The 3 Most Common Crypto P2P Scams
1. The Triangle Scam
The scammer takes an order from you, but simultaneously places an identical order with a third victim. They give the victim *your* bank details. You receive the money and release the crypto, but you just gave your crypto to the scammer, while the innocent victim paid you. Your bank account may later be frozen for fraud.
How to avoid:
Always verify the sender's bank account name perfectly matches their exchange KYC name.
2. Fake SMS Receipts
A buyer will mark the order as "Paid" and simultaneously send a forged SMS or email to your phone pretending to be your bank confirming a deposit. They pressure you in chat to "Release immediately" before the time expires.
How to avoid:
Never trust SMS, Emails, or screenshots. Only release crypto after logging into your actual mobile banking app and seeing the cleared balance.
3. Customer Support Impersonation
The scammer opens a trade and then sends a message in the chat box disguised to look like an official system message from Binance or Bybit. It might say: "System Notice: The buyer's funds have been frozen in escrow. Please release the assets to receive the fiat."
How to avoid:
Exchanges will never ask you to release crypto before receiving fiat. Official support messages are highlighted differently and cannot be sent by regular users.
Our Verification Methodology
P2P Companion maintains a proprietary, crowd-sourced database of flagged cryptocurrency merchants. When you submit a username from Binance, OKX, or Bybit into our scanner, our algorithm checks the exact string against hundreds of known dispute reports, frozen bank account escalations, and API chargeback flags.
Why is this necessary? Centralized exchanges rely heavily on automated systems to regulate thousands of daily trades. Clever scammers bypass automated KYC bans by using purchased ("mule") accounts, allowing them to retain a seemingly perfect 100% completion rate for weeks before the exchange officially restricts them. By utilizing a real-time, community-driven database, traders can spot malicious actors before the exchange systems process the backlog of appeals.
How You Can Protect the Network
The strength of a crowd-sourced security tool relies on the vigilance of its users. If you encounter a merchant who attempts to conduct a trade outside of the designated platform chat, or who provides a bank account name that differs from their official KYC profile, we strongly urge you to utilize the "Report" function directly on the exchange. This flags the user's ID within the global API ecosystem, ensuring tools like ours can ingest the warning and broadcast it to the wider trading community.
Disclaimer
This tool aggregates community reports and public blacklists. It is provided for informational purposes only. A "Safe" result does not guarantee a merchant is honest, as new scammers emerge daily. Always follow the golden rules of P2P: Stay inside the platform's chat, verify KYC names, and confirm cleared funds in your actual bank account.