As the crypto-sphere continues to expand and change, we need to adopt and evolve if we want to keep our hard earned money in our (cold storage) wallets.
Local Ethereum and Local Btc aka. Local Cypto now has its fair share of scammers. Even though there is a decent escrow system to buy and sell cryto for fiat on the site, there are many existing pitfalls that one may succumb to if not careful.
Some obvious ones are to take care not to accept payment via methods such as PayPal. These transactions can be refunded to the buyer on demand and can therefore leave a crypto seller at a risk of being scammed.
There are warnings on the site about PayPal and other risky payment methods, but I would question as to why the option even exists when it can give rise to such scamming behaviour? It is simply not worth the risk as regards the site's long term viability and success.
Sellers should also be aware that even interact /e-transfers can also be refunded by the buyer, if they tell their bank that they were scammed. Even if one has the digital evidence of the sold crypto having transferred to the buyer's wallet, it can be disputed as it has no name or ID linked to it. Banks will also tend to side with the buyer in general in cases such as these as they are broadly anti-crypto. Thus, please be advised to stay away from interact/e-transfers also.
You could ask the buyer for an ID and a selfie with the ID as an extra precaution, however one can still be scammed with fake ID's and photo-shopped selfies.
In closing, I would contend that even with the safest method of buying and selling on Local Crypto, one should be extremely cautious as these sites are still relatively new and rife with creative scammers.
Stay safe everyone, and thanks for reading.
This is a very valuable information, especially for those who use those platforms for exchange. "It is a red flag".