Since the inception of cryptocurrency, may have fallen victim to one crypto scam or the other ripping them off their crypto assets. It is a sad feeling to be lured into losing your hard earn money. Scammers use the feature of cryptocurrency as a decentralized platform and intractable as an opportunity to commit many scamming activities. Henceforth, this article exposes you to some common crypto scams and how you can avoid them.
Furthermore, crypto scams can take many forms. Scammers want your crypto and will do anything they can to earn it. Thus, scammers may come in forms of proposing investments, or making you fall in love, etc either way they come, ensure to carefully read this article to the end to learn the common crypto scams and how to avoid them.
To better protect the crypto assets you have to keep yourself aware of how scammers operate. It helps to know when and how you’re being targeted. More so, it helps you know the next step take if you suspect any scam threats.
Types of Cryptocurrency Scams
Common crypto scams majorly come in two different categories. They include;
Common Crypto Scams
Below, we’ve listed numerous common crypto scams people have fallen victim of so you can learn from them;
#1. Social Engineering Scams
Social engineering scams are one of the popular ways scammers adopt to rip people off their cryptos. Here scammers use psychological manipulation and deception to collect control of vital information relating to user accounts. The scammers appear convincing enough to make you think you deal with a trusted entity like a government agency, community member, tech support, well-known business, work colleague, or friend.
#2. Romance Scams
Over 20% of money scammed through crypto came in form of romance scams. Scammers use dating websites to lure inexperienced targets. Hence, making them believe they will be in a real long-term relationship. Once the victim gains their trust, chats often turn into lucrative cryptocurrency opportunities for them. They will eventually ask you to transfer either coins or account authentication credentials.
#3. Celebrity and Giveaway Scams
Here, scammers try to pose as celebrities, businesspeople, or even crypto influencers. Thus, they will catch the attention of potential targets. Sometimes the scammers may promise to multiply the crypto you’d send them as a giveaway. Hence, giveaway scams.
#4. Phishing Scams
Following the context of the word “phishing” scams target information about people’s online wallets. Specifically, scammers need their crypto wallet private keys, which consist of the keys required to access your cryptos. Their method looks like many standard scams, they send victims an email with links that lead them to a website requesting them to enter private keys. Once hackers obtain this information, they can steal your cryptocurrency.
#5. Blackmail and Extortion Scams
Another common crypto scams method used included sending blackmail emails. In such emails, the scammer claims to possess a record of adult websites or other illicit web pages visited by the user. Then, they threaten to divulge them unless victims share their private keys or send cryptocurrency to them.
#6. New Crypto-Based Opportunities: ICOs and NFTs
Crypto-based investments like ICOs and NFTs have provided even more opportunities for scammers to access your crypto.
For example, some scammers establish fake websites for ICOs and inform users to deposit cryptocurrency into an altered wallet. While in other instances, the Initial Coin Offering (ICO) may be at fault itself. Creators may circulate unregulated tokens or mislead investors about their commodities through false advertising.
#7. Rug Pulls
A rug pull simply refers to when project members raise capital or crypto to fund a particular project and then unexpectedly remove all of the liquidity and vanish. They abandoned the project, while investors will lose everything they’ve contributed.
#8. Cloud Mining Scams
In cloud mining scams, scammers will create platforms to market to investors to make them put upfront capital down to secure an ongoing stream of mining rewards and power. The information available on this platform does not own the hash rate they claim they do and will not provide the rewards after your down payment. Cloud mining is not a scam, however, you have to do good research before investing.
How to Avoid Cryptocurrency Scams
There exist various actions you can take to avoid falling victim to crypto scams. Firstly, if you discover any of the signs mentioned above, you should avoid clicking on any links, dialing a phone number, contacting them in any way, or sending them money. Additionally, below are other ways to avoid crypto scams;
Frequently Asked Questions About Common Crypto Scams
What Are Common Cryto Scams?
We have mentioned many other common crypto scams on the page. However, the most popular ones include romance, rug pulls, investment schemes, and phishing.
Can you get scammed if someone sends you a crypto coin?
No. The only possible ways you can lose your crypto include if you give it to them in a well-planned scam if they hack your wallet and steal your key, or if you give them the keys. However, you should definitely not accept transactions you don’t know about.
How do I avoid getting scammed with crypto?
The best way to avoid crypto scamming includes staying aware and smart of scammers’ techniques and remaining alert. Understand the signs of the scams, and protect your keys outside your wallet in cold storage.
Conclusion
Finally, due to the mad rush into cryptocurrencies, many people have evoked feelings of the Wild West. Thus, the more the crypto ecosystem increases in scale and complexity, it will certainly remain a focal point for scammers.
However, by learning the common crypto scams and ways that scammers use to steal your information and ultimately your money, it will make it easy to spot a crypto-related scam early. Thereby you can prevent falling victim.