P2P Safety: How to Recognize and Avoid Paid-but-Canceled Scams

21.08.2024

Main Takeaways

The paid-but-canceled P2P scams involve criminals, who pose as crypto sellers, convincing buyers to cancel their order on the exchange platform after payment, leading to victims sustaining financial loss.
Never cancel a P2P order after making a payment unless you are absolutely sure of the legitimacy of the request.
If you have canceled your buy order at the request of your counterparty on Binance P2P, immediately raise an appeal with our Live Chat support team if you suspect fraud.

Binance’s top priority is the safety of our users. A big part of it is ensuring you are informed about the most common scams and how to avoid them – after all, it is users themselves that are the first and the strongest line of defense against crime in the crypto space. Staying on top of the latest developments in the fight against scammers is the best way to protect yourself and the larger ecosystem.

Criminals are constantly devising new ways to exploit unsuspecting users, including those that target peer-to-peer (P2P) traders. One such tactic that has been gaining traction is the so-calledpaid-but-canceled scam. Read on to learn more about this deceptive practice, how it works, and how to protect yourself against it.

Understanding the Paid-but-Canceled Scam

The paid-but-canceled scam is a fraudulent scheme where peer-to-peer crypto sellers convince buyers to cancel their order after the buyers have already made the payment. It typically unfolds in the following steps.

1. Advertising the Offer: The scammer (seller) posts an ad on a P2P marketplace, offering to sell cryptocurrency at a highly attractive rate.

2. Initiating the Trade: An unsuspecting buyer initiates the trade and transfers the payment to the seller’s account. At this point, the scammer may ask the buyer for their phone number, WhatsApp or Telegram contact, or ask the buyer to contact them.

3. Convincing the Buyer: After receiving the payment, the seller-scammer contacts the buyer and provides a seemingly legitimate reason for them to cancel the order. The scammer might claim there has been an error in the transaction or that they need to reinitiate the trade for some reason.

4. Order Cancellation: Trusting the seller, the buyer cancels the order on the platform without receiving the crypto or getting their money back.

5. Disappearing Act: Once the order is canceled, the scammer disappears with the buyer’s money, leaving them with no recourse.

Real-Life Examples

A common scenario is scammers sending messages to their counterparties claiming payment issues and asking buyers to cancel their orders or contact an external number for support.

Once contacted, they persuade buyers to cancel the order.

A slightly different variation of the same scheme is crypto sellers requesting buyers’ phone numbers after payment, claiming they need it to verify the order.

Sellers would then request for buyers to share their contact details.

They then contact the buyer offline, persuading them to cancel the order under false pretenses. In both cases, the result is the same: buyers, who have already made the payment, never see neither their money again nor the crypto they thought they were buying.

How to Avoid Becoming a Victim

Remember that the only way criminals can complete the scam is by persuading you to cancel the order. If their request for order cancellation is legitimate and justified, they must return your payment first.

1. Avoid Canceling Orders After Making a Payment: Never cancel an order after making a payment until you have confirmed that the refund has been credited back to your account.

2. Stay Vigilant: Be cautious of what sellers claim, especially if you see offers that are too good to be true. If you sense something suspicious, report the case proactively to our support team.

3. Keep Conversations on Binance: Always maintain all communications regarding P2P transactions within the Binance platform to ensure integrity. Do not share your contact information with counterparties.

If you have made the payment and notified the seller, but the seller fails to release the order after confirming receipt of your payment, please raise an appeal. Our support team can assist in releasing the order for you.