[PS: Imaged sourced from Pixabay and designed with canva)]
By now, I am pretty sure that most of you are more than tired of hearing about the same crypto scams over and over again. However, if you’ll agree with me, where there’s money, there will be an attraction for both the good and the bad crowd. Therefore, I am of the opinion that these scams have come to stay.
DID YOU KNOW?
In February 2022, cryptocurrency exchange platform Wormhole lost $320 million after a cyber attack. In addition to this attack, cryptocurrency scammers have stolen more than $1 billion since 2021, according to a report by the Federal Trade Commission.
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In this article, I discuss some common cryptocurrency scams and how to keep your hard-earned crypto safe.
1. Romance
Now, this is usually one of the most common methods scammers resort to. Here's a link to an article I wrote in this regard. Although the method is old, it is still very much in vogue. The most commonly used channel is romance/dating sites. The trick is to make friends with an individual—a prospective victim—and gain their complete trust. Then, boom! Attack!
Scammers who utilize this method are quite patient. Here’s why: people do not just wake up one day and start to trust a complete stranger they meet online the very next day. Trust is earned, so time is an important factor.
Once the trust is in place, maybe even a proper distance relationship, the scammer starts a fairytale about an investment, preferably in cryptocurrency. The minute the deal goes through, the scammer disappears without a trace.
2. Phishing
Never ever click on a link without first verifying its source, especially when you have your cryptocurrency to protect. Scammers plant their emails with dubious links on already fake websites. This enables them to collect the personal data of people who would most likely become victims of their scams. If you ever fall victim to these dubious scams, do NOT drop the details of your crypto wallet.
3.Scams involving rug pulls
As a crypto enthusiast, you must have come across some shady new platforms or coins. This type of scam involves scammers setting up a new project. They make it so good that a whole lot of people are drawn to it. Once the scammer has gathered enough money from people’s investments, they disappear into thin air.
Rug pull scams are also common for NFTs, which are one-of-a-kind digital assets.
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4. Social Media
By now, it’s no longer news that social media platforms have become very notable platforms for fraudsters to carry out their vain activities. There's a Nigerian proverb that says, Awoof sweet but e dey run belle, simply translated to mean, "Free items can be sweet but they can cause you to have a terrible ache in your belly." Here, the proverb implies that one should be wary of free deals, especially those that seem too good to be true. In this case, free cryptocurrency giveaways are the order of the day. When, and if you click the link, you're redirected to a website in order to complete the verification process. To do this, you'll be required to pay a verification fee.
There are several ways this could go, and I assure you that none is positive. Not only is your verification fee a sham, but you also expose your personal details to scammers, and you can get scammed in the process.
There are several other cryptocurrency scams you want to be wary of, like Ponzi schemes, fake investment schemes, etc.
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