Bitcoin Forum

The recent growth of cryptocurrencies has given rise to numerous opportunities for fraud. It is important to be aware of the risks related to it because scammers are constantly searching for innovative ways to manipulate victims in order to steal their assets or demand money from them.

To protect our assets from cryptocurrency scams, we must be vigilant and cautious and have the ability to recognize when we are the target.
Scammers frequently use some of this techniques to trick people:

-Small investment large gains: Any investment scheme that asks you for money and in exchange for unrealistic profit expectations or massive assured cashouts within little period with little to no risk is probably a fraud. We should always be wary of any information offering high and unrealistic profits with no effort or hard work involved since fraudsters are going to any extent to make absurd promises merely to get naïve individuals in. If anything sounds too appealing to be true, then it's certainly not true and is most likely a scam.

-promises of quick money and giveaways: New investors are always greedy, which is why scammers use giveaways to get their attention in order to obtain all of the necessary information from the addresses they provide to aid their work. As a beginner, avoid giveaways because no one has free money to give you; instead, you must work hard.

-No trading experience needed: Scammers will tell you that you don’t need any trading experience or any specialized knowledge to participate all you need to do is invest then relax while they update you on how to go about it. Some will tell you that everything occurs without human intervention. Hence, you don’t need to know anything. Avoid falling for the such trick, it's all an effort to manipulate you so they can extort money from you.

-High pressure tactics: A key indicator of a potential scam is if you receive repeated messages and calls from the investment firm urging you to act quickly or risk losing the opportunity, Bonuses, or discounts that are being offered at the time. So it's Always important to take your time to research well and fully comprehend what you are getting into.


As a new cryptocurrency user we should never forget that there are some people who are always after our assets and they will go to any extent to steal them from us so we should be vigilant and safeguard ourselves and assets from any form of scam. Never feel any advice is insignificant and don’t overlook minor details they can be useful you might never know And always have in mind that there is nothing like free or easy money.

some ways to avoid fraud
-Never give out your personal information to anyone you meet online.
-Research and conduct a proper background check on every investment opportunity thoroughly before you invest.
-Double checking on website links to be sure its the right ones and  avoid clicking on links from unexpected social media messages or emails.
-only invest in things you understand.
-Ignore people who come out from nowhere asking you to invest and join a platform you don't know about.
-Ask questions before you act.

The first one is really an obvious gimmick. Newbies before fall for this especially when they did received their shares or scam money that came from their pool fund. Usually scammers let the victim to received first their profit for the first few transactions, then when those received they will trust with more money and thats it the scammers will take this opportunity to steal their funds leavung the victim with more loss instead of capital breakeven.  Really hate their style but if you are not gonna be cautious then youll fall continously on their style.

Common things offered by scammers since they always want those newbies to believe that they can earn easy money with cryptocurrency and also by investing with them which is totally not true since this is 100% scam, this is overused for so many decades so for sure newbies can find relevant information or feedback about this if they just research first before deciding to invest on any ponzi scheme platforms.

The second technique listed is a well and popular technique used by scammers to scam naive, new beginners and unexperienced member or individuals. So i urge and advise new beginners like my self to be very careful and vigilant in any work or giveaway they might encounter because some might just be a way of giving personal information in one way or the other. Thank you for the well said advice and notification mate.

Almost all of the techniques listed are used by scammers to set traps for cryptocurrency beginners in order to see if they can get them scammed.

Beginners must be cautious and take their time learning everything there is to know about Bitcoin and cryptocurrency before they begin trading or investing, as scammers are just waiting for them to fall into their trap due to small mistakes made by beginners, and scammers will take advantage of the opportunity to scam them because they are waiting for any slice mistake to scam them.

As always we have seen those scams always have a promising they can double your investment in just a single day with a 10x to your capital which is already suspicious because of how they can earn if they give a large amount to the investors, there's a chance this is just a trap so they can exit once they invite a lot of members will willing to take a risk of course with higher capital and expecting higher returns. Even the scammers keep making an improvement they seem like a legit project that's why as an investor to you must need to make a double-check all the possible ways to avoid getting a honeypot or rug with those promotions. Again there's no free money always in the crypto.

You only know that your PC is infected with a virus or malware after the PC starts to behave abnormally.

You can not always recognize when you are a target, every person browsing the internet day by day are at risk of getting under the scammer's feet, all internet users are automatically a target to scammers, have this in your mind and know peace.

Just don't do anything stupid, like clicking on random links online, visiting fake or malicious websites, anyone could fall for this even when they are very cautious. 

They sound like the kind of answers you'd get if you asked AI applications.
I think the easiest way to detect a scam is by asking, if scam is related to cryptocurrencies, then the question here is an ideal option to identify scam, but there are types of fraud that you cannot recognize until after they have occurred, and such types need a lot of experience to know them, and sometimes you may fail to know them.
So everything that sounds too good to be true should be avoided.

This tactics is one of the oldest ones that is still used by scammers till date. Even the local scammers who will advice you to go sell your properties and get them the money uses this pressure method such that you will not have the time to discuss with your parents or relatives who will discourage you from being scammed.
This same method is applicable in the cryptocurrency industry and due to everything is digitalized, it will be easier for the victim to send digital money easily without thinking much about it.

There are many scamer strategies to trick customers who don't know anything by seducing them to enter into the trap provided through investing or trading bots for example and many more scammers' tactics in various ways, we often see where many beginners have deceived by them so that this has become unrest in the general public.

I know that in a number of ways the above is the basis for preventing fraud against us as beginners, but we must be aware and see how it must be reminded so that we cannot be careless in our actions, including greed, for example, people want to get a lot of money instantly without working hard means getting into a ponzi scheme or something.

As long as an investment or trade doesn't make sense, it's better to leave and never respond, we have to talk about the reality, whether it's true or not.

I'll add that one should view everything as a scam until proven otherwise. At every point in time we would be cautious of any message or offer we get and look for reasons that point out that it's a scam. It would be difficult to still fall for a scam that you suspect to be one.

Also, if it's too good to be true, then it isn't.

Simple yet effective steps to detect scams on the internet about bitcoin/cryptocurrency.

But I found ignoring people on the internet is the best way to avoid scams. Though sometimes, we need to invest in different opportunities when we set our mind to invest in anything, do detailed research about the project, look for reviews and also check if they offer any realistic profits from the investment.

put a way greed and always look for promises that are too good to be true are ways to spot a scam, or scheme, this is the thing that always attach to a scam being use by scammers to lure victims to put large sum of money in their so called investment, if they promise to return capital in a short time like a month, or big percentages , bonuses, step on your break and never put your money on it, I've seen my friends investing and got drain their wallets even though i warned them.

Well, if you think it more wisely, no investment that requires only small capital and gains a huge profit. That is very unlikely to be true since you’ll only gain maximum profits if you also place a maximum amount. If you fall for this, it’s a clear manifestation that you don’t understand what an investment is, and that you don’t even know your investment as well. That’s why everything that is too good to be true, then it’s clearly a big scam.

Probably, that could be the best way to save us from all types of scams. Never trust any investment until you see it with your own two eyes that it’s legit and it’s a profitable one. Otherwise, if you only suspect it that it’s a scam and yet you still fall for it because you based your decision on positive reviews which they can be paid literally, then you’re like as anyone else, easy to deceive because you tend to use your brain the wrong way.

I see warning threads like this very often, and it's quite strange to see people on the net who fall into the hands of scammers performing such tricks.
I once wondered if there were people among my acquaintances and friends who had ever received easy money on the Internet. Furthermore, I confess I have not found any. I asked my friends the question that concerns me, and they also did not find a positive answer.
Then I wonder where people get that they will at some point become "chosen ones"? Everything that is written and advertised on the network should always be questioned. Don't stop at one piece of news; check its authenticity from other sources.
No one will ever share an idea that will bring profit; this is an axiom.
But yes, we know that if there are still such ways of cheating, then they work. Another thing is obvious: if a person does not trust other people, their experience, and their advice, then he is "chosen" as a victim. There are no other ways.

OP has written well. There won't be a stop to the scams that are developed daily as global acceptance of cryptocurrencies rises; some of them are so clever that many victims are unaware they are being duped until it is too late. As it appears to be so smooth. The most perplexing scam is the one that promises quick money and freebies, which people continue to fall for perhaps out of desperation or just plain stupidity.

Most people ignore caution in this situation. People continue to share personal (https://duluthreader.com/articles/2017/07/20/108915-corporate-sociopaths-out-of-northern-minnesota) information online without thinking twice because they want more bitcoin or cash. And they would go online and start crying when they were eventually conned. Money does not come easy and anyone who is looking for quick money must be a very lazy.

The cryptocurrency market is very risky and we will need to understand how scam works so that when we see some scam attempt, we will be able to recognize them. Op had mentioned a few and there are more we need to know so that we will not lost our coins to scammers. Our safety should cover so many aspect including how to keep our coins safe from intruders. There are many cryptocurrency projects in the market now that are bad for investment and if we don't do enough research then we can become a victim and lose a lots of money.

Another factor is that most investment opportunities tries to mimic genuine projects. Some might even have to deal so patiently with their clients until they fall as preys. I resolved in treating every new project as a potential scam project even after all the research and question asking once my profit is ripe i exit and move on. Most projects are better treated as ponzi if it must be worth risking my funds on.

Scams are not difficult to spot unless you are greedy and always seeking for a quick method to gain money. Scammers know that there are people who are financially stressed and are willing to do everything to get quick money, and that is the bait fraudsters use that people are unaware of. If you take your eyes off being greedy and get informed on the latest, you will always pass this check. The one thing that does not impress me is the advertising channels. Places like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are sites for knowledge and learning, but they are overrun with scammers, and they are doing nothing to stop it.

Not just for beginners alone but even to those who have been here for quite long, extra cautious and extra vigilance is highly needed knowing scammers can be smarter than us, they will always upgrade their ways of scamming as it won’t seem too obvious for their target victims. But most especially for newbies and beginners in the market investment, as they never had experiences that’s why they easily fall to the scammer’s traps.

Still a good percentage of people will ignore these red flags even though it’s in their face. Scammers aren’t very creative, they are just really good at selecting their victims. Scammers use the same trick, a profile of a beautiful girl or a successful trader who has fleet of luxurious cars and houses always seem to get people to put their guard down when in reality it should be a red flag. I think some people only learn the hard way.

This is how most scammers are able to scam their victim. Trying to capture their victim mind without them having to say no or think twice.
This is currently being used by scammers in NFT space. They always claim to have received millions of funding from big VCs but they end up setting a high mint price, or they give or short mint window so as to create FOMO.
Proper research and investigation will help a lot if you sense this kind of tactic.

The assurance of quick returns is one enticing bait scammers use to attract their victims.its important to check and double-check to be sure of where you want to put your money.it pains to loss funds to this so called online investment.but instead of the pain of losses I would recommend the pain to search,research, thoroughly investigate
and background check before putting your funds in.caution is the key word here.

Though have not really met a scammer of Bitcointalk, but sincerely i read through your guidelines and I must confess its really educating and anyone who reads, understands and abides by the guidelines won't be scammed, all I have to say is thank you for the guidelines, it's helpful....

Well, it’s certain that a lot would not still believe until they experienced it on their own. That’s the time that they will realize that scamming could actually happen in a lot of ways as scammers will never stop being creative until their victims fall to their traps. And for those who seem to be scammed multiple times, I guess that’s another story to tell. If these type of people cannot make their own analysis, then I think they will be never good enough in trading or investing. Although they can still invest or trade, but they will never succeed from it.

The paradox is that such materials are most often mentioned in articles that tell you how to protect yourself from scammers and at the same time these same methods are the most common among scammers, and the most profitable. People still believe that some project is ready to accept $10,000 from them at 69,000% per annum. Where is their sanity?  Can't they calculate on their own that this can't happen?

I also started to notice how in social networks corrupt bloggers spread information that some altcoin, which is worth $0.00000000000000019 now, will be worth 1 cent in 3-4 years and people are running to buy these tokens. Can't anyone calculate that such a price increase would have to attract hundreds of billions of dollars to the project for it to grow that much? There seems to be no limit to human stupidity, just as there is no limit to greed.

On Bitcointalk you can learn all there is to about how to protect yourself from scammers, and what their old and most recent modus operandi is, but you must understand that there are scammers everywhere, even on the forum, do not trust anyone only because they are a user in Bitcointalk, do not trust, but always verify. There are quite a lot of threads (guidelines) that can help you to learn more about how to protect yourself from scammers on the internet, you basically have to use the search option to find them and garner more knowledge.

This is one tactic that they often use to play on ones intelligence. They try to make you feel like, your at stake of loosing such a huge opportunity. They tend to limit the time limit for an investment to be less than 24hours so as to discourage research or seeking any form of professional advise.
This creates in the individual an adrenaline rush that makes you want to ignore reason and secure the opportunity before embarking on any form of verification but in truth, the damage has already been done.

The focus here should be, what is worth doing is what should be done right. In this business of trying to trust the unknown, you must find a way to trust the process and that you can get from verifying the project through any source of information that have been proven reliable over time.

I appreciate the update. OP, these scammers are causing some people to despise cryptocurrency because anyone who wants to join it will assume that it is full of scammers. As a result, many people lose hope because they believe that if they invest in cryptocurrency due to scammers, they will lose everything.

Beginners will likely be fully aware of some common scams, so I hope they will take these into account in order to avoid any scams that might arise due to ignorance.

Anyone who is asking for your personal information online is a scammer.
 
If you know that you are not a good researcher, you can ask for help from people you know who are better finding things online than you are.

It is why you should not be in a hurry whenever you are clicking links on your personal computer or phone. If you are in a hurried state, wait till when you settle down before clicking links.

You are not lucky to have met anyone online introducing to an investment opportunity where you can make millions in a short time, they are scammers too.

These days when we cannot even trust people we meet face to face, you should not make the mistake of trusting anyone you meet online, no matter what they say they are or claim to be.

This is a very obvious way to spot scams and it's what most Ponzi schemes use. Any investment that tells you you will get more than 25% ROI within an unrealistic period of time has scam written all over it. A lot of Ponzi schemes even offer 50-100% ROI within a month or two. You may be paid your profit at the end of the month but that business model is highly unsustainable and everybody should know this. Sooner or later that business would crumbles or the scammers will scamper away when they've got the right amount of money they want.