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Rates›Guides›P2P Scams in Pakistan and India: Common Patterns and How to Avoid Them

Guide · updated 2026-10-27

P2P Scams in Pakistan and India: Common Patterns and How to Avoid Them

P2P scams in Pakistan and India follow a small number of patterns that repeat across Easypaisa, JazzCash, SadaPay and bank transfers in Pakistan, and across UPI, IMPS and bank deposits in India. Almost every one of them works the same way: it gets you to act on something other than the money actually sitting in your own account. This guide goes through the patterns Binance itself documents, adds what is specific to each country, and ends with what to do and whom to contact if it happens to you.

One rule covers most of what follows. The platform's escrow protects you only while the whole trade stays on the order page and you check real balances, not messages about balances.

The patterns that catch sellers

Sellers carry the most risk on P2P, because the seller presses the release button. If you sell USDT for rupees, these are the patterns to know.

1. The fake payment screenshot

The buyer marks the order as paid, sends a transfer receipt in the chat and urges you to release at once. The receipt is edited or simply false. Binance's guide to proof-of-payment scams says fake records can give themselves away through spelling mistakes, misaligned text or mixed fonts, but the real defence is simpler: never release on a screenshot. Log in to your bank or wallet app and look for the money. If you cannot log in, do not release, however hard the buyer pushes.

2. The fake bank SMS

A text arrives that looks exactly like your bank's or wallet's credit alert. Binance lists it as a scam of its own. The answer is the same: an SMS is not a balance. Open the app.

3. Money from someone else's account

The payment arrives and the amount is right, but the sender's name is not the buyer's verified name. Binance lists this under chargeback scams: fraudsters often pay through someone else's account, and a payment that can be pulled back after you release leaves you with neither the money nor the USDT. Binance's rule for sellers: do not release, open an appeal, and refund the payment to the sending account. Even money from the buyer's own account can still cause trouble. If that buyer was cheated on another platform and files a complaint, Binance notes, the seller's account can be frozen along with the scammer's.

4. Two orders, one payment

Binance describes a "triangle" scam in which two scammers open orders with the same seller at the same time. One scammer's payment is used to complete the other's order, and the same receipt is then used to press for a second release, so the seller releases twice for roughly half the money. A seller who checks only that "a payment came in" is the target. If several orders are open, pair each incoming payment with its own order before releasing anything.

5. Payments that can be reversed or hide the payer

Some payment methods can be pulled back after you release. Binance warns that a buyer insisting on paying by cheque is most likely planning a chargeback. A related problem is any method that does not show who paid. On the INR pages of this site, cash deposit to a bank account appears among the methods sellers list; a deposit like that may not show the payer's name, and Binance's transaction policy discourages methods that hide it because the seller cannot check the name. Accept only rails that show the sender's name, and refuse anything you would not be able to verify.

The patterns that start outside the platform

Escrow protects both sides only while the trade stays inside it. These two patterns begin somewhere else.

6. The deal that moves to WhatsApp or Telegram

A "merchant" contacts you on Telegram or WhatsApp with a deal, sends a link to a P2P ad and asks you to paste their bank details into the order chat to "confirm". Binance calls this a man-in-the-middle scam. The order is actually with an unrelated buyer, who reads those details and pays the scammer's account in good faith; you release USDT and receive nothing. Because the arrangement was made outside the platform and the buyer paid whoever the chat named, Binance says there is not much support can do on appeal. Binance's transaction policy rules out trades arranged over social networks, chat apps or in person, and its scam report form has separate categories for off-platform crypto exchanges and face-to-face fraud.

7. The fake support agent

Someone in the order chat, or in an email that looks official, claims to be Binance support. They say the buyer's money is already with Binance and that you must release first, or send your email address so the "escrow service" can confirm. Binance says it never sends emails asking users to complete a P2P transaction. A related trick asks you to install remote-access software such as AnyDesk so that "support" can help with verification; Binance lists remote access scams as a category of their own. Treat any request for remote access as a scam.

The patterns that catch buyers and victims

8. Pressure after you have paid

Once your money has gone, a dishonest seller can try two things. The first is asking you to cancel the order, with some excuse about the payment. Binance's instructions are not to cancel a paid order unless the seller's refund is already back in your own account, because once the order is cancelled, the seller's USDT is no longer held for your order. The second is demanding a higher price before releasing. Binance's appeal rules say support will step in when a buyer has paid the correct amount from a matching account and the seller tries to settle at a higher price, and will release the order manually unless the agreed price was abnormally low.

9. The "recovery" offer after a loss

After a scam, victims are often contacted by people who say they can get the money back for a fee. Binance's scam report form lists loss-recovery services that are paid for and never delivered as one of the cases it sees. Binance also says plainly that blockchain transactions are irreversible and that it may be unlikely to recover scammed funds. Nobody can promise recovery, and anyone who asks for an upfront fee to do it is running the next scam.

What is specific to Pakistan

What is specific to India

If it has already happened

  1. If the order is still open, appeal from the order page. Do not release, do not cancel, and keep every message in the order chat. The selling guide and the buying guide walk through the appeal steps.
  2. Report the scam to the platform. On Binance, open the transaction and click Report Scam, or ask Binance Support for the case report form. Include the order number, dates, amounts, the other user's Binance ID and screenshots of the conversation.
  3. Tell your bank or wallet provider straight away, especially if your account has been frozen or money has left it.
  4. Report to the authorities: the NCCIA in Pakistan, or cybercrime.gov.in and 1930 in India. Binance itself encourages victims to report scams to law enforcement.
  5. Ignore anyone who offers to recover the money for a fee.

A two-line summary

Sellers: release only after you have seen the full amount, from the buyer's own name, in your own banking app. Buyers: pay only to the account on the order page, from your own account, and never let anyone move the deal or the conversation off the platform.

Sources

Questions people ask

Can you get scammed on Binance P2P?

Yes, although escrow makes it harder than an informal deal. Binance locks the seller's USDT when an order opens, so most scams try to get one side to act outside that protection: a seller releasing after a fake receipt or a fake SMS, a seller accepting money from a third-party account, a buyer cancelling an order they have already paid for, or either side moving the deal to WhatsApp or Telegram. If you check real balances in your own banking app and keep everything on the order page, most of these patterns fail.

How to avoid P2P scams in Binance?

As a seller, release only after you see the full amount in your own bank or wallet app, sent from an account in the buyer's verified name; ignore screenshots and SMS alerts, and match each payment to its own order. As a buyer, pay only to the account shown on the order page, from your own account, and never cancel an order you have already paid for. On both sides, keep every message in the order chat, ignore anyone claiming to be Binance support in the chat, and appeal instead of negotiating.

How do I report a Binance P2P scam?

If the order is still open, appeal from the order page first. To report the scam itself, open the transaction and click Report Scam, or ask Binance Support for the case report form, and include the order number, dates, amounts, the other user's Binance ID and screenshots of the chat. Tell your bank or wallet provider straight away. Then report to the authorities: in India on cybercrime.gov.in or through the 1930 helpline, as the Reserve Bank of India advises, and in Pakistan to the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency.

Why was my bank account frozen after a P2P trade in Pakistan?

The usual reason is that money you received was linked to a fraud complaint. Binance describes sellers whose bank accounts were frozen after trading with buyers who had been scammed elsewhere and reported it to the authorities, and the same happens when a payment comes from a third-party account. Contact your bank immediately, give the authorities the evidence and transaction records they need, and get legal advice if needed. To lower the risk, Binance suggests a separate account for P2P, fewer trades, no simultaneous orders and no crypto words in payment references.