In response to recent reports of fraudulent chargeback activity, Bisq co-founders have broadcast network-wide alert messages blocking both Cash App and Venmo payment methods from further use.

What happened?

We have investigated the chargeback reports described in the link above, and confirmed that they are valid.

One or more chargeback scammers have been operating on the Bisq Network using the following onion addresses:

trvbnoqv7vikaghm.onion:9999

jinspb4cs57j3o7g.onion:9999

4id77pz3wqbc5yrn.onion:9999

And using the following aliases:

Venmo username Sylvester-Harrington (using onion address trvbnoqv7vikaghm, dispute case on May, 2.)

(using onion address trvbnoqv7vikaghm, dispute case on May, 2.) Venmo username Rhoanne-De-Guzman (using onion address jinspb4cs57j3o7g)

(using onion address jinspb4cs57j3o7g) Venmo username Carl-Aliff (using onion address trvbnoqv7vikaghm, dispute case on April, 29.)

(using onion address trvbnoqv7vikaghm, dispute case on April, 29.) Venmo username Amy-Abbott-4 (using onion address trvbnoqv7vikaghm)

(using onion address trvbnoqv7vikaghm) Cash App cashtag $ssl0319 (using onion address 4id77pz3wqbc5yrn)

(using onion address 4id77pz3wqbc5yrn) Cash App cashtag $gjohnson527 (using onion address trvbnoqv7vikaghm)

(using onion address trvbnoqv7vikaghm) Cash App cashtag $Edbr18 (using onion address 4id77pz3wqbc5yrn, dispute case on May, 8.)

Update (I add here newly reported usernames related to the known scammers):

Venmo username Patrick-Hinojosa-2 (using onion address 4id77pz3wqbc5yrn, trade on May, 1.)

Thus far, there have been 5 successful chargebacks, 3 via Venmo for $1200 USD and 2 via Cash App for $650.

The scammer(s) got blocked by their onion addresses and user names so they cannot continue with their current accounts anymore.

In all cases, the scammers have been the BTC buyer, and have completed payment via Cash App or Venmo to the BTC seller (the victim), and have then initiated a chargeback after the Bisq trade is completed, resulting in the scammer walking away with both the BTC that was traded and the cash that was used to purchase it.

In order to minimize further risk of these chargebacks, we have blocked all Cash App and Venmo activity indefinitely and possibly permanently.

What you need to do

Check to see if you’re at risk

If you have ever sold BTC via Bisq and received payment via Cash App or Venmo, you should check to see whether any of your buyers have had one of the onion addresses or usernames listed above. If you have completed trades with these users, you may still be at risk of a chargeback.

To check your history, do the following:

Go to Portfolio->History

Click on the trade ID link for each trade in your history

Examine the trade details window that pops up for the following: Is this a Cash App or Venmo trade? If not, move on to the next trade. Does the Trading peer's onion address field match one of the onion addresses above? Does the BTC buyer payment details field contain one of the usernames listed above? If the answer to questions (2) or (3) was yes, then you may be at risk. Please send a screenshot of the trade details screen and the full text of the JSON contract for the trade to manfred@bitsquare.io . (You can get the text of the JSON contract by clicking the View contract in JSON format button at the bottom of the trade details window).



If you are at risk

You should do everything in your power to minimize the chances of a chargeback taking place against your Cash App or Venmo account. This may include reaching out to Cash App or Venmo support to let them know that you are a potential victim of a chargeback scammer, and it may also include clearing out your Cash App and Venmo account balances to your backing bank accounts as soon as possible.

If there are Cash App and Venmo users out there who know effective strategies for making chargebacks more difficult or impossible, please add a comment here sharing that information with other users. Thank you.

If you have open Cash App or Venmo trades

You will not be able to complete them due to the payment methods being blocked. You will need to take your trade to arbitration, either by waiting for the trading window to expire or (better) by pressing CMD+O with the trade in question selected. This will immediately send your trade to arbitration, where your arbitrator will work with both parties to determine how to proceed.

Where we go from here

At this point, it is unlikely that we will re-enable Cash App or Venmo payment methods unless we can discover some way to provide better protection against these chargeback scams.

One idea we’ve had is to extend the trading window for these payment methods, and enhance the Bisq UI with a “two-phase” trade settlement process in which the first phase is the buyer’s payment showing up in the seller’s Cash App or Venmo account, and the second phase is the seller transferring those funds to their Cash App or Venmo account’s backing bank account. This idea is predicated on the assumption that it is more difficult or even impossible for Cash App / Venmo to initiate a chargeback if all funds have been moved to the backing bank account. The problem is that we do not actually know if this is the case. If you have expertise in how and when chargebacks can happen from payment processors like Cash App and Venmo to backing bank accounts, please share your knowledge with us. You can comment here directly on this thread (preferred), or you can email manfred@bitsquare.io or PM @ManfredKarrer.

Once the Bisq DAO is in place we will have new possibilities to secure the trade and that might give us the opportunity to support such high-risk payment-processors again. More about that once the DAO is getting completed.