I have heard a number of people saying they have been scammed through Cryptocurrency. Nowadays scammers are all over and they do so by hacking people’s accounts and buy Bitcoins through the accounts.A scammer will send you a link in your email or social media pages ,when you click the link,they get access to your bank account details.They then use the details to buy Bitcoins. After buying, they’ll then sell them immediately and get cash.
When you get a link from unanimous person, don’t click it.
Others will simply make a call pretending to be from a mobile telephone company in your area.They will ask you for some sensitive bank details which they’ll use to access your bank account.Since they can’t withdraw the money directly,they use the details to buy cryptocurrency
Here are various individuals and institutions explaining how one can be scammed through cryptocurrency:
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Here is how cryptocurrency scams work – “…someone might call pretending to be from the government, law enforcement, or a local utility company. Maybe a romantic interest you met online calls, or someone calls to say you’ve won the lottery or a prize. They’ll wind up asking you for money. If you believe the story they tell and you seem willing to engage, they’ll stay on the phone to direct you to withdraw money from your bank, investment, or retirement accounts. Then they’ll tell you to go to a store with a cryptocurrency ATM (and they’ll stay on the phone the whole time). Once you’re there, they’ll direct you to insert your money into the ATM and buy cryptocurrency. Here’s where the QR code comes in: they send you a QR code with their address embedded in it. Once you buy the cryptocurrency, they have you scan the code so the money gets transferred to them. But then your money is gone.”
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How to find scams on crypto is an everyday topic.
Many cryptocurrency fraudsters are preying on newcomers to the industry. If you are new to cryptocurrency and don’t know how to differentiate between a real and a fraudulent platform, you will likely be an easy target for scammers.
However, if you look closely, you’ll see that these fraudsters deceive consumers into believing that their well-designed site gives them the appearance of authenticity.
Here are a few red signs to watch out for:
First, be worried if there is no SSL certificate on the website.
An SSL which means Secure Sockets Layer, is a certification put on every cryptocurrency-related website by the crypto business owners.
There are two kinds of websites: Websites that don’t use SSL and those that do. The presence of a secured socket layer on a website signifies its authenticity.
For the most part, phishing sites don’t last long. After defrauding a certain number of individuals, they will take their showdown or move on to the next domain. However, fraudsters can set up businesses quite rapidly due to how easy it is to transfer website data from one domain to another.
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Here’s another reminder of how scammers work these days.
-Scammers use social media for investment, romance, and online shopping scams.
-More than a fourth of the people who lost money to fraud in 2020 -2021, said it started on social media with an ad, a post, or a message.
-The most money was lost to investment and romance scams.
-Romance scammers pursue people on dating apps and social media with fake tales of love, then ask for gift cards, wire transfers, and cryptocurrency.
-The average amount of money lost to romance scams last year was $2,400, but people 70 and over lost an average of $9,000.
-Imposters posing as Amazon workers tricked people with messages about suspicious activity or unauthorized purchases on their accounts.
-People over 60 and lost an average of $1,500 to that scam while people under 60 lost an average of $814 .
-Don’t EVER buy gift cards to pay a bill or fees or arrest warrants or to send to a love interest.
-If you get calls about accounts, always log in directly to that account rather than trusting the caller or email or text.
-Don’t click on links in emails or texts and provide our personal or credit card information.
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Cryptocurrency is an emerging technology, and it hopes to replace traditional money. Its major appeal is that it is decentralized, which means there is no authority like a bank or a government overseeing the virtual currency.
The idea is that you have complete control over your own money. For example, two people anywhere in the world can directly send each other money without a bank involved.
The technology that powers cryptocurrency is called blockchain. Basically, it is a super secure online database that is very difficult to tamper with. Rather than a central database that may be vulnerable to hackers, the blockchain database is widely distributed across computers part of that network. And, with all these copies of the database circulating, it’s incredibly difficult to manipulate or to take it down.
The Cryptocurrency industry is flying nowadays. It is attracting a lot of excitement, but a lot of scammers as well. Let’s see what you need to know and what you need to avoid, to keep your money safe;
1. Be careful about crypto exchanges;
The valuations for cryptocurrency companies can be wildly high, which is why there’s so much buzz surrounding it. But that also makes it a fertile ground for scammers.
To buy cryptocurrency, you have to use real money, and while you don’t have to deal with a bank, you do have to deal with a third-party exchange. And there are many examples of these exchanges closing overnight and losing people’s money in the process, like Bitconnect, for example.
Bitconnect was once a very popular exchange that wiped out roughly $2.5 billion in value. It has shuttered operations after several accusations that it was operating a Ponzi scheme.
Bitconnect attributed its closing to bad press and attacks on the platform.
2. Do not fall for giveaway scams;
On Twitter, you will also find crypto giveaway scams, like when scammers impersonate a well-known figure and then set up a fake giveaway. They will impersonate someone like Elon Musk, often mimicking the handle, avatar, and tweets of the original account. And then they will use the fake account to con people into thinking that Elon Musk is giving away cryptocurrencies online. All you have to do is send him your own money first. Needless to say, it is not legit at all. If something like this has ever happened to you, you are not the only one.
You can also find these scammers on Telegram as well. They randomly pick strangers and tell them that there is a huge giveaway and again, they just have to give them their names and wallet addresses. In summary, if you ever read the term “crypto giveaway”, it is likely a scam you should be aware of.
3. Pump and dump schemes;
Some scams are even more elaborate. Scammers will create fake Twitter accounts to run coordinated disinformation campaigns, all just to manipulate the price of cryptocurrency. For example, John McAfee, the man behind McAfee Antivirus software, promoted different cryptocurrencies on Twitter all the time. BUT there was something unusual about that one. There are two L’s in officiallmcafee, not one. So, when this fake account promoted a specific cryptocurrency people believed it and bought a lot of the coin. But on Telegram, people were told to promote the bonus tweet, and were given specific times to buy and sell the coin. This is a really clear pump-and-dump scheme. This usually happens with new crypto projects, which are not listed on any exchange.
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OK so I thought I could never be scammed. These people were very good they called from Xfinity‘s phone number claiming to be Comcast sent me a verification code from Comcast to verify my account. They told me that my Internet was being used by unknown people and they were trying to take out credit lines on my PayPal and target. They got me to download an app called anydesk which is a screen sharing app and when I gave them the code and they were logging onto my phone it said it was Comcast. They got me to open my financial apps while screen sharing and tricked me into buying $100 in bitcoin on one of my cryptocurrency apps stating that it was the only way To stop them.   I had to connect my PayPal account to my cryptocurrency app is what they said. My five-year-old was needing my attention and yelling and screaming and running around so I was not able to give my full attention to the man on the phone Which I think contributed to the lapse in judgment. After I realized that I had purchased this bitcoin I hung up and called Xfinity right then. The scammer called me back 5, 6 maybe seven times. Now keep in mind I was asking questions through this whole process about why and how and he had answers and there were even people talking in the background like you would hear when you call Comcast. He even gave me a name his work badge number and a phone number for the fraud department supposedly with Comcast he said his name was Justin Louis though he had a very thick middle Eastern accent and it was also hard for me to understand exactly what he was saying which was making it even more difficult. I’m sharing this so hopefully nobody else gets scammed. The phone number they gave me was 267–420–2786 he said his name was Justin Lewis. If you get any calls or text messages from anybody claiming any kind of fraud on any account do not click on anything or immediately hang up and call the company with the phone number that you know is theirs and talk to them directly
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The Lake County Sheriff’s Office warns the public of an ongoing cryptocurrency romance scam.
Sheriff’s detectives have seen an increase in romance-based scams which originate on dating applications, social media applications, and other communication applications.
These scams work by the scammer befriending victims, generally on a dating application or other social media application. The scammer will then ruse and “romance” the victim into believing they are in a legitimate relationship, through regular ongoing communication with the victim.
After the victim is lured into believing they are in a relationship and they can trust the other person, the scammer then convinces the victim to purchase popular cryptocurrencies from legitimate cryptocurrency exchanges, such as Coinbase or Binance. The victim generally does not suspect anything is wrong at this point, as they are able to see the cryptocurrency in their account.
The scammer then entices the victim to believe they can make more of a profit by trading those legitimately bought cryptocurrency to a different cryptocurrency exchange. These secondary exchanges are often fraudulent and have websites that appear to be a legitimate cryptocurrency exchange. The scammer will then tell the victim to send their cryptocurrency to this other exchange and will give them details on where to send it, which often includes a cryptocurrency “wallet.” Once the victim sends their crypto to these unknown cryptocurrency wallets, it is extremely difficult to track its whereabouts or for law-enforcement to develop a suspect.
If you are unsure of the legitimacy of a cryptocurrency exchange, you should conduct research and look for reviews. If you are unable to find any data about the exchange, it is likely fraudulent. As always, everyone should be extremely cautious of those you meet online.