Bitcoin Forum

This could be through scam promotions on Bitcointalk, Reddit, or any other social media sites, or maybe through Google ads, etc. Instead of just completely ignoring it, spend a few seconds reporting the scam site as to hopefully prevent potential victims from falling for these scams. Even if the difference to be made probably is just minuscule, it could make a difference.

Remember, it only takes a few seconds.

• https://safebrowsing.google.com/safebrowsing/report_general/
• https://www.us-cert.gov/report-phishing

You can also report it to your social media groups so they can become aware of it quickly and never fall victim to it.
And I'll add it to your list as well.

• https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-recognize-and-avoid-phishing-scams#report    

Better still, especially with those sites that actually are registered companies, and are selling misleading services and products... Or outright just doing shady scammy stuff, report them to the consumer and business bureaus in their jurisdictions. Use your rights and don't let them get away with taking your money. Might not save you but will save others.

On mobile now but can think of at least the better business bureau in the US.

Spreading awareness about something like this is one of the most commendable things people could do. I really salute to those guys who takes a lot of time and effort to report this scams. Without them, a lot of people might have been a victim by now.

On that note, take a look at https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=83.0, you might want to report something or someone.

Thanks for this reminder. But the reality is that it won't just take a little time. In Telegram alone, volumes of messages are in promotion of scams. This forum alone must also have its fair share, especially in the altcoin section. In Facebook, Reddit, and Twitter, scams related to cryptocurrency are also very rampant.

But I guess everybody in this crypto community should start spending at least a little random time for this. I think it is the responsibility of each member of the world's crypto community to keep it clean. Let's all start reporting Bitcoin SV!  ;D

Quite helpful to give awareness for people to report various scams that exist in our market. Some reasons I see why people won't take the extra step is because; [1] They have no knowledge on where to report such thing especially when related to crypto-space, [2] They don't want explaining and going through stuff they don't know about, or [3] Even if they report it, they expect no action and resolution from the institution that'll make scammers liable for their loss.

Yeah sure. The effect of reporting scam sites might be minimal at best. But like I said, that small difference still counts. If me spending a minute or two to report a scam site I've seen prevents a single person from getting scammed, I see that as a major win.

I quite agree with reporting of these scam projects right away. Create a thread in multiple platforms and forums and get people to know about them. But another thing again is that these scam of a thing takes many form and methods. It all boils down to being careful and doing proper analysis before delving into any new site. If the offerings are too good to be truth, then it's a scam.

I also report all scam sites i found and i hope on future that we can have a system when enter to an website unknown the browser auto detect it as a unsecure and a risky website, but for this will be need a lot of work.

There are some companies that do shady business deals and other stuff that still go unnoticed just because they’re a big company or people just tend to believe they’re honest about everything they do. There are also sites that are legitimate on the surface but often ends up being scam sites due to a multitude of wrongdoings unbeknownst to the regular user. Even a simple false advertisement would tick off the scam-meter for me and would be worthy of a report to our local trade bureau so as not to prolong its exposure to the consumers.

I believe that bitcointalk is exactly the forum where most cryptocurrency users communicate, as well as where you can express your opinion on any company that attracts attention or is in doubt.  In any case, every investor or trader if owns information, then it is safe.

Actually not. There are a lot of people that prefers to use r/bitcoin and r/cryptocurrency rather than Bitcointalk; and I'm pretty sure a huge demographic of bitcoin holders don't even use either, hence there are so much uneducated people that easily fall for these scams.

to be fair people must never trust anything without first  doing extensive research about it. this would be specially important when there is something as valuable as bitcoin involved.
and when they start searching the first results are always from bitciontalk.org if someone had made any topics about that service (like scam accusation against cloudmining scams).

The first problem here that some people especially beginners doesn't know, is on how to recognize if it's a scam or not. Imagine how many people are getting scammed because they're not aware if it's already a scam. Sometimes the vitcim are not to blame also, because there are site nowadays that are good at pretending to be a legit one.

But really it's also a great help to report than just ignoring it. In a simple way, we're able to help others.

Its difficult for them to identify it because they doesn't have enough understanding about it and that is the reason why we need to guide them particularly when they are making decision on visiting different sites because we can't easily say that the site is legit or has a good intention. Also, we can't effortlessly avoid scammers because you can literally find them everywhere and they they are using different techniques/strategies to deceive others and take advantage on them like getting their personal data even their funds. Its the reason why we have to be cautious and attentive, if you need to have your own research to make sure that the site is legit then do it even if its a bit laborious at least you know that your data and assets are not in danger.

I am glad to see these sites where we can report possible scams and frauds programs. Lately, I saw in the news of a program which used the names of different sports personalities and celebrities purportedly endorsing the very program being advertised when in fact the connection is just a big lie. These programs penetrated Google Ads and Facebook before they were taken down because some people started reporting them as scam and fraud. Such is the power of the community action if we are properly guided, we can stop a possible scam right on its bud and we can save prospective victims from losing their money in the scheme. And since many of these programs are using Bitcoin and cryptocurrency to further attract attention therefore tainting the name of Bitcoin, the more that we should be reporting them.

mjglqw, the reports of such sites actually make a big difference because they become blocked in Chrome / Firefox, but also some popular security software is using the same data for they antifraud/phishing protection modules. So if many people report some site this will turn red light on Google's side, and they will block it very quickly.

For example, this is what users of Chrome see when they access blocked site :

https://i.imgur.com/9awkAJO.png

Enough warning for most, though some even ignore it and choose to open the page (which is possible). Still, I think most think it's not their problem, even a few seconds is waste of time, but that's wrong thinking. Today you save someone, the next day that person can save you.

For those who want practice reports of bad sites, here is few of them : [Warning]Phising Cryptocurrency Website (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5197078.0)

It might not be as effective if a single person who don't want to be a victim will report the project or platform. If we are practiced to always report these, it will have a huge impact on the project or platform as they will have negative reputation without even having victim to their plans and systems In this case we should know our rights to report because I too are a type of person before that don't see my capabilities, if I see fraud, I accept the fact the I've been tricked, but moving on, we should bare in mind that there's no fraud if they know even before they start that their plan will not be possible.

Personally,  i don't really think much is done when scam sites or projects are been reported. This forum for example, there have been a lot of scam projects launched here and people have made reports about them but there hasn't been anything done to prevent the promotion of scam projects here.  How do you expect people to report scam sites and projects when nothing is been done to prevent people from launching scam projects here ?

It is responsibilty of all that whenever they see a scam project they need to report it to the community so that they are not able to fool people and raise huge funds from them.At intial stage the number of paticipating people will be less but when the number will increase the project will fear to scam and victim trap will eventually reduce.We need to spread awareness about such frauds in all our groups that will help all of us.

Oh for sure. Almost forgot about that. I mentioned that the effect might be minuscule because chances are, by the time that we(the more educated ones in terms of security/scams) find out about these scam sites, chances are that a good number of people has already been affected. +1

Yes people on the Internet mostly won't care about others. Of course they don't know them that's why they're just letting it even they know it's a scam. It's fine that they don't involve themselves as long as they're not the one getting scammed. Im also guilty that sometimes I ignore people who are asking for help cause they got scammed but if i know that a site is a scam, I'll tell it to prevent them.
But what's sad that scammers are being more knowledgeable that they know how to handle it. Even a single report can't do something to stop that site.

I think this is a good wake up call to everyone, that we should not just ignore the scams as we avoid it since there's still a possibility that someone would fall into their trap. We should take action and quit being selfish because as we keep on ignoring those scams, they would just keep on feeding leading to multiply to even higher number as time passes by. If we are going to act blind when we see such things, nothing will ever change in the crypto world so let us start doing the said gesture to save everyone from harm.

Thanks! I agree that it's better to do something than nothing. And although I almost never encounter websites which I strongly suspect of scamming people, when I do I don't really know what to do with them. At least making a fast google report is a good start. I got to say, though, that the difference can indeed be minuscule. I report offensive content of Facebook from time to time, and even though sometimes there is very clear hate speech there, Facebook always writes that it does not think this content is against the company's principles (so nobody obviously looks at it, it's an automatic reply). But if many people report the same website, it would probably make a difference.

if a single report yes its hard to take down the site but if we all will unite and report scammers , it will be more believable and investigators can take imediate action . i also encounter people that ask for help because they said that they have been scammed and like you i also ignore them but you should not be guilty because this is also one of the tactic of scammers.  we shall also report these people if possible and the site that they are refering too

If you've actually read the thread, I'm obviously not reporting specific websites. I'm just encouraging the community to report scam sites they find instead of just ignoring it.

Maybe try actually reading the thread before making a response?

I totally agree with what you said concerning Facebook(and most social media sites). It could be different with Google scams though, though I really don't know as I don't really track how quick Google blocks certain scam sites. But yea, regardless if it's slow, it doesn't mean that we should stop reporting.

I believe forum staffs have a whole lot of chaos to attend to in this forum in addition to keeping an eye on every tiny bit of project that pops up in here. On the average, we see about 5 projects getting launched in this forum everyday. Do you think they have the capacity to look into all this aside cleansing this forum of spammers? That's why it states clearly that people should do their own due diligence and also gives a strong warning to projects that get launched in here. Just take a look at the image below, especially where the arrow is pointed and you will know that the forum warns users but some folks just don't pay attention to some naunces of details.
https://i.imgur.com/evUq78R.png

I am very grateful to you OP, because you have made a post about a scam or phishing site in my opinion this scam should be reported immediately so as not to endanger many others or ourselves, for me it is better to lose a little time to report a fake site rather than losing money when browsing pishing sites like that I hope their Google team must immediately block sites that can harm other people.

We have report with scam site of crypto because give bad reputation for bitcoin and other ICO scam, many scam site of promoting scam ICO in bitcointal tread, reddit and twitter social media, they have try to scam many investor and run away after reach profit with their project. Thanks for every one have help to discuss with other member to give information with scamp site project.

I also commend the effort of the OP in bringing to notice this scam menace that had been painting the cryptospace in a bad light I am suggesting a special Thread should be dedicated to those scam sites this will help newbies not to fall for these scams because those pranks are usually targeted beginners in cryptos who are usually carried away with juicy offers.

I doubt anyone is doing that.  People rarely even go to the authorities when they get scammed for large amounts of crypto, probably because they don't want the cops to know they're involved with cryptocurrencies.  It's understandable, too, with the bad press that bitcoin gets.  Understandable but frustrating.

Better to just ignore all of these scam sites in my opinion, and don't look for them and don't give them the clicks.  It's the same thing with every ico that comes to market.  You know it's probably going to be a scam from the get go, so why bother even paying attention to all of them?  I'm not saying scam sites shouldn't be reported, because warnings are always good, but I don't think they're very effective.  Often someone will only find that warning *after* they've been scammed.  Many people don't do their due diligence beforehand.

To all related to phishing sites, you can just search the domain to whois.net, you will see what its registrar then directly report the domain, registrars like Namecheap (https://support.namecheap.com/index.php?/Tickets/Submit) and godaddy (https://supportcenter.godaddy.com/AbuseReport) has good support to eliminate this fraud sites on their record. They will suspend the account of those domains after a few days.
That's what I did to those clone websites.

Reporting a scam site is a good idea but it does no good if the reports aren't acknowledge properly.

For the above mentioned websites:
How many reports are needed for a scam site to be taken down ?
If we report a site, what are the chances that it will be taken down ?

in addition to OP's links I can add this site:
https://badbitcoin.org/
while it is not an official regulatory or governmental site , it has been pretty effective in listing scammy sites since 2014
every little helps - you spend two-three minutes of your time to report a potential scam and it could save someone a lot of money

very useful this article, considering that now there are many fraudsters whose work is only deceiving people, and making losses everywhere, I will save this link to always report if there are sites that are scams.

It's impossible to say how many as it can be a few hundred or a few thousand. It's always better to have many people report the same site than just one person doing it, because that increases the priority to have the authorities or companies such as Google actually look into it.

Based on my own experience, it varies a lot. I have reported numerous scam applications in the Google Play Store, where some are being removed in a day, while others are left active for weeks. I think it yet again comes down to how many people report them. The more people report an application, the more likely it is that something is actually wrong with it, so Google has to act swiftly.

What I do nowadays is that I ask friends and family to report it as well, which increases the odds of a quick removal.

You're right about that, most of the phishing sites from thread I posted are still online, which only means that they continue to be a threat to those inexperienced and careless. It is not only about people who report such sites, but also about all other links in the chain of responsibility. Reports should be handled much faster and more efficient, but Google is in most cases too slow (no manpower).

And how do these pages even come online? They need to buy hosting/domain first, and service providers obviously they don't check what this is really about. Prevention is always something that should come first, but everyone who should be on the front line is generally looking for profit first, and then they rely on internet users to be the ones to fix things.

I also think when if a site getting down then they created a new one.  So, it is better not to report only but to warn some person from the kind of scam on the site because they can create a new site but if a person totally don't know then they easily bait from the site so it means the problem was on the people who actually bite a bait.

Telegram is easy to configure to not accept messages from unknown people (too bad its not the default). And when you get a PM from someone in one of the groups you joined, you just do the same thing as in IRC: Ignore it by default.

Its hard for people to switch from "real life" "trust" model, to the online "trust no one" model. This is a social engineering exploit. Some exchanges have chats on Telegram, one day you join and report some problem, suddenly a PM comes impersonating "support", well guess what, its a phishing attempt. Usually support is given in public, for very good reason. Don't share login password credentials, etc. You can report the user and get it banned, but they have an army of fakes ready to pray on the next victim...

Yes, it's really important that we'll report scam sites s they wouldn't be able to victimize more people in the future. It's also better if we'll spread awareness so people we'll ger reminded and will get rid of fake or scam sites and projects. We should also be skeptical and double-check upon opening different sites so we'll know about their legitimacy.

Thanks for Sharing this with community. Its true just spending little time on that report could save lot of people. To be honest I didn't report such as way, but always try to spread word on bitcointalk by made scam accusation. Anyway, from now I will try to report at least to Google if I found any scammy website. I don't know if they grant for warning since Google itself advertise lots of scam projects. Its pretty complicated identity on automated system, but good thing is they might review manually reported sites, so there is a hope. Let's help each other by reporting scams.

I know some of the members of this forum have some experience in bitcoin/crypto scam site that's why we should not ignore it because if we do not take any action many people might be a victim of this kind of site. We all aware that there are plenty of scam sites and one of the ways to terminate those sites is through reporting it so they can't scam anymore. Lastly, be aware of all the sites that you have visited and always check the site if it is legit or not. I hope all members of this forum will report all scam sites that they saw or visit.

Whenever I am see some cryptocurrency site that is not legitimate or those people who are promoting projects that I've already know that it is not good or legitimate enough, I am reporting them especially those persons who are trying to promote their scam projects. If I saw again some scamming crypto site I will post it in our forum so that we can help and lessen the people who are getting cheated by this scam projects and crypto site. Let's help each other to prevent the scamming activities of people and lessen it.

The main point is, regardless if the potential effect is only small, it only takes a minute to report anyway. And that minute, from multiple people, can potentially save a few people from losing money.

No one knows for sure, but report anyway even though we don't have the answer to this. It does make a difference, we just don't know how much.

I really understand your concern. One small step that is not difficult, if this is able to give a warning to others so as not to get stuck it would be very useful. We can make a small contribution, in this forum also provided subforum Scam Accusations (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=83.0), if it has been proven to be a scam then we can report together if merged it will surely have a big effect.

Yes, the best way we can do is to find a scam site by reporting to an authorized website. Or we can also spread the word about the scam site in order to minimize casualties and losses. Thank you for sharing.

It is really important to report those scammers. Recently, their number seems to be increasing. If we do not report them, we will not be able to prevent them to grow. Everyone should be aware of this.

I really have no problem with reporting on posting these sites on the Scam Accusations forum. It's just that with so much phishing sites out there, it'd be almost pointless to post everything there as more will be made anyway. It'd make more sense to post those ponzi schemes that could potentially trick people by offering unrealistic returns. A better solution would be to simply stop telling people to install an ad blocker and stop clicking on ads.

Don't really expect the numbers to go down. This is just the tip of the iceberg. The next time we have a bull run, thousands are going to appear.

Regarding the problem of scammers, it is indeed very difficult to overcome, since I joined this forum until now there's always news
about victims of scammers. This can't be ignored, it has to start from small steps like just reporting if you encounter a scam site or
even experience a scam. We cannot remain silent, must do something at least our small deeds by reporting a scam site. Can prevent
others from being exposed a scam, it's better than doing nothing. Indeed, by doing this it can't destroy scammers, but at least we can
put up a little resistance.

Avoid clicking links that are not SSL certified you may see it on left top of your browser  click the lock image to see if the website is secured, other than that I do not know where I would report fake website. Maybe I would post in social media, because it has a lot of audience the would see that and could prevent to access it.

It really could make the difference, our scam section is a big help to me so many times, I was wearing the signature and promoting these projects when I saw one trusted member reporting and posting his investigations about the project the investigation is valid , it saves me a lot of time and effort, imagine if it was not posted I could have promote it to people and wasted several months of my time, lost of money to investors and lost of time and efforts to me.

You can with scam avoid bitcoin or altcoin site by clicking with SSL certified where not safety, almost exchaneg market use safety SSL site for their address website, when you find with exchange market not use safety site you can left and never investing or selling your coin. You ask at bitcointalk forum to know which one scam crypto site and which crypto site have to invest your money.

Another thing you can do but it wont work that often is to run a whois on the website and get as much info as you can to tell the isp what they are up to. After all it is the isp that is responsible for the content on their servers.

Has anyone had any luck reporting websites and having them shut down?

Theres already a ton of people who had succeed doing that and Im one of them.
I have reported countless number of ponzi scheme websites mostly composed of doublers and hourly investment scheme websites before. And luckily almost all of them are shutted down and their provider rejected their website. I can't remember the exact names but it is mostly doublers who got shut down almost immediately.

First, thank you for sharing us with this thought. If you care to a lot of bitcoin enthusiasts much better to report so that there will be no more naive people being scammed on that untrusted site. You must report it because it may become a threat to the bitcoin industry and the thing you need to avoid. I have been reported before a site that pops up in google ads and I think that was granted to them because the site was closed. Click only with a secured link like this, https//.

Everyone is at stake with these scam bitcoin/cryptocurrency sites so it would be of big help taking and making even little actions to stop it. We can.make a better crypto community by spreading awareness also, it could be in a way of reporting it to social media crypto groups or making a thread about it here in forum, giving advices about how you found it, how it's scheme works and hoe to avoid it.

One of the main reasons for scam projects, websites etc. to continue to exist is that not doing anything against those frauds. If most people can be conscious of this, scams will decrease in number faster.

Great point, at least am challenged to do more to prevent scammers from destroying the  reputation of the world of cryptocurrencies. Sometimes is just frustrating that after all efforts to fight against scams,inexperienced people or novice end up being victims. Scam would  always be with us, but with a good will we can help minimize it.

Thanks you have give which scam site using bitcoin named, many investor do not know to different between bitcoin investing with hype investing use bitcoin name for their project, I need many discussing in bitcointalk forum give worth information excatly for new member do not know which one legit or scam site, we have publish every site of bitcoin to know where have to invest or not.

This is one of the most important points. People are going to get scammed, period; as scams have existed since pretty much the rise of humanity, even without the internet. It's virtually impossible to eliminate all scams, as new ones will simply appear everyday, and with possibly new tricks up their sleeves to deceive more people. All we can do is to minimize the number of people that could get scammed in the future.

One more application I want to share with everyone here for possible safety measures towards all types of scams. Watchdog (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/watchdog/mcbhhmifoilglbfcgjdlednhmkjdfpob) by Cryptopolice [link takes you directly to the chrome extension] - a project meant for community, driven by the community to save us from getting scammed. The app is free of cost - a great initiative that must be forwarded to everyone for more and more reports and a better crypto space.

If we have the ability to analyze a site that is indicated by a scam then it is very good to help fellow laymen. And I totally agree with your description of those who did not report, I personally feel that. I do not have the special ability to analyze such things, so when there is a question as to why a scam is indicated, it is difficult to explain, except for phishing sites that clearly duplicate the original site, that I can only find easily through official accounts that are available. And I'm lucky to be able to get updated information about phishing site cases in this forum, and some caring members will definitely create a warning thread.

Ehh plugins like this are pretty much almost unnecessary if you're careful enough, though yeah I guess it'd be fine for the less-knowledgeable. Wish it was open-source though, I'd be skeptical with installing any closed-source browser plugin in general.

That’s right, anyone that sees a scam site should report it or create awareness to help others to be aware of what’s happening. Some people don’t even do that, they just keep silent about it and only save their own ass lol.

You can still not report the site but create awareness maybe on this forum where a lot of people would see it and know that it is a scam, that way you will be saving others too from falling for the scam.I don’t really know how these sites works to stop scammers, but I have once reported a scam website using one of such sites. And I didn’t just end there but went ahead to also report them.

I really don't blame them to be honest. Some people have been saying from time to time that people should be very wary of these scams and how people should spend some time on learning on how to secure their funds to the point that they pretty much sound like broken records already. At some point, it's going to get really really old. I can say this from personal experience.

We have a group chat that really helps new people in regards with crypto activities. Especially in choosing legit and paying aidrops bounties and other related crypto investment. This is to ensure them of not being scam. Everytime they showed us of any links, we make sure that we practice DYOR for everybody's safety... Especially those with KYC..

I like threads like this, I came across one some time ago, and am surprise they are still in play, check it out, and be guided https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5215051.msg53526794#msg53526794, I also made screenshots available on page 5.
 Thanks OP, people like you is what we need here in the forum.

as a variant, you can (and we all) not only indicate sites that are suspected of fraud or are scammers but also describe the parameters by which people can understand this.
Those. on the example of specific sites to make a guide. I think it’s possible to increase the effect

We can't effortlessly avoid scammers because you can literally find them everywhere and they they are using different techniques/strategies to deceive . we need to have your own research to make sure. But really it's also a great help to report than just ignoring it. In a simple way, we're able to help others as a helping hand . We must practice to reports of bad sites .

Spreading awareness about something like this . You might want to report something or someone  might have been a victim by now. If we spending a minute or two to report a scam site I've seen prevents a single person from getting scammed by bad people . I see that's a major win for us. In that simple way, we're able to help others.

I believe that bitcointalk is precisely the resource that replaces the source of verified and truthful information regarding the authenticity of new projects, as well as the prospects of existing cryptocurrencies.  Many thanks to those people who always conduct an in-depth analysis of all information about companies and share their results with forum users.  Of course, if you possess information, it means that you are armed.  It's true.  but where can I complain to stop the activity of any fraud or to punish it?  It seems to me that the only sure way to counter this is to report fraud and disseminate reliable information about it.