Don’t Get Caught in a Cryptocurrency Scam!
Scammers follow the money, and this holds true for digital money, too. Here are five cryptocurrency scams to know:
1. Bitcoin investment scams
In this ruse, a scammer reaches out to crypto investors while pretending to be an investment manager. They’ll say they’ve earned millions investing in Bitcoins, and can invest the target’s money for similar results. The catch? An upfront fee, of course! With money in hand, they’ll disappear, never to be heard from again.
Protect yourself: Never pay an upfront fee for a service you’ve never used without doing solid research into its authenticity.
2. Romance scam
In these scams, criminals use online dating sites to make victims think they’ve met legitimate love interests. The “relationship” grows, and then the remote date starts talking about an outstanding cryptocurrency opportunity, promising lucrative returns.
The victim makes an investment and loses it all to their “romantic partner”.
Protect yourself: Never share money with an unverified online contact you’ve never personally met.
3. Man-in-the-middle attack
This scam involves a criminal intercepting info a victim sends over public Wi-Fi, including login credentials to a cryptocurrency account and cryptocurrency wallet keys. The scammer then uses this info to access accounts.
Protect yourself: Only use a virtual private network (VPN) when accessing sensitive and financial accounts.
4. Social media cryptocurrency giveaway scams
Scam rings use social media platforms to advertise crypto giveaways. If a target clicks on the giveaway, they’ll be taken to another site seeking a payment to verify their account for the giveaway. If they comply, the victim loses this money. Worse, the link to pay the fee may contain malware.
Protect yourself: Never click on an ad to buy cryptocurrency. Instead, look up secure investment sites, like Robinhood, directly and on your own.
5. Employment offers
In this scheme, scammers impersonate recruiters to gain access to crypto accounts. They may offer a job opportunity that only takes payment in crypto for job training. Of course, the job is bogus and all the target will gain from the “training” is a loss of cryptocurrency.
Protect yourself: Never accept a job offer that insists on payment for training via cryptocurrency.
Stay safe!