Title: [Guide] Using Google Alerts to avoid getting scammed Post by: whotookmycrypto on March 08, 2019, 03:15:13 PM Using Google Alerts to avoid getting scammed by WhoTookMyCrypto.com (http://WhoTookMyCrypto.com) Hi all, After seeing how users continue to get scammed (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5114712.0) by fake Electrum wallets despite multiple announcements being made across the crypto community, we decided to share this free and easy method that could potentially help you avoid getting scammed. Why this matters? While cryptocurrencies allow you the freedom to be your own bank, this comes with responsibilities for securing your funds. If your credit card gets stolen, you could always call the bank’s customer helpdesk. However, in crypto, once your funds are stolen, they are unlikely to be recovered. How to set up Google Alerts? Step 1: Create a Gmail account. 1. Go to https://www.google.com/gmail/about/ (https://www.google.com/gmail/about/) 2. Select Create an account at the top right-hand corner https://i.imgur.com/fVGosmY.png 3. Fill in the relevant information Step 2: Create your alerts in Google Alerts. 1. Go to https://www.google.com/alerts (https://www.google.com/alerts) 2. Sign into the email account you created in Step 1 by clicking Sign In at the top right-hand corner. https://i.imgur.com/S70RgFy.png 3. Enter the type of alert you want to create. Suggestions for the type of alerts to create are as follows. [Service / Wallet / Coin] + [Scam / Hack] Eg. Electrum hack, Binance hack In this instance, we have typed in Electrum hack. https://i.imgur.com/w3qJtsX.png 4. Select Show options. Here you can configure the alert settings. For example, you can choose how frequent relevant results are sent to you. If you want to change the email to which alerts are sent to, see the section on changing emails below. https://i.imgur.com/A7Jbmc1.jpg 5. Select the Create Alert https://i.imgur.com/K15vgVJ.jpg 6. And you are done, your alert has been created! You may create as many alerts as you please. What happens next? When a relevant article matching the alerts you set are found, they would be forwarded to you at the frequency you chose. Thus, articles related to Electrum hacks would be sent to us immediately (based on our setup above) to our email address. Can I have my alerts sent to an account other than Gmail? Yes, this can be done. In step 1, you still need to go to the sign-up page. However, you need to select the option “use my current email address instead”. https://i.imgur.com/GoAZRiU.jpg After that, you should be able to see the following screen allowing you to use your non-Gmail address. All alerts you go on to create as per step 2 above would then be sent to this address. https://i.imgur.com/NWw8GcT.jpg How effective is this method in helping you prevent losses? Using the Electrum phishing scam as an example. The announcement by Electrum of the scam was made on Dec 27, 2018 (https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum/issues/4968). Presumably, the scam would have happened around then. Complaints made by users on this forum also began around then. Within hours, we had already received a Google Alert notification indicating there was an article by Coin Telegraph (https://cointelegraph.com/news/phishing-attack-on-electrum-wallet-nets-hacker-almost-1-million-in-hours-report) describing the attack on Electrum. Conclusion BugBasher82 certainly wouldn’t be the last person to lose crypto via the downloading the fake Electrum wallet. But hopefully, by raising awareness about how users can detect cryptocurrency scams, losses to users can be reduced going forward. What other methods do you have for keeping track of cryptocurrency scams? Leave a comment below and we would update the thread for it. For more guides on securing your cryptocurrencies (https://whotookmycrypto.com/crypto-security/), visit us at WhoTookMyCrypto.com (http://WhoTookMyCrypto.com). Title: Re: [Guide] Using Google Alerts to avoid getting scammed Post by: theyoungmillionaire on March 08, 2019, 03:38:47 PM PS: We are not sure why images can't be shown. Could someone let us know how to fix it? Thank you. Jr. member rank and up are allowed to post images. Purchasing Copper membership (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=credit;promote) can help you with images. Also, you copied the wrong link. https://imgur.com/fVGosmY Correct way: Right click on the image to Copy image address/location. https://i.imgur.com/U9F1WfT.png Result (https://i.imgur.com/fVGosmY.png) https://i.imgur.com/fVGosmY.png See you around. Title: Re: [Guide] Using Google Alerts to avoid getting scammed Post by: crairezx20 on March 08, 2019, 04:14:31 PM It seems a good guide but why I'm getting no result when putting some of keywords in google alert.
Can you give more samples of keywords to see the list of alerts? Title: Re: [Guide] Using Google Alerts to avoid getting scammed Post by: whotookmycrypto on March 08, 2019, 04:40:09 PM It seems a good guide but why I'm getting no result when putting some of keywords in google alert. Can you give more samples of keywords to see the list of alerts? Hi crairezx20, the alerts would only work prospectively and not retroactively. So once you set it, only new articles that published going forward that match your keyword would show up. Attached below is a screenshot that shows how we were alerted of the Electrum hack. The keyword we used in this instance was cryptocurrency wallet. Take note of the date when it was delivered. https://i.imgur.com/JQp8ATe.jpg We would brainstorm a list of possible keywords and add them to the OP. Thanks for the suggestion. Title: Re: [Guide] Using Google Alerts to avoid getting scammed Post by: jademaxsuy on March 08, 2019, 05:04:54 PM In addition to @theyoungmillionaire's tips, all images that you want to be shown here must end in image formats like .png, .jpeg/.jpg and .gif in order for the images you add to be shown by using the correct BbCode which is
Code: [img]Image Link here[/img] Sample Image used: https://i.imgur.com/JQp8ATe.jpg |