Crypto scams · 3 cases
Payments and confirmations
A visible transaction is not final yet: until it has enough confirmations, it can vanish. And a deposit that looks like USDT may not be. These cases show how to check a payment before you deliver or refund.
The payment that never arrived
- How it works
- In a person-to-person trade, the buyer shows a “proof of payment” or a payment not yet confirmed, then disappears with the goods.
- Warning sign
- A screenshot as proof, pressure to hurry.
- The reflex
- Wait until the funds are really received, and confirmed, before handing anything over.
The cases
VictimShopkeeper
The Missing Confirmation
The payment was there, the computer shipped. An hour later, the payment no longer existed.
Notion 35×5
VictimP2P Seller
The P2P Meetup
A café, a payment proof on a phone. The transfer never arrived.
Easy7×7~4 min
The overpayment
- How it works
- A buyer “overpays” with a fake token named after a real one, then asks for the difference back, in real tokens, to another address.
- Warning sign
- A wrong amount followed by an urgent refund request, to a different address.
- The reflex
- Check the received token's address, and never refund to an address other than the one that paid.
The case
VictimBike Seller
The Refund by Mistake
The buyer paid ten times the price by mistake. She just wants the difference back.
Medium7×7~12 min