That's a great OP. It's crazy how scams can be categorized as when it comes right down to it, they're all basically the same.

On the scam ICO topic, it's important to note that many ICO projects started by sincere and honest people also fail due to lack of resources of various kinds making them unable to ultimately deliver. You have to really know some financial terms and concepts in order to properly conduct due diligence on such projects. You can find lots of information at https://dnotesedu.com/

This op-ed article contains some interesting statistics about ICOs: https://dcebrief.com/op-ed-icos-are-damaging-crypto/

At the very top of this beginners and help section there is a pinned post by Lauda titled something like "Newbies, read first." That post contains all kinds of links to more extensive information on things you need to know like the rules of this forum, how to rank up and how to earn merit, not to mention some links to help you get started furthering your education about Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.

I just read through that post again, and even though I've been here five years I learned some things. It's a great post for everyone to review at least once a year.

I have to wonder, based on the repeated questions, do any newbies actually read that post? If you haven't already, can you please, please, please, take the time to read and study it. It will help everyone, and might even cure your forum newbie blues.

I really do enjoy engaging with newbies. I'm excited about cryptocurrencies and eager to share my knowledge with people just getting started. I know I'm not alone in this.

However, I'm starting to get burned out on seeing the same parade of poorly written questions such as "How do I get merit?", "How can I get into a signature campaign as soon as possible?", "How much can I earn in bounties?", etc. Those questions and more are answered in the "Newbies, read first" thread or in one of the many links it contains.

It would be so much more fun to deal with intelligent follow up questions from people who have read up on the basics and are ready for the next step. If you can ask those questions, I'm sure you'll get as much discussion and engagement as you'll want from senior, hero, and legendary members.

Sorry. Forgot about NDA.


Thanks

Thanks for the tip. Not sure I could take on yet another full time job. I think I have to let the good merit worthy posts find me, as in I encounter them organically, as opposed to going out looking for them. I've never reported any posts, though I have used the ignore button. Does reporting spam posts accomplish anything? Honest question. What happens next when a bad post gets reported?

I've been involved in this forum for over five years but I haven't taken much interest in the dynamics of the forum itself until recently.

Did you pay for that listing? If so, what markets?

Congratulations to those who have ranked up! I've been curious about the new merit system and if it's working well to accomplish the goal of cleaning up the forum and improving the post quality. It's looking more and more like the merit system is accomplishing exactly what it set out to accomplish.

This is a great thread, especially the first few pages. Some of TMAN's post had me laughing pretty hard.

I try to be conscientious about awarding merit (for as long as I have it) to good quality posts, especially those composed by newbies, but I face a similar struggle in that so many of the posts I come across are problematic. Either I can't understand them or they truly add nothing to the discussion.

Are they still taking applications for merit sources? I tried to apply as instructed in the Meta section but I haven't received any kind of response indicating that my application has even been seen yet.

I don't have much experience with airdrops but they used to be rare and somewhat targeted. Now it seems everyone and their grandma is doing an airdrop. It's probably not worth it for the most part. Don't give away personal information and certainly not wallet private keys. All they should need from you is an address. The KYC thing is tricky. Of course anyone doing financial business is supposed to comply with those regulations. However, I suspect lots of scams are using the KYC excuse to lure you into giving them way more data than is warranted even with KYC.

If you want to earn cryptocurrencies from projects, find a legitimate project and network with the developers and in that process let them know your skills. Also look for ways you can contribute and offer to do so. Often you can work out deals where you get paid x amount of the coin for your work. Those types of "bounties" have generally worked out very well for me.

Established forum accounts are worth quite a lot, actually, and people do try to steal them, so you want to protect them in two ways.
1. Use a robust password and change it periodically. Definitely change it since your account was targeted, just in case.
2. Protect your reputation. Be careful about what you promote and how you behave on this forum.

In general, don't click on links you don't know, and certainly don't enter any credentials into them. You can go to the sites you go to by finding them on your own, typing in the url yourself, etc. Check for spelling as phishing sites are often just off by one character.

If you suspect that you compromised your account, then your best recourse is to quickly change the password to a new one, and be more careful.

So glad you caught on to this early! Great job!

The fact that CoinPayments responded on this thread is a really good sign. Do contact support and PM your support ticket, like they asked. I hope you get this resolved promptly. And then be sure to take all reasonable security precautions for your account.

Here's another exchange to try. They are launching on June 1st, so I figure now is the best time to contact them.

https://www.listex.io/

So these airdrop forms are actually asking for people's wallet private keys??? That's pretty low.

FYI, for everyone here, a private key is not needed in order to send funds to a wallet, only the public key, which is also known as the address. So if they are asking for a private key, at the very least they are asking for information they should not need in order to give funds away. They *would* need a private key in order to import the address and empty it of funds, though.

So you are in the process of getting your own account verified? Yes, please keep me posted on how long that takes, and of course, the functionality of the exchange.

I finally registered on NLexch and have put in a few buy and sell orders. It looks like trade volume there may be increasing slightly, but I'll be watching it more closely now that I have some skin in the game.

Does anyone here know anything about BiteBTC exchange, the other exchange where we have DNotes listed? I registered an account today but before I can trade they want me to verify my account by providing KYC type information. This is an exchange that claims to follow all the KYC rules for Singapore, which is fine. The catch for me is that they say due to so many new registrations profile verification can take several weeks. So I question whether or not it is worth it. Currently there is a DNotes market listed but it is completely empty. I don't mind KYC verification but it would help to have some kind of endorsement of this exchange first. Anyone already trade there? Thanks!

A legitimate company will never ask for your sensitive information by email. If you are contacted by a company, don't reply to the email or call the phone number or go to the website in the communication. Instead, look up the contact info on the company's website and contact them that way. Then you can ask them if there are any problems with your account, if you need to update anything, or whatever else. You can also ask them about the communication you received if they actually sent it.

When you go to a website, read the url bar and make sure it's spelled correctly. Spoof sites will have a url that looks similar to the real one, but it will be off by one character. For example, a fake Coinbase url might look like: http://Co1nbase.com or http://C0inbase.com.

If you ever think an account you have may have been compromised, or that you entered your credentials into a phishing site, take action quickly. Immediately change your password and then check your account profile to make sure all the information is still correct, especially your email address. If you learn there was a phishing attempt or other type of attack on a site where you have an account, change your password as soon as possible. In fact, change your passwords frequently just in case. If you use a service like LastPass then it's just a matter of updating that record so you always know your current password.

A good extra precaution is to also set up 2FA. That means that a hacker would have to not only hack your password, but also your phone in order to access your account. 2FA isn't a silver bullet but I think it can slow down attacks. You can also request your account be frozen if you think it's been compromised, and then be prepared to provide appropriate ID in order to unlock it once you know it's secure again.

A lot of exchanges are small and short lived. Lots of people recommend Binance, though I personally have not used it. BitTrex is another really good one which I use for most of my trading. Cryptopia is OK as well, though their customer support is a bit on the slow side. Poloniex is another one that has worked well for me, though I'd caution you about that one as there have been more and more odd complaints about it. If you would prefer a decentralized exchange--they are safer from hacking and such but at this time really clunky to use--you might give Crypto-Bridge a try. On Crypto-Bridge you have to first buy a small amount of BitShares as that is how you pay your trading fees. Then you trade on the markets as you would anywhere else. Withdrawals easily take up to several hours to process, so don't be alarmed.

Wherever you trade, start with small amounts until you're comfortable with the process from initial deposit all the way to withdrawal of your destination funds.

Here's an ICO to take a look at. Would you invest in it? What are the red flags?

https://www.howeycoins.com/index.html

Once you've analyzed it, go ahead and hit that buy button (but you won't actually make a purchase)... then have a good laugh, and enjoy the education

Scam ICOs are becoming enough of a problem to have attracted some high level attention. Here's one example:

https://www.howeycoins.com/index.html

Read through it, see if you can find the red flags, and then at the very end, click on the link to buy the coins (but you won't actually follow through with it), and have a good laugh.

He sounds like a Bitcoin only guy. Is he even aware of the numerous adoption problems Bitcoin has that other currencies have already solved?

I remember when I was a kid that IBM was THE computer brand. Where are they now? I'm typing this on an HP Chromebook.

I have played simple farming type games in exchange for small amounts of BTC, but my experience is that for the most part they are scams, rarely actually pay out, and often close their doors or change the rules, so I've determined it's really not worth the effort. I have one or two computer games I enjoy playing and they don't pay but I'm playing for the enjoyment of a high quality game.

I think in general the way to earn through playing games is to connect with a project that has something to do with crypto and gaming and see if they offer a bounty for testing a platform. I know there are quite a few projects like that. You'll have to look around at announcement threads on this forum and then network with the people involved and see what's available. Sometimes bounties get announced. Sometimes you just have to work out your own deal.