Be careful during use escrow service from the forum.

[The Cryptovator]

I know probably this topic has been discussed previously. But since I am encountering a fact, so I think it should share with the community. And newbies would take a lesson from it. There is a scammer who impersonate my telegram username. I am writing here how this scammer trying to scam.

You may read the above story, besides that, I have received PM from two persons for the escrow service. Perhaps the scammer shares my Bitcointalk profile and gives them an impersonate telegram username. But luckily a user copy pate my telegram username from my profile and asking if I am going to escrow the funds for them. According to the buyer, the seller already contacted me. Another user disappeared when I ask to send me PM via forum from the both user (buyer & seller).  But the reality is, I am fully unaware of such as deal nor I have any escrow service thread here. So wondering why and how they are popping up today for escrow funds.

Conclusion: If you are going to buy anything from the forum and you need to use an escrow service then you must need to talk via forum first. Make sure you are dealing with the right person, not with the impostor. If you aren't sure about the confidentiality of escrow, then create a thread on the reputation board for ask to the community. So you will get the right answer.

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[Charles-Tim]

I am not yet experienced or know much about escrow services, but imo, to make deals (buying, selling and use of escrow services) more official and transparent, this forum will be good for such deals, especially if the person is a stranger. There are many ways scammers can manipulate matters in a way someone can fall being scam victim. And, it should be appreciated that this is brought here which will create more awareness that anyone can fall for escrow scam, we need to be careful and be conscious of escrow scam activities that may be on our part.

[BIT-BENDER]

Talking to the person -owner of the account- on the forum will not elude un-safety like a vapour, some forum account has/can be hacked, owner under strong duress, escrow is ever always sensitive add all back ups, like the account signing a message, your peril is wide when using telegram escrow or social media as well.

[khaled0111]

Thankfully you were lucky and knew about this deal before any harm was done. Otherwise, someone would come here and accuse you of scamming him.
FWIW, if ever someone contacts you on Telegram or any other platform preteding to be a member of this forum, always request him to send you a private message from his main account or to sign a message with one of his staked addresses before concluding any deal with him.

[Findingnemo]

Forum's PM is better option to choose over the any social media platform and it is safe for both side like for an escrow as well as the person who send money to you because if there is some kind of dispute then this can only act as a proof to save you from ruining your reputation on the forum.

Well forum contact details should be replaced with telegram and other modern day social media over ICQ,MSN,AIM,YIM because no one using those kinds of stuff in 2020.

[o_e_l_e_o]

like the account signing a message

This should be basic practice.

There was a case a while ago of a senior user who had their account hacked, but the person who hacked it did not change their password or otherwise hijack the account. The hacker sent PMs to some other users trying to arrange deals and trades, while the owner of the account continued to use it normally and was unaware of what was going on.

Before sending any coins, if you are at all unsure about who you are dealing with, then you should ask them to sign a message from an old staked addresses (or from a staked PGP key). Signing a message from the address in their profile or signature is not acceptable since these can be changed at any time. The message containing the old staked address should be checked to ensure it has not recently been edited.

[OgNasty]

There's only been one escrow agent to ever successfully handle multimillion-dollar transactions without any issues on this forum as far as I know, and that's me.  Don't be fooled by others who have escrowed scams and repeatedly lost users hundreds of thousands or possibly millions of dollars of user funds while escaping on technicalities and through the use of abusive trust ratings.  There is a MASSIVE difference in the trustworthiness of escrows you choose, don't be fooled.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=303281.0

[erep]

The scammers on telegram have gone rampant, they resemble the project team, escrow and others to scam anyone, so it's important for users of the escrow service to send private messages to official forum accounts. I am sure that you will be protected from fraud and even though your account has been hacked, you can view your profile history or check BPIP for complete information.

[Yogee]

...There was a case a while ago of a senior user who had their account hacked, but the person who hacked it did not change their password or otherwise hijack the account. The hacker sent PMs to some other users trying to arrange deals and trades, while the owner of the account continued to use it normally and was unaware of what was going on.

Link to this case please  if you still have it.

[virasog]

There is a scammer who impersonate my telegram username.

This is the first mistake which anyone can make is to deal with a person outside the forum. Even if the conversation on telegram is much faster, quick and in real time but you should first deal on PM on this forum and get the telegram name from that conversation and then continue conversation on these platforms.

[o_e_l_e_o]

Link to this case please  if you still have it.

Certainly.

The user in question was kenzawak: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=1082600

Here is the thread about the first time his account was hacked: Weird emails and pms about a paypal transaction I never made. See particularly this post where theymos confirms his accounts did send those transactions and the IP logs show someone else using his account.

He was then hacked again around a month later (see this thread: kenzawak hacked (again)) and signed a message from an address in a post from 2017, but the post was edited that day to a different address.

So yeah - sign a message from an address from an old, unedited post should be the minimum, although this still does not guarantee you are dealing with who you think you are, as addresses can be sold alongside accounts.

[nakamura12]

Impostors are pain in the ass. It is more likely to cause harm or trouble to yourself if ever that impostor did something to the buyer and seller. It would be better if you plan to start an escrow service then you should put warning in your profile like buyers and sellers should PM you first before doing transactions. That's just how I see, not that I am expert about it.

[Jet Cash]

Maybe we could have a box in the member's profile that shows he is prepared to offer escrow services.
I don't offer such services, and it would be useful to indicate this without tying up some other reference in my profile.

[Shimmiry]

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Then maybe the best option is to not focus mainly on direct messages on telegram, but rather contacting them as well in the forum. Yes, escrow services and campaign managers where too busy making those greedy people make us of it as an advantage to contact those that in need of such services. Good thing that the users here in the forum is very much aware and close that most of us here recommends escrow services with the links to contact them to prevent misleading them to scammers. Soon, if this continues, this might make an issue if many would imitate famous escrow services in various forms and way possible.

[aioc]

There is a scammer who impersonate my telegram username.

This is the first mistake which anyone can make is to deal with a person outside the forum. Even if the conversation on telegram is much faster, quick and in real time but you should first deal on PM on this forum and get the telegram name from that conversation and then continue conversation on these platforms.

This is the best and the right way to do transaction pm first here so you can check the reputation of the seller and you have proof in case something goes wrong on the transaction, on telegram people can imitate any legit guy and they can delete the conversation right away but getting an escrow is the safest way to do transaction especially if it involves a big sum of money.

[khaled0111]

^^
Well, after re-reading the previous comments above, especially o_e_l_e_o's comment, even comunicating via PMs doesn't prove you are talking with the right person. Only signed message from a staked address or an address posted in his service ann thread can prove that.
Scammers can be very smart. Read kenzawak's case shared above!

[Assface16678]

I haven't tried yet using an escrow with the use of cryptocurrency transactions. I think it's very risky if the scammer makes an introduction with your profile and using a telegram account and not directly makes a private message first right here in bitcoin talk. I think the other party does not know something regarding this forum so the only proof given by the scammer is just your profile.

I think these steps must be followed.
1. Find an escrow
2. Direct message here on bitcointalk
3. Wait for them to respond
4. Make a deal
This is safer than directly on the telegram.