Bitcoin Forum

5 essential rules to avoid cryptocurrency scams
The list of basic steps you should take to protect your earned money from frauds and hacker attacks.

>>>Have a very strong password
Obvious, isn’t it? Still, it’s funny how many people are lazy to follow this rule.  Did you know that for as less as $30 dollars, there are password crackers that can iterate 300 MILLION passwords per second ? Be wise and choose a combination of random Capital and small letters, symbols, and numbers. Create different passwords for all the sites and write them all down on a paper, which you keep stored safely.
 
>>>Always check before making any transaction
Millions of funds have been lost because entered addresses happened to be incorrect. Never try type out individual addresses – better simply copy-paste the address or scan QR codes whenever available.

>>>Use the cold storage
Web-wallets and exchanges should be used for active trading only. Coins you whant to keep for a long-term should be hold onto  offline hardware wallets.
 
>>>Double check all the crypto-relates web-sites you visit
Is it a malicious site your antivirus detected? A spoof Binance site with some letters misspelt? A site that just looks wrong? The best way is to access crypto services from the bookmark toolbar.
You can also use a an extension like MetaMask, which will automatically detect a fake MyEtherWallet.

>>>Don’t trust. Verify
There are a few online services that were specifically created to index fraudulent websites and services. Badbitcoin. org, for example, provides a comprehensive list of scams that were either confirmed or reported by users. The  bot @thatsascam on Twitter detects spam accounts and notifies you of the same. Always check new projects with one of this services.

 

Hi
Thank you for this post, this is used for who is new in crypto market and who worry about cryptocurrency scams

thanks a lot, guys
Nowadays many Scammers are in the world of crypto
hopefully tips from you can be useful to others,
and for those who have been cheated by project developers through ICO, use the experience to be more careful

yes everywhere scammers. specially i have seen in the ICO groups. i have had experiences too. lot scammers get money from poor people who does not know anything.


Strong password i can highly recommended ,  Do not share your private key under any circumstances.

This information is very useful for me thanks for sharing it here.
I have a little extra, do not easily tempted by the lure of big profits and do not easily make transactions if you do not know details about the person or company.
And never give your key or password to anyone.

I think its good article you have made here. I liked the point of cold storage. Its obviously true that if you are going o hold the coins for longer period of time then there is no point in keeping them on web wallets or also the exchangers which can turn out to be very risky one. I think one should always seek for the safe house and in this case it is the cold storage only. We have seen lot of hacking going on in the exchanger also so it is pretty much good way of safeguarding our long hoarded coins. Rest of the points are off course indeed must be followed to ensure the security and safety of ourselves.

This is one of the best advice on avoiding cryptocurrency scams that i have ever seen, simple, easy to read and straight to the point. A lot more people should read this because the number of people that are falling to cryptocurrency scams now is just way too much. Also I would like to add that if anything seems too good to be true, then it usually is, don't trust it

its very useful for crypto investors, this 5 rules relay help full thank you very much for much, if i have Smarits surely i give for this post but i am JR member so don't have Smarits  

This post is very helpful for those who are just starting with cryptocurrency. A lot of people easily fall for those scam and I hope less people will get scammed or at least have an idea on what to do to avoid being scammed. I would like to add something as well, don't fall on easy money promises. Nothing good comes with easy money, one must struggle first to make it to the top.

Please ask yourselves... is the coin I’m investing in secure, fast, scalable, great development team and community? If not... that coin isn’t going anywhere. It’s a pump and dump. Having a small supply raises the price but in reality it will never be a “merchant” coin. Invest in the coin that has the ability to be the coin for commerce. Do your research.. invest in the coin that meets that criteria. Don’t go after the advice of an investor who is sitting on a bag waiting for you to buy up the price before they dump.

This information is helpful especially for me my self, I just started in this forum crypto currency. So, I need this kind of information to improve my knowledge and to avoid scam in participating in any ICOs or bounty. However, we need toward improve our capability.

Very informative. Avoid airdrops which ask for emails as possible, or use a dummy email instead. Since most phishing activities are through emails. Once you click the link and login, you are compromise.

These are correct and very informative. It will definitely help a lot of newcomers in this industry. Thanks much. I have one share, this would be for investors who plan to contribute in ICO since nowadays it is a trend. Yes, dont trust and verify I am one of the victim of hashcard. There are ways to avoid scam ICO. Check it here: https://cryptocurrencyhub.io/ico-scams-and-how-to-avoid-them-635274901951. They have a project which I think is one of the best and it is good to be true so me and my friends (who I invited to join)  were scammed. Be careful folks as there are a lot more scams out there.

Most of the time I advise newbie to use a hardware wallet.
Because the hardware wallet can protect the security of the token more effectively.

Scam is when you are purchasing something, you paid and you receive nothing.

I guess you should generalize this into two thing, scams and hacking.

In general, being alert is one of the key to protect purselves from scam. Be vigilant enough before pproceeding in any actions related to cryptocurency. As we all know that the interests of people of cryptocurrency are growing that is why frauds and scams are doing malicious intent nowadays.

Anyway, thanks for creating this thread to remind us about how to secure our investments. I'll follow your advice about having a hardwallet. Though I may not have one, but I'm gonna research about it later.

I hope that all of us can understand of this so we can avoid the scam that might happen and we can protect our account and save it for private. by doing this and we are following every step of the info, I think we don't have to be a worry if something bad will happen because our account is safe although there is no 100% guarantee for getting safe forever.

I would add, use a password manager as it actually recognizes small changes in a website (like the time when there was a fake binance with two dots under it) and always enable 2-factor authentication with a safe word on the exchange if available.

Good post .From my perspective i think it can helpful for the new investors and who wants to invest on this market.

Thank you for the list, however most scams nowadays are due to phising e-mails, fale telegram admins, and fake addresses during ICOs. All of them are avoidable but people do not check. Telegram admins have a user name and an "admin" tag in the group they are in, so if you just take the time to confirm this is the real admin, you can easily avoid them. Phishing e-mails usually come from different or similar domains, not the same (although sometimes the real e-mail marketing account gets compromised and scammers send an ETH address to contribute, you should always check). Never give your private keys to anyone, for an airdrop for example, or to "open" a wallet. Never click links, always go directly to the real website. And bookmark them.

agree with you, example of scam is when dev run with your money in project or ICO, or ICO is succes but they dont pay for bounty it is you have been scammed

another important rule is to have 2F authentication on EVERYTHING.

I would say that the best type of 2F authentication is to use your phone.
Since most phones nowadays use fingerprint technology, your phone is one of the most secure devices you have.
Much more so than your email.
(of course, whether you lose your phone or accidentally drop it in the toilet is another thing...)

Also, the importance of cold storage can not be overstated.
Just like it is good to store your data on two devices (on your computer and on an external drive or thumb drive).
It is good to have your keys in an easily accessible device (like a ledger or trezor) and also in a good old fashioned lock and safe.

If you don't have one, then you can always open one at your bank.
Your investments are money and also future money, so do what it takes to secure them 100%.

Hi all this is very important  topic so if have any new points on this please share this Bitcoin Forum because more investors are facing  cryptocurrency scams problems

Determining what's the difference of scam and hack but in the latter, due to the negligence of the investor/wallet owner it resulted to that bad experience.

Keeping your wallet safe from any intruder by not giving your important seeds to anyone and by not riding the hype of ICOs that are overrated with their promises.

There is only one thing be mind, dont trust anyone aside yourself till you dont still vefied and prove the someone legitimacy. Well your tips given us not for scams these is tips to avoid hacking. Well these is a good tip, thanks. One more, dont send coins or token first, use a middle man in every transaction

It is definetly a very helpful post. Scamming is very dangerous and we have to take proper steps to avoid it. Thanks for your post. All the 5 points are really neccessury to avoid scamming.

And yet I think that hardware wallets such as Ledger are the safest way to store cryptocurrency. However, they are very expensive so i try to be as much cautious in the net as I can.

This initiative is really praiseworthy. We should follow these rules to ensure security in the market of crypto currency. If we follow such rules strictly then it will not possible for the hackers to hack the coins from the wallet of the investors. Then the trust of the investors will be more increased on this market.

I think that would be useful to make a list of red flags for new altcoins. It will help to avoid investing in new scams and make the ecosystem better.

I agree with your statements, people underestimate their own safety and later cry "why is this happening to me?" and it is funny from my point of view. I would mention 2 more things to keep in mind:


Do not let your coins/tokens on exchanges

Trade it and send to your own address ASAP. Big exchanges with a load of everything are targets of hackers all the time. Are you going to sit there and let them run with your money if they somehow make it through the code of the exchange? Not a thing I would like to experience.

Minimize the risk by using your brain and instincts

Does this project promise 1000% ROI without even mentioning a single member of their team? Come on, your instincts must freak out when you are sending them your hard-earned money. Keep yourself informed, read a lot, ask questions. And when you feel like something is not okay- let it be. You will probably find a better one in a matter of minutes if not even seconds. You can hit the jackpot, but it is worth the risk?


Have a nice day everyone reading this comment and I hope this comment will save at least one undecided person ;).

Thank you so much for this information! If i only had it a few months earlier... well, okay, experience is experience after all

Thank younso much! I want to join you and aish good luck for all the people in the world, not only connested with cryptocurrency

I think that we should punish people responsible for scams, but it is so hard to find them and so hard to prevent those crimes

Thanks, for your valuable information. I believe that it would help the beginners a lot in their investment. As they will be able to know the information about the basic techniques to get rid of the frauds.

Undoubltedly, very helpful content to trace the scammers. All the points are very very important and clear for assuring the security of the account. I want to add a few with number four point. I think deleting the cache and cookies will allow you to be more secured if there is nay trozen pushed through browser. In a sum, I think all of us have to be more careful to avoid and trace the scams.

This topic is very beneficial to all of the people engaging themselves in cryptocurrency. I cannot agree more that these days the society is very much exposed to the different types of fraudster who does varieties of methods to commit their scams.

Each and everyone of us should be fully aware of the things that can be done in order for us to avoid these types of circumstances. We should have sufficient knowledge, good intuition and always think critically upon doing our actions especially if it is regarding transactions. Our identity, security and actions are very crucial in doing transactions that may cause us to be scammed.

Awareness and precautions are very important in this matter.

indeed now ico scam is a thing that the investors feared. because ico scam will lead to many losses. with the information given will certainly be very helpful to choose a good ico and avoid the scam ico. hopefully, this information will be useful for investors.

Thanks to the owner of this furom you help all people to read about this to avoid scam coz this time many scam around the ceypto world.

I think it's not about the expensive or not because if we can have a ledger to safe our coins then it's worth to buy the hardware because we don't have any problem with anything. and if we compare with our profit in the cryptocurrency, then to buy that hardware still not too expensive and we can save it in that wallet and I am sure that we can feel safe.

 hardware wallet is the thing that I'm going to buy, but I am so lazy, one day it could be a big problem for me...

It is surprising that such articles are popular and appreciated nowadays. We are building a decentralised future and do not know the basic rules of security when we work on the Internet and are particularly sensitive to our finances. Cryptocurrency gives a unique chance to manage their finances on their own and fully control them, but instead we put monosyllabic passwords and share private keys.

 yes, those are great rules to follow, actually I can add only to be patient, and never act from rush, this could be helpful

We need to be very much updated to avoid scams in the cryoto field and basically the new investors need to have some common sense before investimg into anything,mkst of the newbie investors were attracts for hige offers but they need to understand this is not possible so this might be scam.

Very good post. You have pointed out the steps too well and hope all will be benefited from this.