How to Stay Safe on Paxful – Paxful Knowledge Base (Customer Help Center)

Safety is a big priority for us at Paxful, so we’ve put together this list of tips and tricks to help keep your account safe.

1. Stay in the trade chat if you can.

Although there are times where you might need to exit the chat to finish the trade, try not clicking on suspicious links that you aren’t familiar with, especially phishing links.
Be cautious of users asking you to cancel a trade and to switch over to a different offer link. Keep an eye out for users that are not following offer guidelines.
Don’t chat outside of Paxful’s trade chat. If your trade ends up in a dispute, our team can’t fully help to resolve the issue since it happened outside of Paxful.
Check that your address bar is "https://paxful.com" before entering your account details.

2. Don't share your personal information.

Don’t share contact or personal information in the trade chat—users can try to scam you on off-site trades, impersonate you, or show that you traded with them off-escrow.

3. Identify real Paxful moderators.

It’s important to know that our moderators have specific chat bubbles and signatures to let you know that it’s really us. Here’s what a real Paxful moderator message will look like:

1. Two-factor authentication

We highly recommend setting up 2FA as soon as you create your Paxful account. You can set this up in your account settings. We love using Authy or Google Authenticator, but you can also use SMS. SMS can be a bit more risky since there are tactics (such as SIM swapping) to get a hold of someone’s SMS messages, and receiving SMS depends on your network and region.

2. Security questions

It’s best to set your questions up when you create your Paxful account, but you can set them up at any time in your account settings. Be sure to pick questions and answers that you won’t forget!

3. Active sessions

We recommend frequently checking out the devices you’re currently logged in to your Paxful account on. You can check this in the security tab of your Paxful account. If you don’t recognize a device, use the “x” on the page to log your Paxful account out of that device. We’d also recommend changing your password if this happens, too.

Even when you’re not logged in and actively using your Paxful account, it’s important to keep your account and systems safe.

1. Email and passwords

Creating passwords. When creating a password, be sure to use a combination of upper and lower case letters, numbers and special characters.
Don’t use the same password. It’s super important to have different passwords for your email and your Paxful account. This is because hackers usually target your emails. In the worst-case scenario, if a hacker gains access to your email, they’ll be able to access the funds in your Paxful wallet.
Never share your password. Be cautious of users asking for sensitive information like your password in a trade chat. The Paxful team will NEVER ask for your password or other sensitive account information. If you’re in a trade dispute and you’re asked by our moderators to provide a screenshot or a video as proof, make sure your passwords are not visible.
Protect your email address. Make sure you protect the email address connected to your Paxful account and don’t share it in a trade chat. Your email is a gateway to your Paxful account so be sure to keep it to yourself!
Be cautious of SMS messages and emails from unfamiliar senders:

Paxful only sends you SMS with security codes related to 2FA and phone verification.
Don’t interact with suspicious emails. It’s best to not open emails that look suspicious to you.
Don’t give away sensitive data or click on suspicious links. For additional info, see: I received a suspicious email. Is it from Paxful?

2. Computer health checklist

Keep your systems up to date. This includes your computer, browser, and any softwares or programs.
Don’t download anything unnecessary. In addition to this, if you don’t know the developer or you’re not sure if you trust it, don’t download the software or program.
Use officially licensed softwares. Make sure you’re using softwares that are trusted and licensed. Remember to keep these programs up to date, too. This includes antivirus, anti-malware, personal firewall programs, etc.

3. Use secure networks

Make sure you’re using trusted and secure Wi-Fi and networks. Ideally, use a wired connection or a network with a password.

Here are some great tips on how to keep your cryptocurrency safe when trading in the Paxful marketplace.