HOW TO protect yourself from Scammers

[funex]

in my opinion, we cannot completely avoid scammers except we also want to completely avoid ICOs. in every business there is some percentagr of risk . no matter how much research we carry out concerning ICO we wont be 100 percent safe. therefore its left for us to decide whether to take the risk of investing in ICO or avoid the risk and hold our btc . But dont forget if the ICO is successful the profit might sometimes be huge . so the higher the risk the higher the gain and vise  versa.

[perla]

Projects may seem so good that if you aren't careful, you will be scammed because scammers are everywhere just beware. I think the best way to avoid scammers is to be knowledgeable. You need to read more about the project you will participating instead of listening to other people.

True, other people maybe only invite you to join in some project that he already join. When he think project not be good thing, they wouldn't do anything to you and you will suffered by yourself. Is is better to pick up project by ourself.

[SistaFista]

Yes this is very important to the crypto investors who want to participating in ICO.
Looks like the team profile is important to search, but some ICO won't give the details of team members later for security reason.
Many ICO has scammed investors about millions of dollars, but they seems not satisfy enough to stop trying scamming us.

[G-richy]

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.

To protect yourself from scammers mind the link you follow, your discussions with unknown friends in an unknown group chat .In otherwards crypto investors who want to participate in ICO must be sensitive and careful because its risky,business is a risk anyway but just play on the safe side..

[fosco333]

Very useful information for everyone who want to avoid hackers on their wallet.
To prevent yourself getting scammed in ICO, you must have enough information about the project.
What is the vision of company, the products of the company, and the team or advisors behind them.

[bajigur894784]

At the end of the day, while there are numerous scams, schemes, and perpetrators of various fraudulent activities throughout crypto, the best approach is to proceed with a reasonable degree of skepticism and care. Despite the number of fraudulent projects, there are countlessly reputable, and well-run projects and groups that make investing in cryptocurrency worthwhile.

As with many things in life, exercising reasonable caution when dealing with finances is the best approach, so whenever you are visiting a new website, see something that feels too good to be true, or are storing or accessing information using your private keys, take care, and ask yourself if you could be exposing yourself to any undue risk.

[Lucio19]

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

[ngalamunan]

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.

The first thing that protect you from being scam is by not being too greedy and easy giving out personal detail online if you can protect your self from this two aspect then you will be on the part of overcoming scammers.

how to protect bitcoin from a scammer is to choose a reputable and trustworthy company, always protect yourself from hackers by always checking our account and creating complicated codes.

[trako]

we can protect ourselves if we are careful in safe places. one can gain ambition and gain more. so we should not be greedy. and we must listen to what is said. Do not leave money in stock markets. and do not invest for every ICO.

[FreddieBennett213]

There are ways to avoid scams, I think it is important to understand the project. Specifically, as the project transparency, project community orientation.

[anushkasachith888]

If you are keen enough and if you are careful about your keys, passwords. Scammers can do nothing to you. when you are in this field you already must know how to avoid them.

[HDContent751]

Day by day scamming is increasing and we should share this kind of informative articles related to scam very much so that every one can be conscious about it and protect themselves from harm.

[BulbaLord]

To protect my account from scammer,  i think dont be easily trust others,  specially if its your new encounter. Also  Maybe you should be wise when we talk to others.  Dont give your personal info,  use a good security wallet that make your account safe,  continue to search about how to protect your account. 

[Helen1122]

It's really hard to protect ourselves from scammers. It's being part of our society of having these kind of people. And best way to protect ourselves from it is to use our own common sense which is not common Cheesy.

[tadung8790]

The thing u feel it’s very good. U need to notice.

[Mandarava]

Completely avoid the likelihood of contact with scammers will likely be very difficult, but every person should try to comply with at least the minimum requirements for security while on the Internet.

[roxbit]

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

To protect myself from I always do the following: (you should do this too) Never send money or give credit card details, online account details or copies of personal documents to anyone you don’t know or trust. Don't agree to transfer money or goods for someone else. Keep your passwords and pin numbers in a safe place. Be very careful about how much personal information you share on social media sites. Always stay alert and presence of mind when dealing online transactions.

[cutecute]

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.

For me to protect myself from scammers is to trust only yourself because if you trust someone there is a chance that they will take that opportunity to scam you. Actually scammer target is the beginner because they know that they need help so they act like they wanted to help but they will only scam you.

[kniheant]

The best way to guide against them is to keep your private key and wallet id and password from the public. With this you can be safe from scammers and fraud.

[StrongImagine301]

Very much necessary article and this kind of article are very much useful for everyone to save ourselves from scammers because day by day scamming is increasing.