Still have to be careful even with an escrow

[kingpin4321]

The risk of trading has been emphasized here on the group for some reason individuals do peer to peer trading well doing trading in such manner is not wrong just that it has a higher risk level than doing trading on an exchange.

Peer to peer and online traders most time engage in the act probably to escape some transcation fee or get it at a cheaper rate not knowing the a vulnerable to scam.

Engaging an escrow agent in an off exchange trading transcation has been the norm but still you still not completely safe with that service. An escrow agent act as a third party in the transaction and is in possession of the of what wants to be purchase and what will be used to purchase.
 
But the system has been infested with evil doers who are fraudster in disguise of an escrow agent.
Never be quick to go with an escrow that was suggested by your partner they might just be in a plan deal to defraud you, ask for the previous dealing of the escrow agent for authentication, if you must use an escrow then those with a high trust level should be top on your list.

[Pmalek]

I think this thread can be useful for those in need of an escrow.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2439910.0

Of course one should always check the previous feedback, trust and possible open scam accusations against the members and escrow agents one plans to deal with.

[OgNasty]

So long as you secure your account and use a trusted escrow, the risk is very minimal.

[pooya87]

that is one of the reasons why we have multi signature features in bitcoin!

in a trade there are two parties. buyer and seller. you add a neutral and trusted third party in this equation. using multi signature the 3 parties now each have 1 key and they share their public keys so that they can create a new 2 of 3 address. now the buyer deposits money in escrow address. when the seller sees the money confirmed he sends  the item. when the buyer receives it he and the seller both sign a transaction letting the seller take the money out to his own personal address. if one party scams you go to escrow, prove the scam and now the scammer party and escrow sign the transaction to get the money out.

this improves security by a lot since it doesn't give full control to escrow. but it still doesn't eliminate all types of fraud such as escrow going bad and scam one party with the help of the other party!

[HODL2090]

The trust rating here in the forum has made it possible to easily identify the most dependable individuals to act as an escrow. Some may argue that they are humans and hence fallible, but it's a better system than you can find anywhere.

BPIP,  https://bpip.org provides the information to you very easily.

[Peacemaker1994]

 one can also get a trusted escrow agent firm that has credibility or an escrow that has a good positive trust rating also possibly the two parties can provide valid identifications

[Infinixhot1996]

You'll have to be careful with anything or anyone on this decentralized system,be it an exchange,escrow and what have you..
It's never a guarantee of safety,even exchanges fall prey to hacks,not to talk of individual escrow
And were most people get it wrong is in thinking that due to a person's rank on this forum,such user could be a trusted escrow....
Always check trust ratings and reputation
And always secure yourself/account

[logitechwow]

People because of the high Commission, which, in fact, is low, use other payment systems that deceive them.
It's stupid.

[Dreamace7]

It's important you had emphasis on the uncertainty that goes with employing an escrow agent most fail to get it that they are not secured totally with that medium although there are escrow that are credible

[Jojo333]

I think this thread can be useful for those in need of an escrow.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2439910.0

Of course one should always check the previous feedback, trust and possible open scam accusations against the members and escrow agents one plans to deal with.

thanks for this