Cryptocurrency Scams You Should Watch Out For

Cryptocurrency scams are still rising. Thieves are using old techniques and coming up with new ones to steal crypto assets. Here are some of the common cryptocurrency scams to watch out for.

Crypto giveaway

There are many scam posts on popular social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. Usually, they pretend to be major cryptocurrency exchanges or celebrities and promise cryptocurrencies giveaway. Although to participate, you have to send a certain amount of cryptocurrency to the giveaway address. 

Also, the scammers started making fake crypto-celebrity streams on YouTube. They encourage viewers to transfer cryptocurrency to scammer’s wallets by promising victims double the amount in return. For example, a stream featuring fake footage of Vitalik Buterin (co-founder of Ethereum) attracted more than 165,000 viewers. 

The crypto giveaway scam goal is to rush people into bad decisions by making them feel like they are missing a huge opportunity. By participating, victims can lose their payment or, worse yet, click on a malicious link and have their personal information and cryptocurrency stolen.

Rug Pull

One of the scams involving cryptocurrency is called Rug Pull. The name comes from the expression “pulling the rug out.” 

Crypto developers promote their new project, which is usually a new token. Then suddenly disappear with all the gained money, leaving investors with a worthless currency.

One of the examples of this scam scheme was “Squid game”, named after the popular Netflix show. Unknown creators made a “play-to-earn” cryptocurrency, which means players could play a game and potentially earn cryptocurrency. Just after a few days, it attracted a lot of media attention and gained a significant number of followers on social media. The price soared from a couple of cents to a couple of dollars. But after less than two weeks, it turns out to be a major scam. The developers managed to cash in on more than $3 million. 

Fake website/app

Also, Scammers are trying to get away with crypto by setting up fake websites or apps. They create a website or app that looks the same as a well-known one. In most cases, it is hard to detect the scam because the domain name is almost the same. Usually, just one or two letters are changed, which are harder to notice, for example, I with L. 

The goal of this scam is to steal passwords and get access and transfer all crypto assets out of the victim’s account.

Romance Scams

Some people use dating apps and social media to look for a relationship, but others see this trend as a way to scam people out of their money. These scams are also called pig butchering scams. Scammers create fake accounts and reach out by pretending to be interested in them, usually claiming that they live in a different country. 

Then a scammer becomes familiar with a victim, starts a conversation about investment, and asks to download a fake trading account. They are convincing a victim to send more and more money. After getting the money or when a victim gets suspicious, the dating scammer disappears with a vast sum of their cryptocurrency. 

Men in the middle

Men in the middle (MITM) can happen when a user logs in to a cryptocurrency account in a public location. The goal of this scam is to steal private information, like their private keys or account details. The scammers insert themselves in the “middle.” It enables an attacker to intercept information and data from either party and might also send malicious links or other information to both participants.

How to protect yourself?

• Only download apps from official platforms.
• Do not trust people who promise to quickly and easily make money in the crypto markets.
• Never click on links from unknown sources.
• Do not mix online dating and investing advice.
• Be wary of social media adverts.
• Use trusted and legal websites and apps to hold your crypto assets (orbitos.io).