The message usually lands a few minutes after a peer-to-peer crypto trade opens: "Payment sent, please release." A screenshot follows, showing a bank transfer with the right name, the right amount and a confirmation number. Sometimes the payment is real. More and more often, it is not.
This alert covers the three tactics behind most peer-to-peer (P2P) crypto fraud right now: fake payment proofs, chargebacks after the coins are gone, and pressure to release before you have checked. It also explains what to do and where to report it if you are targeted.
The numbers behind the warning
The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) 2025 report, released in April 2026, logged 181,565 cryptocurrency-related complaints. Reported crypto-related losses reached about $11.4 billion in 2025, up 22% on 2024.
For context, IC3 recorded over $20.9 billion in losses across every crime type, from about 1 million complaints. Crypto accounted for more than half of all the money reported lost.
Crypto investment scams alone cost victims $7.2 billion. People aged 60 and over reported $4.4 billion of the crypto losses, and crypto ATM and kiosk scams took another $389 million.
The Federal Trade Commission sees the same trend from a different angle. In March 2026 testimony, the FTC said US consumers reported losing $15.9 billion to fraud in 2025 across about 3 million reports, up from over $12 billion in 2024.
Imposter scams alone produced more than 1 million of those reports and over $3.5 billion in losses. Many P2P scams include an imposter element, as you will see below.
Tactic 1: the fake payment proof
In a P2P trade, the buyer sends fiat money, such as a bank transfer or an app payment, and the seller releases the crypto. The weak point is the moment the seller decides the money has arrived.
Scammers attack that moment with forged evidence: edited screenshots, fake bank emails, or PDF "receipts" that look official. Generative AI has made these fakes cheap, fast and convincing.
The Philippine e-wallet GCash has publicly warned users that scammers use AI apps to create fake payment receipts. Its advice applies everywhere: check the transaction history inside the app, not an image someone sends you.
A screenshot only proves that someone produced an image. Senpero, a non-custodial P2P marketplace, publishes a guide on how to spot a fake payment proof, but the rule that matters most is the one GCash gives: the only proof that counts is money you can see in your own account.
Tactic 2: the chargeback after the coins are gone
This one works even when the payment is real. It exploits a mismatch between two kinds of money.
Crypto transactions are final. Once coins move on the blockchain, there is no bank to call and no button that pulls them back.
Many bank and card payments are different. They can be disputed, recalled or reversed, sometimes days or weeks after they were sent.
So the scammer pays, receives the crypto, then files a dispute claiming the payment was unauthorized. The money leaves the seller's account, and the crypto never comes back.
A common variation pulls in an innocent third person. The scammer "sells" something to an unrelated victim and gives them the crypto seller's bank details. The victim pays, the seller releases coins to the scammer, and when the victim reports fraud, the seller's bank account is the one that gets frozen.
Tactic 3: "release it now" pressure
Urgency is the scammer's most reliable tool. It turns a careful check into a guess.
Expect lines like "my bank already took the money," "I will leave you bad feedback," or "I am reporting you to support." Some scammers pose as platform staff in a separate chat and claim the payment is "on hold" until the crypto is released.
No real buyer or platform needs you to release coins before you have confirmed the money yourself. If the pressure rises, slow down even more.
Red flags to watch for
A screenshot, PDF or email arrives before the money appears in your own banking app.
The name on the payment does not match the name on the buyer's trading account.
The money comes from a third party, a business account, or several small transfers.
The buyer asks to move the conversation to WhatsApp, Telegram or another app.
Someone claiming to be support contacts you privately and asks you to release funds.
The buyer offers a price well above the market rate or pushes for a bigger trade than usual.
The buyer insists on a card payment or another method that is easy to dispute.
A brand-new account with no trade history wants a large amount, fast.
What escrow does and does not do
Many P2P platforms hold the seller's crypto in escrow during a trade. On non-custodial marketplaces, that escrow is a smart contract on the blockchain rather than a company account.
Escrow stops a seller from vanishing with the buyer's money. It cannot protect a seller who releases the coins on the strength of a fake receipt, because the release is the seller's own decision.
What to do if you are targeted
Stop and do not release anything. If the trade is on a platform, open a dispute through its own process and upload your evidence there.
Collect everything: chat logs, the buyer's username, wallet addresses, transaction hashes, bank references and the fake documents themselves. Write down the timeline while it is fresh.
If money has already moved, call your bank right away and ask about recalls or fraud holds. Then file a report with the FBI's IC3 and with the FTC, which helps investigators connect related cases.
Be wary of anyone who contacts you afterward offering to recover your crypto for a fee. Recovery offers are a well-known follow-up scam aimed at people who have just lost money.
Checklist before you release crypto
Log in to your bank or wallet app yourself. Ignore screenshots and emails.
Confirm the exact amount has arrived and shows as completed, not pending.
Match the sender's name to the buyer's verified name on the platform.
Keep every message on the platform, never in a side chat.
Refuse third-party payments and methods that are easy to reverse.
Treat urgency as a reason to wait longer.
If anything feels wrong, open a dispute and report it to IC3 and the FTC.
Scammers count on speed. A few minutes of checking your own account is the one step they cannot fake.