withdraw each time before next deposit.
- Never leave your coins on the exchange.
- Always remember this is not a wallet and is not secure.
- Never use exchange addresses for bounty or airdrop payments.
- Check exchange social media pages, especially Twitter and Facebook before trading, deposit, withdraw, etc.(read new complaints and which coins to avoid).

This list is growing every time I have a new problem with an exchange so it will be updated frequently  .

Already experienced all kinds of issues but luckily I was always able to withdraw. Sometimes with a big loss after a few months from the deposit.
Support works slow and they need almost 2 months on Cryptopia to answer the ticket of course with an automated message.

- When dealing with support try to wait (don't create multiple tickets).
- Try to get help using their official social media pages (sometimes works great, sometimes not).
- Be polite, don't lose your temper, provide all docs they ask.
- Don't give up when they say "no" be persistent if you think you are right and start all over again (took me 5 support tickets to resolve my case, 4 times rejected in a row).

Avoid small not established exchanges if you don't have to trade there. If we all stop using this scammy exchanges they will finally have to do something.
This will be an exit scam or they evolve and become a trusted exchange. With some volume, they make a lot of money on fees and listings and don't need to scam their clients additionally.

I hope my first guide/tutorial will help to save a few coins/tokens.

Hi crypto mania,

Great initiative!

We have recently written a Guide on Cryptocurrency Security Measures. Anything in there that you find helpful and would like to include in this thread? That would of course make us very happy.

All the best,
Cryptowisser

Thanks, Cryptowisser. Of course, I will add anything that could be useful.

If you think that there is a matching content from yours please don't hesitate to provide here and will add after review.

We can create a super guide if we merge threads together and later manually rewrite the content. It would be nice to create a guide nobody forget and members will show as an example.

If you want to talk about shoot me a PM or just write here.

[mcnocon2]

There are a few easy steps when dealing with an exchange to be safe:

- Add 2FA authentication to your account and any other available security measures like anti-phishing password, etc.
- Always triple check everything, especially coin info page if available, addresses, amounts, fees...
- Never deposit your entire stack in one transaction.
- Send first small amount and check if everything works (transfer, trading, withdrawal).
- If everything works still continue with smaller amounts (smaller amounts equals smaller headache).  
- Withdraw each time before next deposit.
- Never leave your coins on the exchange.
- Always remember this is not a wallet and is not secure.
- Never use exchange addresses for bounty or airdrop payments.
- Check exchange social media pages, especially Twitter and Facebook before trading, deposit, withdraw, etc.(read new complaints and which coins to avoid).

What I always do in checking with the exchange is always double or triple check the website url, you might get phish if you're using the wrong one. Honestly, I always use the exchanges that are on coinmarketcap.com, in that way you can avoid scam exchanges. And always add 2FA authentication to your account if possible because it is very important security measure that everybody uses.

[crypto mania]

There are a few easy steps when dealing with an exchange to be safe:

- Add 2FA authentication to your account and any other available security measures like anti-phishing password, etc.
- Always triple check everything, especially coin info page if available, addresses, amounts, fees...
- Never deposit your entire stack in one transaction.
- Send first small amount and check if everything works (transfer, trading, withdrawal).
- If everything works still continue with smaller amounts (smaller amounts equals smaller headache).  
- Withdraw each time before next deposit.
- Never leave your coins on the exchange.
- Always remember this is not a wallet and is not secure.
- Never use exchange addresses for bounty or airdrop payments.
- Check exchange social media pages, especially Twitter and Facebook before trading, deposit, withdraw, etc.(read new complaints and which coins to avoid).

What I always do in checking with the exchange is always double or triple check the website url, you might get phish if you're using the wrong one. Honestly, I always use the exchanges that are on coinmarketcap.com, in that way you can avoid scam exchanges. And always add 2FA authentication to your account if possible because it is very important security measure that everybody uses.

Thank you very much for your suggestion. You are of course right and this is very important to check URL and bookmark it for later.

Added as the second point in my guide because you can be in real deep shit when using phishing exchange URL.

[wwzsocki]

Just try to keep this thread alive because is a useful guide for crypto beginners especially when they start to use exchanges.

If you have your own additional security checks or have any tips/suggestions on how to improve this guide then share and I will be happy to use it.

You are right is a very good guide and is worth to keep it visible. It would be nice if people share their appreciation and comment to bump it further.

I have merited you too because I think is just not right that such helpful guides are not merited at all when other members get 50 merits for one line comments.

[DdmrDdmr]

<…>

Just a quick note regarding 2FA on exchanges: while it is very important to add in my opinion, we must also be wary about the security of the 2FA itself, keeping the backup codes for every exchange we protect with 2FA (and better still, use Authy as a 2FA due to it’s backup capabilities).

Recently I encountered a case on my local board of a person who has 2FA all around, and had his phone stolen. He didn’t have the backup codes to each 2FA protected exchange, and spent many hours trying to remove 2FA on each exchange/site and reinstall it with his new phone. One exchange in particular is a real pain: Hitbtc. The security measures are really high when it comes to trying to disable 2FA after a theft/loss, and you need to prove a bunch of things: IdCard, photos, videos with written specific text, Hash of TXs that served to load assets onto Hitbtc (this can be quite difficult to retrieve), a lot of headaches and time, and the issue is still ongoing after weeks.

In summary: Activating 2FA on exchanges is a yes, but extra care of keeping the backup codes.

[crypto mania]

<…>

Just a quick note regarding 2FA on exchanges: while it is very important to add in my opinion, we must also be wary about the security of the 2FA itself, keeping the backup codes for every exchange we protect with 2FA (and better still, use Authy as a 2FA due to it’s backup capabilities).

Recently I encountered a case on my local board of a person who has 2FA all around, and had his phone stolen. He didn’t have the backup codes to each 2FA protected exchange, and spent many hours trying to remove 2FA on each exchange/site and reinstall it with his new phone. One exchange in particular is a real pain: Hitbtc. The security measures are really high when it comes to trying to disable 2FA after a theft/loss, and you need to prove a bunch of things: IdCard, photos, videos with written specific text, Hash of TXs that served to load assets onto Hitbtc (this can be quite difficult to retrieve), a lot of headaches and time, and the issue is still ongoing after weeks.

In summary: Activating 2FA on exchanges is a yes, but extra care of keeping the backup codes.

Thank you very much for your support @DdmrDdmr.

I will add this suggestion to my guide because I think is a really important one.

This example you provided is exactly what I am afraid of lately.

I am using personally 2FA overall when possible. I have so many codes on my phone that I scroll sometimes a few seconds to find the right one.

I try to have all codes saved and backup but I just can't stop thinking how many hours this will take to recover all these accounts if anything happens with my phone and how not secure is to store this codes all over the computer, phone, tablet, etc. in my case.

I know that sometimes I haven't saved any code when enabling 2FA because there was no code provided. I was sure that in such a situation the main google codes are enough to recover 2FA on each account but lately when I started to write this guide, I learned that this is not the case and 2FA is not so secure especially when on the phone.

[wwzsocki]

I will add a suggestion about KYC.

Don't send your documents scans to an unknown exchange especially when you will be dealing only with cryptocurrencies.

There are plenty of decentralized and P2P exchanges which are capable to do this same with lower fees and full anonymity.

These shady exchanges ask for your documents only to scam you later by selling them or even worse they will use it to hack you.

Not a joke with this hack because a friend of mine was hacked lately 2 days after the first time he sends documents to an unknown crypto exchange only to be able to lift crypto withdrawal limits.

This exchanges do it on purpose and remember that they have a lot of info about you and the capacity of your wallet.

Don't forget that your documents and all additional info this exchanges already have (emails, phones, addresses, coin holdings, etc.) about you combined together are a very solid tool for an attacker.

[crypto mania]

I will add a suggestion about KYC.

Don't send your documents scans to an unknown exchange especially when you will be dealing only with cryptocurrencies.

There are plenty of decentralized and P2P exchanges which are capable to do this same with lower fees and full anonymity.

These shady exchanges ask for your documents only to scam you later by selling them or even worse they will use it to hack you.

Not a joke with this hack because a friend of mine was hacked lately 2 days after the first time he sends documents to an unknown crypto exchange only to be able to lift crypto withdrawal limits.

This exchanges do it on purpose and remember that they have a lot of info about you and the capacity of your wallet.

Don't forget that your documents and all additional info this exchanges already have (emails, phones, addresses, coin holdings, etc.) about you combined together are a very solid tool for an attacker.

This is also a valid suggestion @wwzsocki. Thank you for input. I will add this one too.

I thought that P2P and decentralized exchanges will change the crypto landscape when there where all this new peer to peer exchanges ICO's running last year. As we see they haven't disrupted anything because people need the possibility to withdraw at some point in FIAT, I assume.

What are your thought about this exchanges?

[LTU_btc]

Very nice guide and great suggestions. I also want to say few words. Some exchanges have sms 2FA which aren't very safe. Always use Google 2FA if possible and don't forget to backup your recovery code. Once I had problem on Bittrex. I didn't cared much about security and someone hacked my account. And hacker added his 2FA on my Bittrex account and I wasn't able to login. Fortunately support helped to recover my account and hacker wasn't able to withdraw my money. Since then I always use 2FA on exchanges.
And one point which wasn't mentioned by you, related to phishing scams. We often see various giveaways of BTC or ETH on social media posted with name of famous exchange. But it's always posted from fake accounts. Exchanges aren't giving money for free, these fake giveaways are made only to scam people.

[BQ]

If any exchange have something bad happens to me, this shows that it is not worthy of my trust. Once I withdraw, I will never go there again.
Exchanges that has been blacklisted by me：（These are my personal views, others may not think so）
FatBTC：No withdrawal channel after the token is removed.
Liqui：Change deposit address many times.
stocks: Withdraw fee too high. it is very very high.
yobit: Too many scam coins，and service attitude is very bad.
FCoin: Price manipulation, liar.
CoinBene：Too many MLM coins, and some of which are their own.

For the beginners, 3 points of advice.
1. Deposit security is always the first，So choose only those exchanges with good reputation, such as binance,Huobi. At least they won't swindle your money.
2. Be cautious about unfamiliar exchanges，especially for exchanges that you have not heard of, if you want to deposit, please be sure to deposit a small amount first.
3. Before depositing, it is important to check whether the address is accurate. If it is an ERC20 token, you need to check whether the contract address are consistent. I used to deposit the same name token. Unfortunately, they are different tokens, so my token is lost.

any reason why you'd go with those listed from you?
Huobi as an example is one of the largest exchanges, and lists almost as many coins as Binance.
and is cheaper than Binance (and Liqui for that matter)

why not stick with the big exchanges?

[Theb]

I have been doing the things you have mentioned constantly but before doing those I am focused on doing a background check on the exchange itself first. Doing a quick search in Google you will see if the exchange you are planning to trade with is either reliable or not. You will see a lot of past complaints, scandals, and even confirmed scams which will alert you with red flags on stepping away from that site. Even the big names in the industry there is nothing wrong on doing background checks as you might find something new that you won't like if your trade with their platform.