HOW TO protect yourself from Scammers

[Abigail Asi]

First and foremost be very cautious. The fact that you can lose your money within seconds is alarming and as such don't give out your private keys and personal data. Beware of scammers. Don't trust anybody.

[tuliobrothers]

Be careful and read more about the project before you invest or join in any bounty.  It is much important to read first and learn how the project really works.

[n0ne]

Scammers can be seen all around, and bitcoin is no exception to it. As each and every activity related to bitcoin takes place through the internet it is easy for the scammers to make people fall into the trap. To stay away from those scammers we need to analyze the particular project in a better way and one thing need to be considered is the luck. Some looks perfectly legit and at some point they scam us and by that situation we cannot do anything.

[jobel]

Honestly, its not that easy to protect ourselves from scammer, because they are so many. But, what I usually do just to make sure that I joined to the campaign that is not possibly a scam. I read there project goal, visit their website, Facebook ,twitter and etc. and if I see that there are so many members and participants, i can say that there are lots of Bitcoiners who believe it and it is not a scam.

I also wanted to hear about others on how they protect their self from the scammers.

[tuliobrothers]

Choose the best project before doing an investment. It is so important to research first and check the updates if it is real or just a Scam ICO. We cannot identify it easily but by monitoring the project we can surely identify it.

[raidarksword]

Before putting venture on any bitcoin investment sites be sure to google first and find some good reviews about it. Mostly scam sites offer too good to be true program and by that you should be thinking twice and doubt that promised profit is impossible to reach. Having on bitcoin is already a risked to begin with because bitcoin is unpredictable and also the same as risking on ICO / HYIP / PONZI. Just be ready of everything could happened, invest what you can afford to lose.

[jayveerastrullo]

I once encountered a scammer last week and guess what, he failed. Thank you for the tips you have posted, I read it thoroughly, it really helps me, and i owe you

[Fatanut]

Choose the best project before doing an investment. It is so important to research first and check the updates if it is real or just a Scam ICO. We cannot identify it easily but by monitoring the project we can surely identify it.

Research. That's all you have to do to dodge a bullet. I mean, how good can a scammer can possibly be. Obviously a scammer isn't able to write a good whitepaper (we're talking about ICO scammers) so by reading the WP of the project, you can easily avoid getting scammed. Just think of it. If a scammer is intelligent enough to set up a believable whitepaper and a believable website and has come up to a good concept for an ICO, then he's just going to setup an actual ICO which can make him rich in the coming years without having to deceive people.

Funny because by just looking at the website especially the "about" part of their website, you can easily see if it's a legit ICO. If the advisers are some known advisors and they actually confirm that they are advising that ICO, then the chance of you getting scammed is lessened (but not non-existent). There are ICOs where the "about" photos are pictures of random people and there's one time when there was just a drawing of people lol.

Bottomline, scamming is just about details. The more convincing your deal is, the more people you can scam. On the other hand, people with such good knowledge will be doing legit things to make money and not just commit basic scams for money. They can do better. So we're left off with scammers that aren't really that good.

(Of course I'm talking about internet scammers. There are scammers IRL that are really intelligent and was able to pull-off one huge scam.)

[toral host25]

To protect yourself from scammers you need to be careful and do not just trust the people you do not know or even know you because when money can easily make a sin.

[paulk11087]

You should definitely prioritize your safety. You should definitely choose safe access routes to the sites you enter. try to use two-factor authentication everywhere. Also, try not to keep any passwords you have saved online. At least you'll be safer with them.

[chikading2016]

Choose the best project before doing an investment. It is so important to research first and check the updates if it is real or just a Scam ICO. We cannot identify it easily but by monitoring the project we can surely identify it.

Research. That's all you have to do to dodge a bullet. I mean, how good can a scammer can possibly be. Obviously a scammer isn't able to write a good whitepaper (we're talking about ICO scammers) so by reading the WP of the project, you can easily avoid getting scammed. Just think of it. If a scammer is intelligent enough to set up a believable whitepaper and a believable website and has come up to a good concept for an ICO, then he's just going to setup an actual ICO which can make him rich in the coming years without having to deceive people.

Funny because by just looking at the website especially the "about" part of their website, you can easily see if it's a legit ICO. If the advisers are some known advisors and they actually confirm that they are advising that ICO, then the chance of you getting scammed is lessened (but not non-existent). There are ICOs where the "about" photos are pictures of random people and there's one time when there was just a drawing of people lol.

Bottomline, scamming is just about details. The more convincing your deal is, the more people you can scam. On the other hand, people with such good knowledge will be doing legit things to make money and not just commit basic scams for money. They can do better. So we're left off with scammers that aren't really that good.

(Of course I'm talking about internet scammers. There are scammers IRL that are really intelligent and was able to pull-off one huge scam.)

Yes I agree on that . I believe that learning is the best shield for scammers. I think if we learn more things in cryptofeild we can really also protect our self from scammers, because there are so many scammers on the crypto feild they can really steal all your earnings. So then i believ ethat we need to be more temperate on this crypto feild for good.

[bitbollo]

it's easier then you can imagine... just follow this 2 simply rules:
- no one will give you anything for free, not trust un-believable offers, you will get scammed.
- use always an escrow (best are here on forum where you have a completely track record of their past actions).

[Kuchiyose]

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.

It really helps me to find a good project and it will be beneficial to everyone rather than helping the projects that will make the destruction.

[jeepuerit]

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.
[/quote
It's very difficult to avoid many scammers, there are so many risky site that they can enter into our accounts, but I am trying to avoid any scam I have put Google authenticator on all my accounts so you can not immediately identify a scammer.

[heureca]

I think there are several rules to avoid scammers: 1) do not respond to unknown persons in chats who want help you to buy ICO tokens and etc; 2) do not open suspicious links; 3) trade only at big criptocurrency exchanges and use official wallets only.

[darklus123]

Thanks for makin an effort. I like it and will remember it tho i just want to make it simple for other users who cannot understand. Simple rule would be "do not try the obvious scam scheme like cloud mining and any other HYIP sites". Most of the time legit ways of makinf money are the hardest one or it may be the easiest one but the lowest reward as well

[Missterio]

need to be careful not to visit strange sites and observe safety rules

[Marlo0619]

How to Protect Yourself From Scammers?

1. Do online researches - internet is very important to us people especially on our generation. But other people use it as an opportunity to scam other people or hack a systems. Scammers are wise. But let's be more wiser than the scammers.

2. Don't pay money to strangers - if you don't really know who are you talking to, and they offer you something but you need to pay some fees. Then don't ever trust them. Thwy might run and your money will never return to you.

3.Talk to someone whom you can trust - others might want to know your informations. But before you give it to them, make sure you ask for help of your friends whom you can trust so that they can give you an advice.

4. Try to spot the imposters - the scammers might also use copycats to make their bad doings. They might copy the picture of your friends or introduce themselves as a friend of your friend. Be wise.

[ice18]

We must all be very careful before dealing with any transactions online it only proves that there are so many scammers and hackers are spreading over the internet always asked other trusted people if you want to invest large amount of money.

[poisonivy77]

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.

Being responsible enough is one way to protect hour from scammers, when joining ICO learn to investigate a little never trust fully and never give away your private key and address.