5 Common Cryptocurrency Scams And How To Avoid Them
Nowadays, cryptocurrency is the most valuable asset for criminals. Cryptocurrency is the digital currency introduced in the 21st century. It is considered safe, and secure as compared to physical currency. But, as we know there are loopholes for everything. We know that if the lock is made for high security, there is also another key for their emergency case. This theory is also applied to the case of cryptocurrency. If developers provide high security to their customers, but on the next face there is a key to unlock it. Cryptocurrency Scams are now a popular way among scammers to trick people into sending their money.
Top Cryptocurrency Scams
The cryptocurrency market is highly liquid, portable if once the transaction is made. It doesn’t revert it. As a result of this, there is a wave of scams in the crypto world. As an exponential growth in the crypto industry, there is various cryptocurrency scams news.
In this article, we are providing you with insights into the latest cryptocurrency scams:
Social Media Giveaway Scams
This is clear from the name, what is going to talk about. This scam is related to Social media platforms like the cryptocurrency scams on Facebook, Twitter, and many more. People of these platform seems to be too generous and helpful. People are engaged in faster replies and you’ll for sure thinking about that one of the favorite crypto companies is giving you a giveaway. It was like this, if you send them 1BTC/BNB/ETH they will give back 10x times. This seems very fascinating for people. This results in the basic funda of the scams in cryptocurrency.
But, the real scenario is it really unlikely for the cryptocurrency to host a legitimate giveaway. And also asking for sending you the money first. On social media, this is very common. So be wary of being this kind of message. All these fake accounts look similar to the accounts to whom you love and trust. But, the reality is these false accounts are only made for giveaway scams.
The first thing you need to do is to ignore them. Secondly, if you are interested and thought they are legitimate. Mine for their profiles and find out how real their Facebook and Twitter handles are. When you get a closer look at their profiles, you can see the differences and soon realize that their social media accounts are fake.
The last thing you need to keep in your mind that, whenever any cryptocurrency is giving you a legitimate giveaway, they will never ask you to pay first.
Pyramid and Ponzi Schemes
This is a type of top cryptocurrency scams in which participants focus on bringing new members to their team and promise them a higher number of returns. Both these scams are different, but due to some similarities, they are placed into the same category.
- Pyramid Scheme
This scheme works as a Multi-Level Marketing system where there are various recruiters. All the recruiters work under one organizer. This forms the structure of the pyramid. As the pyramid scheme grows, the older member earns an increasing stream of revenue. This is because the distribution is passed from lower to upper levels. This model is not sustainable for so long because of exponential growth.
- Ponzi Schemes
In these schemes, the organizer promises you. The older investors are paid off with the newer investors’ price. Ponzi schemes are one of the most common cryptocurrency scams in India. The newcomers join the newcomers and invest a certain amount of money which is helpful for the old investors. But, the scam isn’t successful when there is no more cash coming into the company. They are unable to payout to the older investors and the scheme collapses. This whole cycle continues until the inevitable implosion of the scheme.
Fake Mobile Apps
This scam is related to downloading malicious applications on your mobile phones. These apps are mimicking the popular apps. Once the user downloads and installed the malicious app on their mobile phone, it seems to be work perfectly. But, these apps are designed especially for stealing cryptocurrencies. This scam is very popular in the crypto space.
In such a scenario, when the funds are transferred they are directly from the fraudsters. Once it is transferred, there is no undo button.
The reason behind the popularity of this scam is that all the malicious apps are highly rated on the google play store, which makes the user more trustable and passes the legitimacy to the users.
To avoid being caught in this scam, you need to download the apps from the official link or the trustable source. First, you need to check the publisher’s credentials while downloading the apps from the google store.
Phishing
This type of cryptocurrency scamming is more common. Even all of the investors are aware of this kind of scam. In this scam, people are stealing personal data from the company’s website. This is taken place from different mediums like telephone, fake websites, emails, and many more. Messaging apps are more common in the crypto space.
There is a whole process designed for you to steal your data. First, there is an email coming for you with a fake link. When you click on this link, it redirects to the fake website which looks exactly like the original one. This website prompt you to log in, which results in stealing your credentials and possibly your cryptocurrencies.
To avoid this kind of scamming you need to follow some of the steps:
1.First, check for the URL of the website, whether it is the same as the real one. Check in the bitcoin scammer list.
2.Bookmark your frequently visited websites.
3.When you have any doubt regarding the fake one, you need to ignore it and contact the official one.
4.Keep your private keys confidential.
5.You will also report a bitcoin scammer after knowing that it is a fraud.
Vested Interests
This scam talks about entrusting someone to purchase or invest in the cryptocurrency market. There is one word in the cryptocurrency market known as DYOR that means ” Do Your Research” in the cryptocurrency market. This signifies a good reason. When you want to invest in the crypto market, do research and don’t rely on other people’s or strangers’ words. Before investing you need to start research and find the appropriate information regarding the topic.
Facts
- Cryptocurrency scams in South Africa affected more than 28,000 people and results in the loss of more than 1 billion rands.
- Ponzi scheme is the most common cryptocurrency scam in India and also fraudsters are more rely on doing PayPal cryptocurrency scams.
Conclusion
A fraudster has no shortage of techniques to steal cryptocurrency. There are various cryptocurrency frauds in India and other countries. Always check that you are using official websites or applications to do an investment in the crypto community. This is the only way for cryptocurrencies to avoid scammers.