Cryptocurrency Fraud: How to Avoid It?

As modern financial systems emerge, so do a variety of fraudulent schemes. This problem has not been ignored, either. Cryptocurrencieswhich do not have any clear boundaries. The cryptocurrency market has a lot of ways to cheat. As of today, the most massive ones are as follows:

• Blackmail.
• Fake crypto exchanges and handouts.
• Phishing in social networks.
• Viruses.
• Phishing email.
• Diagrams of various pyramids.

In this article, we will briefly analyze each of these types of fraud, so that everyone knows how to save their savings in cryptocurrency.

Blackmail

The most popular blackmail scheme is the threat of disclosure of any confidential information of the victim if he does not pay a certain amount of money. In principle, this method is not only used to extort Bitcoinsbut also any other currency or anything else. Specifically for crypto, to avoid blackmail, it is advisable to keep a close eye on your account information, as well as on who you give your information to. Two-factor authentication should not be neglected either.

Top 3 popular crypto exchanges

Fake crypto exchanges

Such sites are copies of real cryptocurrency exchanges. Full-fledged websites are quite rare, rather it will be mobile applications. You have to be careful with them, they are often very good copies and inexperienced traders have no sense of a catch.

A common way to lure users: distribution of free digital coins, low prices and commissions, all sorts of gifts and other tempting offers. If we are talking about a mobile app, it is necessary to check the data of the developer, look at the comments and reviews. If the website is suspicious, you need to use a search engine to find the official site of the exchanger and compare the addresses, or better yet, bookmark the original domain.

Fake giveaways

The fake giveaway scheme is simple: the user is offered something free in exchange for a token payment. For example, they may offer to send a certain amount to cryptocurrency wallet and get a little more in return. Usually after such transfers you can forget about your Bitcoins. Fraudsters also use other coins, such as ETH, XRP, LTC, and others. They can also ask to send private keys and other personal information. Often fake giveaways are sent out on social networks, taking advantage of viral news and ads. Never participate in giveaways that ask you to send money first.

Phishing

Cryptoskam is often used in social networks. In this case, scammers create an account on behalf of a well-known person or company in the crypto world. After that, various airdrops with tempting offers are sent out. The easiest way to avoid such tricks is to check if the account actually belongs to a certain person.

Phishing is also widespread through emails. Usually in these emails, attackers ask you to take urgent measures to protect your data. For example, they might ask you to change sensitive information, reset passwords, or download some personal documents.

Viruses

Viruses, such as copy-and-paste, are a rather sophisticated way to steal cryptocurrencies from naive users. The malware intercepts information from the clipboard, in which case inattentive users send money to attackers. To avoid becoming a victim of a virus you should responsibly approach the issue of computer security. Don’t follow links from unknown e-mails, don’t visit suspicious sites and don’t install suspicious software. Make sure you have anti-virus software and regularly check for threats.

Ransomware viruses. These are programs that can block users’ smartphones or PCs with banners that cannot be removed by themselves. But you can pay fraudsters and get access to your device. Access to the user’s valuable data can also be blocked. Unfortunately, even after paying a ransom there is no guarantee that the attackers will keep their promise and not leak the trader’s information.

Pyramids

Financial pyramid schemes are probably the oldest ways to defraud the financial market. The most widespread scheme: investors’ profits are paid out of the funds contributed by the new participants of the program. Accordingly, as soon as income from new pyramid participants ends, the payment of profits to investors stops. To avoid falling into such a scheme, it is necessary to study the digital currencies that you buy. If the value of cryptocurrencies directly depends on the deposit of new participants, it is better to bypass such offers.

There are plenty of ways to scam cryptocurrencies that can seriously hurt traders. However, if you know the basic scam methods, you can avoid scam schemes and keep your crypto assets safe and sound. Read more about cryptocurrencies on our blog.