What makes you think a Bitcoin site might be a scam?

[NiceNIC.COM]

Before sending BTC to a website, what usually makes you stop?

For me, if the site looks new, the domain name looks weird, or the support page feels fake, I would probably close it. Same if they push me to pay too quickly.

Do you check the domain name before using a crypto site, or do you only care about reviews and reputation?

[Ucy]

I tend to focus more on things that are encompassing and more effective than domain name check, in this order:

* Operated long enough without any reasonable/legitimate negative review on trustworthy review sites.

* No reasonable/legitimate serious review or complaints against them

* Search results about them on the internet need to be organic and more positive than negative.

*They address negative reviews against them in satisfactory manner

* They are recommended by trustworthy people or sites.

*They are licensed or sufficiently regulated by effective guarantor such as a country, forum, individual etc

* If not centralized/custodial, their opensource community has to be fairly active without serious issues

[jvanname]

Bitcoin has a mining algorithm that was never designed to advance science, so Bitcoin tends to attract suckers which in-turn attracts scammers.

[NiceNIC.COM]

I tend to focus more on things that are encompassing and more effective than domain name check, in this order:

* Operated long enough without any reasonable/legitimate negative review on trustworthy review sites.

* No reasonable/legitimate serious review or complaints against them

* Search results about them on the internet need to be organic and more positive than negative.

*They address negative reviews against them in satisfactory manner

* They are recommended by trustworthy people or sites.

*They are licensed or sufficiently regulated by effective guarantor such as a country, forum, individual etc

* If not centralized/custodial, their opensource community has to be fairly active without serious issues

I agree.  :)Reputation and how they handle complaints matter more, like you said. A clean domain alone does not prove trust, but a messy domain setup is often a good reason to look much harder before sending coins.

[NiceNIC.COM]

Bitcoin has a mining algorithm that was never designed to advance science, so Bitcoin tends to attract suckers which in-turn attracts scammers.

Scammers follow money more than anything else. With Bitcoin the risk feels higher because payments are hard to reverse...

[hugeblack]

In addition to the domain's age, the lack of acceptance of traditional payment methods is sufficient reason to avoid the service (unless it offers a cryptocurrency-related service). The number of online reviews on Reddit is another metric.

[ABCbits]

For me, if the site looks new, the domain name looks weird, or the support page feels fake, I would probably close it.

FWIW, with AI for coding or good website template, even fake website can feel real or feel created by experienced people.

In addition to the domain's age, the lack of acceptance of traditional payment methods is sufficient reason to avoid the service (unless it offers a cryptocurrency-related service).

Service that claim to respect people privacy/anonymity also more likely to only accept cryptocurrency.

[jvanname]

Bitcoin has a mining algorithm that was never designed to advance science, so Bitcoin tends to attract suckers which in-turn attracts scammers.

Scammers follow money more than anything else. With Bitcoin the risk feels higher because payments are hard to reverse...

Nah. Scammers follow Bitcoin because they realize that Bitcoiners are anti-intellectual, braindead, insufferable morons.

[rat03gopoh]

Reputation is a crucial part of evaluating a service, and it certainly can't be achieved in just 1-3 years. I'm not convinced that even trusted services never receive bad reviews, but there's a limit to what's acceptable.
Furthermore, I rarely deal with the various centralized Bitcoin sites. So, my biggest saving grace isn't the security or reputation reason of the sites, but rather the fact that I have no reason to do anything out of the ordinary with my Bitcoin.

[goldkingcoiner]

Before sending BTC to a website, what usually makes you stop?

For me, if the site looks new, the domain name looks weird, or the support page feels fake, I would probably close it. Same if they push me to pay too quickly.

Do you check the domain name before using a crypto site, or do you only care about reviews and reputation?

I avoid anything new or unknown to the Bitcointalk community like the plague. Not to say it's a scam or not but chances of it being a scam are much much higher.

Also how professional and detailed a site is has significance because most scams are lazy copy paste trash that can be spotted a mile away (there are exceptions to this rule).

Just trust your gut feeling. If something feels off, it probably is.

[BitMaxz]

It looks like it is pointing to your domain. By checking your domain, you're using an aged domain that was just active recently, from March to today.

Just like your service, I can't trust it yet until someone trusted here verifies that this is a legit site.

So for me, your site is still new to me, and all reviews created on Trustpilot can be fake or legit, but your site already has bad reviews, including those who posted on Reddit.


Domain age is important, but nowadays scammers can buy aged domains, so to make sure we are dealing with a legit site, we should seek for legit reviews that didn't come from Trustpilot or any similar source because scammers can manipulate it.

If you are here to gain trust, I suggest you try the signature campaign, hire a marketing manager, and escrow funds.
In that way, it can help build trust here on the forum, but before you do that, make sure you have active support because most of what I heard is that most of their issue is no one is responding from your site.

[MarryWithBTC]

xxx Same if they push me to pay too quickly.

How can a bitcoin site push you to pay too quickly?

Are you talking about people behind the site chatting with you and persuading you to pay quickly?
That is a sign to know a scammer.  A scammer will put high urgency in their deal so that you can make payment so quickly before someone will discourage you. But since it is  a website we are talking about, how can one be pushed to pay quickly?
Is it by having too many CTA buttons or by having too good deposit bonuses?

Just to add, domain age means not much again as people can easily buy aged domain to operate.

[stompix]

It looks like it is pointing to your domain. By checking your domain, you're using an aged domain that was just active recently, from March to today.
Just like your service, I can't trust it yet until someone trusted here verifies that this is a legit site.

Bruh....
https://www.icann.org/en/contracted-parties/accredited-registrars/list-of-accredited-registrars?page=1&iana-number=3765
Both domains com and net are legit, way beyond legit.

Now, the user here is a bit suspicious, this is not how a marketing guy would talk, their business is not a one man show, it raises way too many flags to trust this guy in private with anything.
I would trust their business dealing directly with them but not this guy.

[robelneo]

Do you check the domain name before using a crypto site, or do you only care about reviews and reputation?

Yes, I checked the domain age. There are new exchanges that claim they already have thousands of users or huge volume; the age should be commensurate with the number of users and volume.
Reviews from independent platforms like Bitcointalk make an impact; they should have massive marketing and receive good write-ups from notable crypto news platforms like Cointelegraph. These are parameters I'm looking for if the platform is legit.

[Stalker22]

For me, checking the domain name is a hard rule, not just an option.  I always look at the exact spelling to make sure its not a typosquatting attempt (like replacing an "m" with an "rn").  If Im feeling even a little bit skeptical, I will run a quick WHOIS lookup to see when the domain was registered.  If a site claims to be an established service but the domain was bought three weeks ago, thats an immediate red flag.

But sometimes you just dont have much choice.  If you are interacting with a niche merchant or an early-stage service, reputation data simply might not exist yet.  In such a situation, it is always wise to risk the smallest amount possible.  I will do a tiny "test transaction" first to see if the system actually credits the account or delivers the service.

[The Cryptovator]

Before sending BTC to a website, what usually makes you stop?

For me, if the site looks new, the domain name looks weird, or the support page feels fake, I would probably close it. Same if they push me to pay too quickly.

Do you check the domain name before using a crypto site, or do you only care about reviews and reputation?

New domains always aren't scams, and old domains don't always mean they are trusted. For me, I can guess a scam site at first sight. The main point is, why are you going to send them Bitcoin? What's the business? There are a lot of categories for Bitcoin payment websites; it would be for buying goods, exchanging, or Ponzi schemes, as well. You have to search a little bit before sending your funds.

If there is free money or a higher return, then it'd be a matter of concern. If there are only concerns, then probably I will create a reputation thread and ask the community. If I believe it's a scam, then I will raise concern on the scam accusation board. It's quite easy to identify fake or phishing sites. Just need to be careful and gain enough knowledge about crypto. Always make sure before sending funds, because if the funds are sent, then crypto is irreversible.

[Darker45]

It's reviews and reputation for me more than the domain name. Some just want to be creative, innovative, even funny with their domains. Also, age matters more than the name, not to mention that the longer the site has been operating, the more reviews, feedbacks, stories, comments you could find about it online that you could peruse.

Perhaps the only exception is when I send Sats to try a new, unknown, and unproven gambling platform. But the condition is that it's being promoted here with escrowed payment. That's not a guarantee that it isn't a scam, but it makes a small amount worth risking.

[jvanname]

It's reviews and reputation for me more than the domain name. Some just want to be creative, innovative, even funny with their domains. Also, age matters more than the name, not to mention that the longer the site has been operating, the more reviews, feedbacks, stories, comments you could find about it online that you could peruse.

Perhaps the only exception is when I send Sats to try a new, unknown, and unproven gambling platform. But the condition is that it's being promoted here with escrowed payment. That's not a guarantee that it isn't a scam, but it makes a small amount worth risking.

Reputation itself is a scam. I just assume everyone is a moron unless they can sign their statements with a digital signature using a cryptocurrency with a mining algorithm that was designed to advance science.