Airdrop Hunters - Beware of scams + Security Tips

[btccrusher]

Beware of scams.

A legit Airdrop never asks for 'Private Key' or 'Fees' or 'Donations'. If you spot an airdrop asking for any of the things mentioned above, avoid it. There are plenty of good fishes in the sea, focus on catching them.

Security Tips:

1. Do not share private keys with anyone else.
2. Do not save passwords or private keys on an online drive. Not even in the encrypted mode.
3. Keep strong passwords with a combination of at least one UpperCase Alphabet+Lower Case Alphabet+Number+Symbol. Such strong combinations are almost impossible to crack.
4. Do not use common words as passwords.
5. It's better to use at least 15 characters as a password. (I'll go for 20)
6. Never delete an old wallet.

[topchiiy86]

I agree that most of airdrops are SCAMs now, so it's quite risky to participate in every airdrop. And even if you get some tokens it doesn't mean that you can sell them for a good price. I can recommend to participate only in those airdrops when ICOs cancel their main public sale and hold an airdrop instead.

[hodl2018]

I'll follow rules. Thank you.

[FrueGreads]

I actually think there are more problems involved with scam aidrops, than having your private key stolen. With this I mean, that even if someone understands that having to give your private key is of course a scam, they can still be caught with malware if they install a wallet to receive the airdrop, or by going to a malicious website, or even just by using a google spreadsheet because it's possible to get them run scripts and infect your computer. Airdrops are very dangerous in my opinion, and I just stopped using then completely, unless it's an official airdrop from an well known coin.

[Slugmonkey]

I am sure that these tips would come in handy to all the newbies out there. I was once browsing the bounty spreadsheet and found out that a user had given his private key as public key. I was shocked to see that people have absolutely no clue that these things are meant to be secure. So a lot of awareness is needed.

[BTCeminjas]

I have also encountered that airdrop fills up form, they ask for a donation and the also ask email address and password but if I saw that form I usually refuse the site, when you first encountered just like shady fill-up form for airdrop.
The unmalicious kind of fill'en form never ask your password in an email address and that donation also just avoid them and that's what probably scam project.

[Maestro75]

Beware of scams.

A legit Airdrop never asks for 'Private Key' or 'Fees' or 'Donations'. If you spot an airdrop asking for any of the things mentioned above, avoid it. There are plenty of good fishes in the sea, focus on catching them.

Security Tips:

1. Do not share private keys with anyone else.
2. Do not save passwords or private keys on an online drive. Not even in the encrypted mode.
3. Keep strong passwords with a combination of at least one UpperCase Alphabet+Lower Case Alphabet+Number+Symbol. Such strong combinations are almost impossible to crack.
4. Do not use common words as passwords.
5. It's better to use at least 15 characters as a password. (I'll go for 20)
6. Never delete an old wallet.

But what has No 6 got to do with airdrop warning?
Can anyone fall for this, 'A legit Airdrop never asks for 'Private Key' or 'Fees' or 'Donations'. If you spot an airdrop asking for any of the things mentioned above, avoid it' Only someone with a bread brain will respond to the demands above from a purported airdrop site.

[milewilda]

1. Do not share private keys with anyone else.
2. Do not save passwords or private keys on an online drive. Not even in the encrypted mode.

With just having these two things you would really be somehow secured towards into your own wallet.Keeping it online is risky but would really be hard for hackers if its encrypted but the risk still remains and you might lose those online. Always have a back up.

[Ebenezer559]

Recently I have stopped hunting airdrops because they are not reliable, many instructions and one the other time even asked for my private key. Before then I have been told by my brothers not to give anyone my private key. Anyone who ask for private key is a scammer

[GabrielKiara]

Good advice, Never share a pivate key and be careful of web phishing. It is good to install etherAddressLookup and Ethersecuritylookup from myetherwallet admin team (You can google it), Both add ons prevent you from getting phishing. Good luck and be careful!

[btccrusher]

I actually think there are more problems involved with scam aidrops, than having your private key stolen. With this I mean, that even if someone understands that having to give your private key is of course a scam, they can still be caught with malware if they install a wallet to receive the airdrop, or by going to a malicious website, or even just by using a google spreadsheet because it's possible to get them run scripts and infect your computer. Airdrops are very dangerous in my opinion, and I just stopped using then completely, unless it's an official airdrop from an well known coin.

Thank you for pointing out that.
Yes, malware infected site, scripts, plugins, and software are big threats too. We should stay away from phishing sites and such new tools unless we trust the site.

[Starxoff]

I would like to advice not to share any personal information at all, cause a lot of airdrops try to collect data for sale.

[suharshsehgal]

Security Tips:

6. Never delete an old wallet.

Didn't quite get this last point, for security purpose or someone who has an address might transfer some funds to it?

[btccrusher]

Security Tips:

6. Never delete an old wallet.

Didn't quite get this last point, for security purpose or someone who has an address might transfer some funds to it?

That's a point, Mr. Satoshi suggested us, one should never delete a wallet. It's for backup and there may be more reasons technically, not sure right now.

[edgycorner]

Pretty handy rules which can prevent petty thefts.Everyday you can see a new thread, where people tell how all of the tokens and ethers they owned got hacked.
Majority of hacks could have been prevented, if only they could follow these points.

OP, add another rule of using different password for your wallet and ICO's websites.ICOs are selling the username:password combination that gets registered to crackers as combos.Everyone should use a different and more secure password for wallets!

[richminded]

I would like to advice not to share any personal information at all, cause a lot of airdrops try to collect data for sale.

Basically most of them do this thing so don't risk everything just to have a small amount of profit which is still not guaranteed in the future.I'd better to do participate in a bounty campaign than joining any airdrop that is asking for too much information. So be careful guys, and prevent yourself from being broke.

[Noobaru]

Very nice tips. I agree with most of the aspects, especially with private key and password. You should never reveal or type in your private key under any circumstances. If you do, you can say goodbye to assets on the wallet. Also password - uppercase letters, alphanumeric (people use @ most of the time or # and &) numbers. And a word that is somehow stupid, maybe even a slang in your language. Those are almost impossible to crack (unless phished) and would take ages to brute force through.

[Nwankwobtt]

Thank you for the security tips. I am quite new to airdrop and bounties and I hope I won't be a victim to these online scammers. I have ordered for an offline wallet too