HOW TO protect yourself from Scammers

[redpillorblue]

I was making a list for my team on how to stay away from Crypto scammers, and thought I would just share it here as well.

Here are the type of Crypto scammers that I have encountered

Type 1. ICO as a SCAM - (More info contributed by: tosindesign)
There are ICOs that are only designed to get your money. Once the ICO is over then the pages are taken off the net and the makers of the ICO disappear with the money. The last case we reported was LoopX, but this is not the only case.

How can you protect yourself?
1. (by: tosindesign) Generally there is no 100% protection here. A good indication for a scam is there is no team mentioned on the website or whitepaper. Although everything is very superficial and promised a lot, but after reading the white paper is not clear how that should be possible.
2. (by: GeckoTrader) One of the best things to do to avoid ICO scamming is to learn and back read all information about that ICO. As they always say " More knowledge is power"
3. (by: GeckoTrader) The team should have been communicating to the community.
4. (by: GeckoTrader) Always they should have an update from their company. If you sense something fishy do not hesitate to ask question from them. In that means you can confirm whether they are legit or just a bunch of scammers.

Type 2. Scammers who sell FAKE COINS (name / coin code is same but coin generating contract is different)
How to protect yourself: Check the contract address of these coins, if it came from the same contract address

Type 3. Social media scammers - Would post like "I will send you 50 ETH if you send me 5"
How to protect yourself: This is an easy one, they all are scammers. Dont even respond.

Type 4: Identity theft scammers - These guys will contact you as CEOs of ICOs or Social celebrities, usually banking upon the names of a famous person
How to protect yourself: Try pinging them from an another ID of theirs (say if scammer pinged you from Telegram, drop them a message over their facebook ID) and ask them to check that message. This would work as a Two-Factor-Authentication for that personality.

Type 5: Malicious code Trojans - Like Wordpress or Chrome plugins, that would use your machine to mine for crypto currencies, using your machine for the same
How to protect yourself: Try not to do plugins or replace them with cloud powered services, OR, Install only trusted plugins, with loads of reviews maybe. I wont be surprised if these trojans take shape of free downloadable games or cracked softwares downloadable for desktop or your mobile.

Type 6: Online Seed Generators (contributed by: tosindesign)
For some wallets (eg the IOTA Wallet) you have to set your own seed. In the case of IOTA, this is an 81-digit password that must consist of uppercase letters and at least one 9. Since some did not want to generate a password themselves, they resorted to online seed generators. These generate you by mouse click an 81-digit seed. However, as it turns out later, a few of these seed generators also stored the generated passwords, The stored seeds were then later used to steal the assets of the investors concerned. You have to know that the seed is something like the master key that allows all credits to be transferred. A thief does not even have to have access to your computer on which the wallet is installed. The seed is enough to access your balance on another computer.

How can you protect yourself?
Never use an online seed generator! When generating an 81-digit seed, all you have to do is push 81 random keys on your keyboard.

Type 7: Phishing website attempts (contributed by: tosindesign)
Scammers would copy exact replica of the websites (wallets, exchanges) and try to get you to login, thereby recording you password. For example, the page Blockchain.info was copied to get the logins. You have to know that Blockchain.info also offers a wallet service where Wallet could save your bitcoins. If Google users searched for “Blockchain info” in some countries, they ran a Google ad that led to Blockchaina.info, a cheat site that has nothing to do with Blockchain.info. The site was a 1: 1 copy of Blockchain.info and was only designed to get login information from users. There are also similar attempts to MyEtherwallet.com and other sites.

How can you protect yourself?
Never click anywhere on a link to a page where you want to log in. The best way is to bookmark the pages and just go over the web pages. In addition, you should always look for the SSL encryption. There will not be a page that stores important data from you and is located at http: //. All pages should now be encrypted SSL and have a https: // domain (although the pages can also be accessed at http: // they will redirect to https: //). The SSL certificates will also show you every browser, for example by a small lock symbol.


Type 9: Used Ledger Nano (contributed by: tosindesign)
At ebay and in other marketplaces there are always offers to buy the Ledger Nano a bit cheaper. This is particularly interesting now, where the Ledger Nano S is sold out and will be available again in one month. There have been cases in the past when users bought a used ledger on ebay and the seed from the ledger was already filled out. Anyone who has not owned a ledger to date will hardly register the difference. Of course, the previous owners have also noted the seed in these cases, which then allows them to get access to the crypto currencies that the new owner stores on the Ledger Nano S.  

How can you protect yourself?
If you want to use a hardware wallet like the Ledger Nano S, buy it directly from the manufacturer and make sure that it is still original packed. The enclosed note on which you can write down the seed should never be filled.

Type 10: Airdrops that ask for personal information (contributed by: StarKay)
There are hyped up airdrops that may ask for KYC information, that may end up being used by scammers / hackers.

How to protect yourself:
Think of your personal information as an investment as well. Research who you are giving your information to and why that ICO will need it

Type 11: Identity theft via Social Media - (contributed by: darkangel11)
You have to realize what they want from you. In the end it's always your money, while in the process they may want some personal data, a phone number, whatever they can get into.

How to protect yourself: Never willingly give anything. Don't share your real social media accounts with random people, keep your email addresses to yourself and if you have to use them make sure to have burner emails. What are burners? Not necessarily emails created for every forum and project. Just emails that don't contain your personal data and that you're not using for online shopping, banking and so on.

Please add more below, or share your story.

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[Xester]

In my years of experience with bitcoin there is only one effective way to avoid scammers. In joining ICO even if you do your research you will not know that they are scammers until the ICO is over. Even if how many preparations we do or make in the end we still end up being a victim to scammers. The best way to avoid scammers is to no invest your bitcoins. Just hold it in your wallet and hold it for a long time and when the price is right you can sell them and you will have a good profit.

[okour999]

it's easy for you to scam if you're offered to invest or pay for a profit making sure that the info is good for you who offers you just not to believe and if you can ask any friends you know for not being threatened

[redpillorblue]

In my years of experience with bitcoin there is only one effective way to avoid scammers. In joining ICO even if you do your research you will not know that they are scammers until the ICO is over. Even if how many preparations we do or make in the end we still end up being a victim to scammers. The best way to avoid scammers is to no invest your bitcoins. Just hold it in your wallet and hold it for a long time and when the price is right you can sell them and you will have a good profit.

That sure is a good conservative approach and I know many people who do the same thing.
But I guess anyone investing in ICOs is anyways signing up for higher level of risk vs award phenomena. The ROI on ICO investments (when done right) could be nice. Though, I see 90% of the ICOs that even 'experts' review / promote / bank upon are a loss deal... but the ones that made money... covered those losses many times over (or maybe they just got lucky).

[tosindesign]

1.Online Seed Generators
For some wallets (eg the IOTA Wallet) you have to set your own seed. In the case of IOTA, this is an 81-digit password that must consist of uppercase letters and at least one 9. Since some did not want to generate a password themselves, they resorted to online seed generators. These generate you by mouse click an 81-digit seed. However, as it turns out later, a few of these seed generators also stored the generated passwords, The stored seeds were then later used to steal the assets of the investors concerned. You have to know that the seed is something like the master key that allows all credits to be transferred. A thief does not even have to have access to your computer on which the wallet is installed. The seed is enough to access your balance on another computer.

What can you protect yourself?
Never use an online seed generator! When generating an 81-digit seed, all you have to do is push 81 random keys on your keyboard.

2. Copies of Known Cryptite Sites Another
popular way to get credit is to copy known pages in order to get to the login data from the users. For example, the page Blockchain.info was copied to get to the logins. You have to know that Blockchain.info also offers a wallet service where Wallet could save your bitcoins. If Google users searched for “Blockchain info” in some countries, they ran a Google ad that led to Blockchaina.info, a cheat site that has nothing to do with Blockchain.info. The site was a 1: 1 copy of Blockchain.info and was only designed to get login information from users. There are also similar attempts to MyEtherwallet.com and other sites.

How can you protect yourself?
Never click anywhere on a link to a page where you want to log in. The best way is to bookmark the pages and just go over the web pages. In addition, you should always look for the ssl encryption. There will not be a page that stores important data from you and is located at http: //. All pages should now be encrypted ssl and have a https: // domain (although the pages can also be accessed at http: // they will redirect to https: //). The ssl certificates will also show you every browser, for example by a small lock symbol.

3. Fake ICOs Again
and again there are ICOs that are only designed to get your money. Once the ICO is over then the pages are taken off the net and the makers of the ICO disappear with the money. The last case we reported was LoopX , but this is not an isolated case.

How can you protect yourself?
Generally there is no 100% protection here. A good indication for a scam is always when no people are already presented in the whitepaper. Although everything is very superficial and promised a lot, but after reading the white paper is not clear how that should be possible.

4. Used Ledger Nano
At ebay and in other marketplaces there are always offers to buy the Ledger Nano a bit cheaper. This is particularly interesting now, where the Ledger Nano S is sold out and will be available again in one month. There have been cases in the past when users bought a used ledger on ebay and the seed from the ledger was already filled out. Anyone who has not owned a ledger to date will hardly register the difference. Of course, the previous owners have also noted the seed in these cases, which then allows them to get the credit that the new owner saves on the Ledger Nano S.  How can you protect yourself from this?
If you want to use a hardware wallet like the Ledger Nano S, buy it directly from the manufacturer and make sure that it is still original packed. The enclosed note on which you can write down the seed should never be filled.


 
5. Wrong Twitter Accounts
A variant that has been very popular in recent weeks are wrong Twitter accounts of well-known personalities from the crypto world. These accounts have the same profile photo as the familiar original and a name (Twitter handle) that is very similar. For example, sometimes only an “i” was exchanged with an “l”. The accounts then usually promise the same thing that always sounds something like this:
“I give 10 BTC to my followers as a thank you. Please send me 0.01 BTC and I will return the first 10 of you 1 BTC. ”

How can you protect yourself from this?
If you want to use a hardware wallet like the Ledger Nano S, buy it directly from the manufacturer and make sure that it is still original packed. The enclosed note on which you can write down the seed should never be filled.

5. Wrong Twitter Accounts
A variant that has been very popular in recent weeks are wrong Twitter accounts of well-known personalities from the crypto world. These accounts have the same profile photo as the familiar original and a name (Twitter handle) that is very similar. For example, sometimes only an “i” was exchanged with an “l”. The accounts then usually promise the same thing that always sounds something like this:
“I give 10 BTC to my followers as a thank you. Please send me 0.01 BTC and I will return the first 10 of you 1 BTC. ”

 

Needless to say, the promised BTC or ETH will never be sent out. The texts got attention because they simply responded automatically to as many tweets as possible. This ensures that the texts are seen very frequently.

How can you protect yourself from this?
Just do not believe that someone wants to give you 1 BTC or ETH.🙂

6. Pyramid
Systems These are also available in the crypto area. The most famous case lately was Bitconnect . The company has promised to get 1% profit per day for investors through special trading bots. This has then “worked” as long as new users have joined and the Bitcoin price has risen. In the end, however, most investors ran out of funds and the system collapsed.

How can you protect yourself?
Just do not believe anyone who guarantees you certain profits. With one percent a day you could make a profit of 3,700% per year with 100 € use and the whole grows exponentially. It’s not that easy to earn money in the crypto sector.

7. Pump and Dumps
Especially with small coins, with a low daily trading volume, it happens that the prices are “pumped” again and again . So artificially inflated to attract new investors who also want to benefit from the price increase. The victims are then mostly investors who are blinded by the price increase and the “pumpers” then buy the coins, well above the normal price. A short time later usually the relapse to the old price level follows, since the demand can not be maintained.


Pump and dump example
How can you protect yourself?
Always skeptical when the price rises too fast, especially with very small coins. If you can not find causes for it (for example, any important news about the coin) it’s always better to start with a pump and dump. In general, a pump and dump rarely takes longer than 1 hour Actually, it’s unbelievable how many different scams are currently taking place and the list is by far not exhaustive. So think about everything you do, if that can be serious. The anonymous payment traffic in the crypto area makes it very easy for fraudsters to get their money.

 

 

[Bhalibad]

1.Online Seed Generators
For some wallets (eg the IOTA Wallet) you have to set your own seed. In the case of IOTA, this is an 81-digit password that must consist of uppercase letters and at least one 9. Since some did not want to generate a password themselves, they resorted to online seed generators. These generate you by mouse click an 81-digit seed. However, as it turns out later, a few of these seed generators also stored the generated passwords, The stored seeds were then later used to steal the assets of the investors concerned. You have to know that the seed is something like the master key that allows all credits to be transferred. A thief does not even have to have access to your computer on which the wallet is installed. The seed is enough to access your balance on another computer.

What can you protect yourself?
Never use an online seed generator! When generating an 81-digit seed, all you have to do is push 81 random keys on your keyboard.

2. Copies of Known Cryptite Sites Another
popular way to get credit is to copy known pages in order to get to the login data from the users. For example, the page Blockchain.info was copied to get to the logins. You have to know that Blockchain.info also offers a wallet service where Wallet could save your bitcoins. If Google users searched for “Blockchain info” in some countries, they ran a Google ad that led to Blockchaina.info, a cheat site that has nothing to do with Blockchain.info. The site was a 1: 1 copy of Blockchain.info and was only designed to get login information from users. There are also similar attempts to MyEtherwallet.com and other sites.

How can you protect yourself?
Never click anywhere on a link to a page where you want to log in. The best way is to bookmark the pages and just go over the web pages. In addition, you should always look for the ssl encryption. There will not be a page that stores important data from you and is located at http: //. All pages should now be encrypted ssl and have a https: // domain (although the pages can also be accessed at http: // they will redirect to https: //). The ssl certificates will also show you every browser, for example by a small lock symbol.

3. Fake ICOs Again
and again there are ICOs that are only designed to get your money. Once the ICO is over then the pages are taken off the net and the makers of the ICO disappear with the money. The last case we reported was LoopX , but this is not an isolated case.

How can you protect yourself?
Generally there is no 100% protection here. A good indication for a scam is always when no people are already presented in the whitepaper. Although everything is very superficial and promised a lot, but after reading the white paper is not clear how that should be possible.

4. Used Ledger Nano
At ebay and in other marketplaces there are always offers to buy the Ledger Nano a bit cheaper. This is particularly interesting now, where the Ledger Nano S is sold out and will be available again in one month. There have been cases in the past when users bought a used ledger on ebay and the seed from the ledger was already filled out. Anyone who has not owned a ledger to date will hardly register the difference. Of course, the previous owners have also noted the seed in these cases, which then allows them to get the credit that the new owner saves on the Ledger Nano S.  How can you protect yourself from this?
If you want to use a hardware wallet like the Ledger Nano S, buy it directly from the manufacturer and make sure that it is still original packed. The enclosed note on which you can write down the seed should never be filled.


 
5. Wrong Twitter Accounts
A variant that has been very popular in recent weeks are wrong Twitter accounts of well-known personalities from the crypto world. These accounts have the same profile photo as the familiar original and a name (Twitter handle) that is very similar. For example, sometimes only an “i” was exchanged with an “l”. The accounts then usually promise the same thing that always sounds something like this:
“I give 10 BTC to my followers as a thank you. Please send me 0.01 BTC and I will return the first 10 of you 1 BTC. ”

How can you protect yourself from this?
If you want to use a hardware wallet like the Ledger Nano S, buy it directly from the manufacturer and make sure that it is still original packed. The enclosed note on which you can write down the seed should never be filled.

5. Wrong Twitter Accounts
A variant that has been very popular in recent weeks are wrong Twitter accounts of well-known personalities from the crypto world. These accounts have the same profile photo as the familiar original and a name (Twitter handle) that is very similar. For example, sometimes only an “i” was exchanged with an “l”. The accounts then usually promise the same thing that always sounds something like this:
“I give 10 BTC to my followers as a thank you. Please send me 0.01 BTC and I will return the first 10 of you 1 BTC. ”

 

Needless to say, the promised BTC or ETH will never be sent out. The texts got attention because they simply responded automatically to as many tweets as possible. This ensures that the texts are seen very frequently.

How can you protect yourself from this?
Just do not believe that someone wants to give you 1 BTC or ETH.🙂

6. Pyramid
Systems These are also available in the crypto area. The most famous case lately was Bitconnect . The company has promised to get 1% profit per day for investors through special trading bots. This has then “worked” as long as new users have joined and the Bitcoin price has risen. In the end, however, most investors ran out of funds and the system collapsed.

How can you protect yourself?
Just do not believe anyone who guarantees you certain profits. With one percent a day you could make a profit of 3,700% per year with 100 € use and the whole grows exponentially. It’s not that easy to earn money in the crypto sector.

7. Pump and Dumps
Especially with small coins, with a low daily trading volume, it happens that the prices are “pumped” again and again . So artificially inflated to attract new investors who also want to benefit from the price increase. The victims are then mostly investors who are blinded by the price increase and the “pumpers” then buy the coins, well above the normal price. A short time later usually the relapse to the old price level follows, since the demand can not be maintained.


Pump and dump example
How can you protect yourself?
Always skeptical when the price rises too fast, especially with very small coins. If you can not find causes for it (for example, any important news about the coin) it’s always better to start with a pump and dump. In general, a pump and dump rarely takes longer than 1 hour Actually, it’s unbelievable how many different scams are currently taking place and the list is by far not exhaustive. So think about everything you do, if that can be serious. The anonymous payment traffic in the crypto area makes it very easy for fraudsters to get their money.

 

 

To protect our self from scammers we don't let others to know that I have a Bitcoin. What we are going to do if I have a Bitcoin we just hold it and we keep it in a very safety places. When the time will come when the Bitcoin reaches in a high value its time to sell our Bitcoin and we can have earn more profit.

[redpillorblue]

To protect our self from scammers we don't let others to know that I have a Bitcoin. What we are going to do if I have a Bitcoin we just hold it and we keep it in a very safety places. When the time will come when the Bitcoin reaches in a high value its time to sell our Bitcoin and we can have earn more profit.

That beats the spirit of blockchain and its goal to become rather a main stream currency. The post is aimed at increasing the utility of cryptos, while avoiding being scammed, rather than sitting on a pile of cash that slowly turns into dirt.

[carlisle1]

In my years of experience with bitcoin there is only one effective way to avoid scammers. In joining ICO even if you do your research you will not know that they are scammers until the ICO is over. Even if how many preparations we do or make in the end we still end up being a victim to scammers. The best way to avoid scammers is to no invest your bitcoins. Just hold it in your wallet and hold it for a long time and when the price is right you can sell them and you will have a good profit.

Whata great idea lol 😂 😂 😂

This is really truth,how can you be a victim if you put nothing from those.
But kidding aside i believe that this is the better way to do,since 95% of ico now are just scams,and they are very good on this that you wont even recognized that scamming unless it happens

[fuer44]

when will join the bounty campaign and also ico project, try to find it ourselves, not a recommendation from people. even if it's a recommendation, we should know for sure the truth of the ico, not just a picture of ico alone, but the whole of ico project. I say this because sometimes people who share info about ico, they do not include in detail the project of the ico. and the next, do not be easily fooled by big rewards, and see also participants, many or no followers, last do not forget join to telegram group.

[StarKay]

You've listed most points but I'll still add mine:
1. Beware of offers that are too good to be true, most are ponzi schemes.
2. Safeguard your personal information and beware of Airdrops that collects personal data.

[ampsec_]

i also ad that they will also be aware on all things what happen in they were in investing especially hyip site they are the common scammers but people risk there money because they can profit easily when they invest in early opens hyip

[gabmen]

You've listed most points but I'll still add mine:
1. Beware of offers that are too good to be true, most are ponzi schemes.
2. Safeguard your personal information and beware of Airdrops that collects personal data.

I think that is a more simplified way to look at it. Basically just make yourself informed. You won't easily get scammed if you know about those things. Greed also will be the downfall of anyone trying to get in crypto. Just use your logic :p

[GDragon]

That is so easy to answer. Being knowledgeable will be the main factor to avoid those scammer. Scammers tend to victimize all ignorance when it comes to this field.

[redpillorblue]

That is so easy to answer. Being knowledgeable will be the main factor to avoid those scammer. Scammers tend to victimize all ignorance when it comes to this field.

That is kindof a solution to every problem on earth. Would appreciate any practical tips you have gathered while being in this industry.

[cruzjoel12345]

I can manage to protect myself against  scammers through wise thinking, not giving too much trust in their famous line, "invest, earn double". Through searching and verifying if you are joining a legit group and most important of all is they can prove whatever they are proposing.

[crqn]

Being knowledgeable can help you to protect yourself from scammers,  think before you do and also review before you make any decisions. Don't be ignorant. (peace) 

[nory51]

I can protect it by for not talking on strangers in social media or other website. And protect my wallet using hardware. And you need to be knowledgeable

[Yakapo]

 Scammer are the worst internet entrepreneurs night mare, the fact that you can lose all your hard work in a matter of seconds is frightening enough, the best way of avoiding their keen eyes is through encryption, encrypt your wallets the best way you possibly can, and if possible, use hardware wallets. they will protect you to the fullest.

[darkangel11]

You have to first realize what they want from you. In the end it's always your money, while in the process they may want some personal data, a phone number, whatever they can get into. SO, to avoid scammers never willingly give anything. Don't share your real social media accounts with random people, keep your email addresses to yourself and if you have to use them make sure to have burner emails. What are burners? Not necessarily emails created for every forum and project. Just emails that don't contain your personal data and that you're not using for online shopping, banking and so on.

[gordeevaverona]

Sear for no one to show their passwords and private key, do not pass to non-secure links and be extremely careful