As digital asset trading becomes increasingly widespread, C2C (consumer-to-consumer, or P2P) transactions have gained popularity among users due to their flexibility and convenience. However, in real-world usage, payment processes often take place off-chain—such as through bank transfers or third-party payment services—which introduces additional risks, particularly fraud-related issues.
According to recent security guidelines, the safety of C2C transactions cannot rely solely on platform technology. Users’ own ability to recognize and prevent fraudulent behavior is equally critical. Below are some common risk scenarios and corresponding mitigation strategies for all participants to consider.
C2C Transaction Risks: The “Blind Spots” of Off-Chain Payments
A typical C2C transaction flow usually involves the following steps:
- The platform matches a buyer and a seller
- The platform temporarily locks the seller’s digital assets
- The buyer makes an off-chain payment to the seller
- After confirming receipt of funds, the seller releases the assets
Because the payment step is completed outside the platform and relies on confirmation by the involved parties, this process creates informational blind spots that fraudsters can exploit. Common scam tactics include:
- Forged bank or payment screenshots
- Fake payment notifications
- Payments made from non–real-name accounts
- “Decimal point” payment manipulation
- Requests for third-party or proxy payments
- Social engineering tactics to pressure sellers into releasing assets
At their core, these methods exploit the trust gap between payment confirmation and asset release. A moment of reduced vigilance at this stage can result in asset loss that is difficult—or impossible—to recover.
How to Effectively Mitigate These Risks
The following practical and proven measures can significantly reduce fraud risk:
✔ Release assets only after confirming actual receipt of fundsSellers should verify that the payment has genuinely settled and confirm that the payer’s account matches the buyer’s identity before releasing assets.
✔ Be cautious of payments from non–real-name accountsAccepting payments from non-verified accounts may indicate a classic “triangular fraud” scenario. Once assets are released, recovery is often extremely difficult.
✔ Remain alert to forged payment proofFraudsters frequently use fake bank messages, screenshots, or fabricated payment service notifications to mislead sellers.
✔ Preserve all transaction evidenceIf suspicious behavior is detected, immediately halt the transaction and retain chat records, payment evidence, and order details to support dispute resolution or appeals.
These practices can effectively lower the risk of fraud and improve overall C2C transaction security.
A Compliance-Oriented View of Risk Prevention
While individual awareness and behavior can mitigate certain risks, from a broader market and compliance perspective, more systematic risk identification and monitoring mechanisms are equally essential.
When payments occur off-chain, platforms may not be able to directly intervene in the payment process. However, transaction behavior patterns themselves can still reveal risk indicators, such as:
- Frequent requests for payment screenshots
- Repeated use of unconventional payment accounts
- Abnormal patterns of order cancellation and recreation
These behavioral signals are critical inputs for risk identification. As regulatory expectations and institutional capabilities continue to evolve, more market participants, platforms, and compliance teams are adopting transaction risk detection frameworks that focus on transaction behavior data and patterns rather than isolated events.
In industry practice, such frameworks are commonly implemented under the concept of Know Your Transaction (KYT). By analyzing transaction behavior, transaction paths, and the behavior of related parties, KYT systems improve the efficiency and accuracy of risk screening. In complex trading environments, these capabilities support not only compliance audits but also enhance platforms’ early-warning mechanisms for abnormal activity.
Platforms such as Trustformer KYT, which provide on-chain and multi-dimensional monitoring solutions, offer institutions real-time transaction behavior analysis and risk identification support—helping to build a safer and more transparent trading ecosystem.
Conclusion: Aligning Security Awareness with Technical Capability
When participating in C2C or other decentralized trading models, individual security awareness is undeniably important—but it represents only one part of effective risk prevention. As financial technology, regulatory tools, and market standards continue to mature, broader and more systematic risk identification and monitoring capabilities are becoming shared objectives for both institutions and users.
Enhancing transaction security does not rely on a single safeguard. Instead, it requires coordinated efforts across risk identification, behavioral monitoring, and compliance frameworks. Only through this combined approach can digital asset trading truly achieve both convenience and security.