Escrow University: P2P Safety & Scam Prevention (2025)
P2P is powerful because it gives you access to real people and real payment methods. It’s also risky because scammers exploit confusion. This guide is a practical safety curriculum you can follow every time you trade: escrow fundamentals, proof standards, scam patterns, and a dispute evidence checklist.
Overview
Think of P2P safety like aviation: most accidents happen when basic steps are skipped. The best traders don’t rely on “instinct” — they rely on a checklist.
How escrow protects you (and what it cannot do)
Escrow works by locking the crypto for the duration of a trade. That protects the buyer against the seller changing their mind after payment. It also protects the seller from “I paid” claims without evidence because disputes can be decided using chat and proofs.
What escrow can’t do: it can’t stop you from paying off-platform, paying a different account than the offer specifies, or accepting fake screenshots. Those failures are process failures — and preventable.
The P2P trade safety checklist (before/during/after)
Before you open the trade
- Prefer higher-reputation traders with consistent feedback history.
- Read the offer terms end-to-end and confirm you can follow them exactly.
- Know whether the payment method is reversible (chargeback risk).
During the trade
- Keep all instructions and proofs inside the trade chat.
- Pay only the recipient account details shown in the offer/trade.
- Don’t mark paid unless you actually paid, and don’t release until you’ve confirmed receipt.
After the trade
- Save receipts and key timestamps for a short period (in case of disputes/chargebacks).
- Leave accurate feedback to help the marketplace stay clean.
Proof of payment: what counts, what doesn’t
Screenshots are not proof — they are clues. Strong proof matches the offer terms: recipient name/account, amount, reference, and timestamp. When possible, confirm via your banking app’s transaction history or official receipt details.
If a scammer could generate it with Photoshop in 30 seconds, it’s not strong proof. Prefer payment confirmations that are harder to fake or that can be verified.
10 common P2P scams (with prevention rules)
- Off-platform switch: “Message me on Telegram.” Prevention: keep everything on-platform.
- Wrong account details: “Send to this other account.” Prevention: pay only the trade’s official details.
- Fake receipt: screenshot “sent.” Prevention: verify actual receipt, not images.
- Partial payment pressure: “I sent half, release now.” Prevention: release only when full amount is confirmed.
- Chargeback trap: reversible rails used to claw funds back. Prevention: understand payment-method risk.
- Overpayment refund: “I overpaid, refund elsewhere.” Prevention: escalate; don’t send side refunds.
- Time pressure: “Release now, I’m late.” Prevention: ignore urgency; follow process.
- Identity mismatch: payer is a different person than trader. Prevention: follow offer terms; escalate if mismatch.
- External links/forms: “Fill this form to get paid.” Prevention: never share secrets or leave the platform.
- Gift-card mixing: asking for gift card codes as “verification.” Prevention: don’t share codes outside intended flows.
Payment-method risk: reversible vs non-reversible
Some rails are easier to reverse (chargebacks, disputes, “unauthorized transaction” claims). Others are harder. Your job is to price risk into your choice of method and your evidence collection.
Start with your payment-method guides and learn the risk profile before you trade: Payment Methods.
Dispute playbook: evidence that wins
Disputes are decided by evidence and timelines. The strongest submissions are boring: they show exactly what the offer required and exactly what happened, with receipts that match.
- Offer terms (quoted) and whether you followed them
- Trade chat timestamps and confirmations
- Payment receipt details (amount, recipient, reference)
- Any mismatch (wrong name/account, partial payment, reversals)
If you can’t prove it inside the trade chat, assume you can’t prove it at all. Keep everything in-platform.
FAQ
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