Something dangerous we do when using Binance P2P platform

[Nheer]

I have come across such users that do request for your phone number for swift payment and never have I sent them my number because I truly do not see how my phone number will hasten the transaction process.

I have also come across them numerous times and had a little chat with a buyer once about how improper it is to ask for sellers numbers but the answer he gave me was understandable, he said most times he don’t even have to make use of the numbers but just incase there is an issue with the banking system or probably when the seller is delaying in completing the trade or not responding to the messages sent in the chat box but it’s really not necessary as the trade can be completed at any time. Scammers can use this at their own advantage to track their victims.

[serjent05]

I have come across such users that do request for your phone number for swift payment and never have I sent them my number because I truly do not see how my phone number will hasten the transaction process.

And if they insist on sending number before payment then just leave the transaction time to elapse so that everything automatically cancel,

I am using Binance P2P and do use an apps that is linked to my phone number.  The details of payment are already on the information window when selling in Binance, there is really no need to send any additional information because it is unnecessary. 

If someone asks me for my number, I just ignore it because it is already on my sell page information.  Copy-pasting information may cause an error for the transaction in case we pasted or input the wrong phone number.

[Antotena]

Truthfully, if you don't drop your phone number they aren't paying, I know that some are doing this to notify you to release funds after, as some sellers are not serious, they can initial the trade and start doing something else, wasting someone else time, but the truth is this act is out of Binance platform, you break the rules if you decide to do trade with such people, they have your phone number and they can text dangerous link to you pretending to be from Binance.

I strongly believe this is how the victim lost is phone number to strangers, to make some transactions a success, and yet losing your data in the process, I hope this teach people something new today.

I recently observed that behavior of them when trading in p2p. Back then, this don't use to happen, if you are a seller, buyer will not ask for your number but they have normalized that now, if you don't drop your number, they don't pay. But actually, I don't don't drop my number and they do pay me, and I make sure I'm online to release the fund as soon as I received the money on my bank wallet.

Simply ignore them when they ask for your number, that's the only way this problem can be avoided or look for a trader that has 98% trade completion rate, such buyers don't stress sellers and they are fast in trade completion.

[Findingnemo]

I know that some are doing this to notify you to release funds after, as some sellers are not serious, they can initial the trade and start doing something else, wasting someone else time, but the truth is this act is out of Binance platform, you break the rules if you decide to do trade with such people, they have your phone number and they can text dangerous link to you pretending to be from Binance.

The platform will notify to the user so no need to ask for personal information as mandatory but the actual reason why the number asked by the p2p trader is to send your fake payment proof messages like an SMS coming from your bank that the amount is credited.

These are very basic methods to scam but it's a worrying sign that people who are buying/selling Bitcoin don't even realize they need to validate the payment proof by visiting the bank account online and matching the reference number.

Now most of the big traders moved to auto payments, like you will be paid from their account to the details you share with them so no need to make payments manually, and thousands of trades happen every day with no actual work.

[ZAINmalik75]

I recently observed that behavior of them when trading in p2p. Back then, this don't use to happen, if you are a seller, buyer will not ask for your number but they have normalized that now, if you don't drop your number, they don't pay. But actually, I don't don't drop my number and they do pay me, and I make sure I'm online to release the fund as soon as I received the money on my bank wallet.

Simply ignore them when they ask for your number, that's the only way this problem can be avoided or look for a trader that has 98% trade completion rate, such buyers don't stress sellers and they are fast in trade completion.

You are right, there is nothing wrong in accepting such terms and giving them the number because they don't come to your home to verify the number, just give them your dead number maybe, as we are not asking them to send the funds on that number and they don't ask for OTPs either then what's bad in that, we can easily doge such terms if we play smart. And other than that, we can avoid trading with them, because if they have evil minds, then they might try to scam you in the trade you are making with them.

So the best practice is to avoid them and try to find repeated traders, check some videos on YT on how to get the deal done or find a good dealer on P2P by analyzing the stats.

Other than that, we should not react with any messages instantly, that we receive on our numbers or Telegram, or any DMs. And first, confirm from the main source about such messages like contacting the customer support of Binance and ask them if they contact us on our numbers, If you get approval then proceed otherwise simply ignore them.

[Davidvictorson]

I have come across such users that do request for your phone number for swift payment and never have I sent them my number because I truly do not see how my phone number will hasten the transaction process.

And if they insist on sending number before payment then just leave the transaction time to elapse so that everything automatically cancel,

It is only on Binance that you experienced this sort of issue. I have yet to experience this issue on remitano and kucoin P2P services. These other exchanges have made it such a smooth going process where you do not even need to reach out to the seller or buyer. if you have an issue, all you have to do is contact the customer support agent and they will sort out whatever issues you are having. For Binance it seems they have no control over this aspect of the P2P. It doesn't look very safe.

Assuming you have no other option, you should have a dedicated number for these sort of transactions. One advantage of this is that if you have a scam or hacker attempt, you will be able to pinpoint where it is coming up from.

[SatoPrincess]

It’s indeed an unusual request to see in a p2p trade, Binance acts the middleman between the buyer and the seller so there isn’t any need for there to be any exchange of personal information like phone numbers since the coins are in escrow. This trade made a sly move to add it in his terms of trade. While Binance p2p is not my first option nor second, but if I must use it I would avoid traders with such terms. 

[Abu-Naim]

How is it reasonable for a seller to ask for a number for communication outside the platform, no matter how trusted they are, if Binance itself doesn't allow it.

Some of the merchants are asking for the number to reach out to you if they have made their payment and you are yet to release their crypto for them, but I think they are just doing it because it is against the rule to have any discussion outside the Binance exchange, where as some will chat you and let you know that they will be available for your service even outside the exchange, and those once are the ones that can easily scam you if you trust them.
The best thing to do is to make sure you select a merchant who does not demand a phone number before trading.

[Ever-young]

When using any P2P exchange not just Binance, you can decide to go ahead and trade with such person who place such rules or you leave the person and move to the next order, if the person don’t want to pay if you don’t share number then the trade will cancel at the specific time as assigned by the exchange none among you both will lose anything and if you as the seller is not comfortable you can always report the matter to the support team.

I believe Binance has a reason for them to disable that mobile number being visible as it used to be before, so if you need to send your number to anyone for any reason, one can always use an alternative number instead of using their mobile number linked to the binance app, that’s what I do most times, I have a mobile number for calls and another one for online stuffs, if am in a hurry to trade and I need to complete it that fast, all I do is to give out my number which I only use for call to the vendor so if I get any unwanted message from anyone then I will just know that it’s a scam and ignore it and also I don’t forget to report the sender to my network provider.

[m2017]

~snip

Getting used to the “conveniences” that Binance offers in its eco-system, we become more and more “stuck” in it. Users are becoming more loyal to issues of privacy and discretion. Undoubtedly, this is wrong if the seller can get your number in Binance P2P platform  and it is highly undesirable to do this.

In general, why use the Binance P2P platform when there is Bisq? Why not use this for "true" P2P platform?

This won't teach people anything. Too few people learn from other people's mistakes. Most people don’t learn from their mistakes. What can I say.

Most people don’t even learn from their own mistakes, let alone learn from other's.

[Baki202]

It’s indeed an unusual request to see in a p2p trade, Binance acts the middleman between the buyer and the seller so there isn’t any need for there to be any exchange of personal information like phone numbers since the coins are in escrow. This trade made a sly move to add it in his terms of trade. While Binance p2p is not my first option nor second, but if I must use it I would avoid traders with such terms. 

I have read about how a lot of people complain about how they encounter several misunderstandings while using p2p, and maybe that is why they exchange information or even phone numbers, a lot of people complain how there is always delay in the transaction, and its good we try has much has possible to secure our information while transacting.

[Coyster]

I have read about how a lot of people complain about how they encounter several misunderstandings while using p2p, and maybe that is why they exchange information or even phone numbers, a lot of people complain how there is always delay in the transaction, and its good we try has much has possible to secure our information while transacting.

That is why there is an in-built chat platform for traders, you can chat with your trading partner there and iron out any 'misunderstanding' or resolve any issues without giving out your personal phone number to them or any other data. Using a centralized exchange like binance is already bad enough for your privacy and you only make things worse when you begin to give out sensitive information to parties you trade with, you don't know who they are and what they might do with that information.

[nelson4lov]

The request for phone numbers by Binance p2p traders is a recent occurrence and not all the traders take it serious. The reason why must traders make it mandatory is because they are dealing in a time-sensitive space so if they sent payment and you take much longer to reply, they might be in a loss before you eventually get to release the asset.

There can be a compromise most times.

Anyhow, I'm intrigued why everyone is focusing on the number and not on the fact you're receiving money from a business account, at least here that would trigger a hundred red signs, you're getting paid $ by a company, I don't even want to know the mess that will cause if the taxes agency picks up the trail.

I think this is dependent on the country so it is negligible. Not all countries enforce rigorous taxation processes like the way I've seen in European countries or even in the US. If that was the case, then I'm sure people making such trades will be a lot more careful.

[SatoPrincess]

It’s indeed an unusual request to see in a p2p trade, Binance acts the middleman between the buyer and the seller so there isn’t any need for there to be any exchange of personal information like phone numbers since the coins are in escrow. This trade made a sly move to add it in his terms of trade. While Binance p2p is not my first option nor second, but if I must use it I would avoid traders with such terms. 

I have read about how a lot of people complain about how they encounter several misunderstandings while using p2p, and maybe that is why they exchange information or even phone numbers, a lot of people complain how there is always delay in the transaction, and its good we try has much has possible to secure our information while transacting.

Delay in transaction is not a good enough reason, you can tell a good trader by his trade history and reviews by other p2p traders on the platform. Also Binance displays the seller’s average release time so you can predict how long this person is going to hold the transaction for. Like I said before, there is no need to exchange personal information, there is chat room where both parties can communicate under the supervision of Binance, this way disputes can be easily resolved

[Crypt0Gore]

I have come across such users that do request for your phone number for swift payment and never have I sent them my number because I truly do not see how my phone number will hasten the transaction process.

And if they insist on sending number before payment then just leave the transaction time to elapse so that everything automatically cancel,

You do have a point and for the fact that such buyers have good reviews on the exchange could make people believe that nothing is going to get wrong, someone who is close to me once said they have good reviews because they can be trusted.

I replied my friend that they can maintain good reviews on the binance exchange so that the exchange won't kick them out and also the good reviews they have is why people like my friend fall into their hands.

Many users on the Binance exchange seem more concerned about reviews than anything else, that's why they entrust their data e.g mobile number to these strangers they know nothing about which is not a safe thing to do.

[goxcraft]

I strongly believe this is how the victim lost is phone number to strangers, to make some transactions a success, and yet losing your data in the process, I hope this teach people something new today.

It sounds a bit illogical to me. I won't give away my personal number to a stranger I met online. Who does that? He may pull up my entire information with just a number. And it's possible.

One time, I had to give my number to a small company. It was for something like a customer feedback system. The next day, I got tons of spam messages and calls.

Even if I give my number, there is no guarantee that I will give my real number. I could just give a fake, and he wouldn't know. What does that make him, then?

If that person is so concerned with security, then he shouldn't trade with a stranger at all. He should only trade with those he trusts.

Binance already has all the information through KYC. I won't give any more information to others.

[noorman0]

That's a bad trading system from the "best" exchanges, giving users the opportunity to make deals outside of their own platform's responsibility with that phone number.

I have purchased digital products several times through freelance platforms and they do not allow anyone to exchange contacts that have nothing to do with the platform. Some people think it is too strict, but this proves to be a scam and even non-serious users don't have a chance to act.

[Coyster]

That's a bad trading system from the "best" exchanges, giving users the opportunity to make deals outside of their own platform's responsibility with that phone number.

To be fair, this has nothing to do with the exchange and you ought to read the terms of a buyer/seller before engaging in the trade. The in-built chat for traders is there for them to message one another if there is any need for it, prolly if there is a dispute or anything that needs to be resolved between the traders, they won't stop you from sending phone numbers or anything sensitive if you wish to, the responsibility has to be on the trader here to know exactly what to do.

[Gladitorcomeback]

I strongly believe this is how the victim lost is phone number to strangers, to make some transactions a success, and yet losing your data in the process, I hope this teach people something new today.

Thanks OP for your information. I was completely unaware of this and maybe if any merchant asked for it, I would probably give it to him. I have never faced this type of Merchants so far and my P2P trading goes very smoothly.

Yes, I agree, giving mobile number is risky and one can not only send spam message there is possibility of sim swap scam. I think we should report this issue to Binance so that they block this kind of message or warn at the start. Binance is mostly used for P2P trading and hacker will not this place free. Binance should take proper action upon this case .

[Ruttoshi]

If you are not cool with dropping your phone number, you can cancel the trade or wait till the time elapse as it isn't a must that you must drop your phone number before payment. There are many other traders on Binance that don't actually care about your phone number and they would pay you immediately.

 Look for other traders that don't make phone number mandatory before payment or better still, you can use other exchanges to keep your phone number private. This is the new things that Binance traders just started. Everyone is after a safe and quick transaction, so I wouldn't blame them for asking of your phone number to call you that you should release the coins that you have been credited for.