Important, Beginners should know !!!

[skarais]

According to his understanding, beginner are those who are new to or know something and have very limited knowledge. Therefore, I took the initiative to provide a little understanding of what they should know about bitcoin.

Bitcoin is a financial innovation that can help you make transaction that are different from what you would do with fiat. Just like fiat, bitcoin is a currency that has a sale value which mean you can buy, sell, and also store it. It's just that bitcoin cant be regulated by any authority because it is decentralized. Learn more. Bitcoin has a good level of security if we as owner can implement security measures properly. Learn more.

Just like in the real world, you are always potential to be cheated in various ways by scammer. Because bitcoin has a high value, you should all be aware that there is always the potential that will cause you to be lied to by others through their effort so that it will add to the list of people who have been cheated. From here, there are a few thing that you must avoid in order not to become the next victim.

• Blackmail

Some time ago I once came across a thread about an attempt to blackmail someone via email which was also shared here. You have to be aware of these attempt as you shouldn't believe anything the blackmailer is saying about your data as they usually do large amount of it at the same time, so don't be easily swayed by these effort. Tip, ask for proof of what they know about you because usually they can only guess.

• Fake Exchanges

Bitcoin has grown in popularity over time since its launch. More and more adoption and users want bitcoin which has sparked scammer to carry out their criminal attempt via fake exchange. At first glance this exchange is great, but you shouldn't use it if you haven't seen a list of reputable and reputable exchange because it could be that all your bitcoin will be taken by them.

• Free Giveaways

Usually this fraudulent attempt is very easy to spot, such as an airdrop which requires participant to send a certain amount of ETH to an address to get a number of coin or token. Some of them were also seen asking participant to send KYC document. This should be avoided as these attempt will only end in scam.

• Impersonation

You also have to be careful with social media. You shouldn't trust someone famous to send you a private message and invite you to make a transaction. You know, this is a form of deception by imitating famous people and trapping their victims.

• Malware

This may have been discussed before, but it doesn't hurt to repeat it and warn one another. If you make frequent transaction, make sure the send address you enter is correct as malware may have changed your delivery destination address if you copy and paste your bitcoin address too often.

• Meet in Person

There is nothing wrong with doing bitcoin transaction with the people around you. But if you don't recognize the person, then you have to cancel your intention. There is a chance that your bitcoins are robbed and you get hurt, this action in my opinion will only be life threatening. Make sure the person is someone you really know to avoid this risk.

• Money Transfer Fraud

Someone once sent me pm on telegram asking for help. The person want to withdraw some of the bitcoin they have on an exchange that I have never heard of and offer me a reward of 40% of the total bitcoins they own. The reason for asking for help is because his IP is prohibited from making withdrawals. Well, if you have had a similar experience then just ignore it as this is purely a scam and you never know if the exchange site has been implanted with a virus or something that could harm your device and important data. Don't be greedy, just ignore it and don't click on anything.

• Phishing Emails

It's hard to tell the difference between real and fake email sent by the services we use. If at any time you get an email from a service you are using without your instruction, then you should ignore that interaction even more if the email concern your account credentials. These are called email phishing attempts which resemble email from the service we use. When in doubt, you can check the authenticity more than 2 time.

• Phishing Websites

Google is often caught failing to filter phishing website for its user. Ads displayed during searche are often redirected to phishing site or when you make a typing error. So you have to be very careful before entering your data on this site if you don't want to lose it. Make sure you are really entering the original site and always check the URL even if there is a padlock on the left.

• Ponzi Schemes

A Ponzi scheme is an investment fraud in which clients are promised a large profit at little to no risk. Companies that engage in a Ponzi scheme focus all of their energy into attracting new clients to make investments. Learn more. Avoid this investment and don't believe their false promises.

• Pyramid Schemes

This scheme is developing quite rapidly with a variety of new offerings. Usually this scheme promises benefits for its users from how big the number of participants they successfully invite. Usually these schemes are run for free at first and users have advanced options to speed up the process. Remember, something free will only disappoint you in the end. VTube is a new platform identified as running this scheme in my opinion.

• Prize Giveaways

Never give out your personal data just to get free tokens offered by anyone. You shouldn't entrust your identity to any party for just a few dollar. You never know whether your data is being used legally or not because you can't control it.

• Pump and Dumps

Never be tempted to pump and dump signal, especially if you are being offered an investment. This activity can trap you in it and they make a profit while you will take a loss.

• Ransomware

Have you heard that government agencies have to pay a certain amount of money to hackers who managed to hack into institutional data with ramsomware? This can still happen with bitcoin and you should be careful about installing any application online. Make sure you always check it carefully before doing it. Always practice recommended safety measures.

• Scam Coins

You should also be careful about investing in altcoin because ICO, IEO, DeFi can still be scam. You must make every effort if you want to become an investor in these early offer as most of them end in failure.


The conclusion:
Bitcoin is a valuable asset that will grow over time. You should always pay attention to all the potential that might happen to bitcoin, especially the security of your asset and money. Bitcoin trading is a risky activity and we never know what will happen to bitcoin in the future. You never know when you might be the target of a scam and always be careful before things go to waste. The safety of your asset, data and money is your responsibility.


Source.
1. https://bitcoin.org/en/scams
2. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/ponzischeme.asp

[OcTradism]

Collection of comprehensive guides on identify and avoid scam projects

The topic of Royse777 can help you a lot List of (un)known methods scammers user to scam users with honorable mention

[HabBear]

To be fair the only item you mentioned that is a risk unique to cryptocurrency is...

• Scam Coins

You should also be careful about investing in altcoin because ICO, IEO, DeFi can still be scam. You must make every effort if you want to become an investor in these early offer as most of them end in failure.

Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt is thick in the crypto world, we shouldn't be adding to it by proposing that threats that are inherent with fiat currency, the internet, or life in general are any more risky with bitcoin or cryptocurrency - they aren't.

The greatest ponzi scheme in the world, committed by Bernie Madoff, was done using the mainstream investment markets. The crimes were conducted in the offices of downtown Manhattan and Wall Street...not in the depths of Satoshi's code.

What's being reflected in your research is the wealth of misinformation or misunderstanding that exists in the world about cryptocurrency and bitcoin.

I agree with your conclusion, let's add to it that the risk of scam is a life risk, not a bitcoin risk.

The conclusion:
Bitcoin is a valuable asset that will grow over time. You should always pay attention to all the potential that might happen to bitcoin, especially the security of your asset and money. Bitcoin trading is a risky activity and we never know what will happen to bitcoin in the future. You never know when you might be the target of a scam and always be careful before things go to waste. The safety of your asset, data and money is your responsibility.

[ataur.pabna]

Thanks for your valuable information. Just created an account here

[HabBear]

Thanks for your valuable information. Just created an account here

Hey, welcome to our place, friend!

How did you find this place? Have you bought any BTC yet? Any other cryptocoins? Tell us about yourself. Lot's of smart people around here, go lurk and learn!

[silver1999]

a very informative & helpful post for newbies like me, thank you for this.

[AniviaBtc]

• Free Giveaways

Usually this fraudulent attempt is very easy to spot, such as an airdrop which requires participant to send a certain amount of ETH to an address to get a number of coin or token. Some of them were also seen asking participant to send KYC document. This should be avoided as these attempt will only end in scam.

Fake giveaways are the most obvious scam that I've encountered in my life.

No one wants to give their own asset for free so expect that they will not really give you a free money.

That's the problem that most of the beginners are getting attracted with. They want an easy money, believe it or not, they will do their best just to earn money without even thinking twice. No matter what coins you are investing, keep on hustling and focus on your own hard-work and don't rely on those fake giveaways scheme.

[samputin]

• Free Giveaways

Usually this fraudulent attempt is very easy to spot, such as an airdrop which requires participant to send a certain amount of ETH to an address to get a number of coin or token. Some of them were also seen asking participant to send KYC document. This should be avoided as these attempt will only end in scam.

Fake giveaways are the most obvious scam that I've encountered in my life.

No one wants to give their own asset for free so expect that they will not really give you a free money.

~

You've said it right. Upon entering this kind of community, many beginners think that what they see is always true including those giveaways. But that shouldn't be the case always.

Beginners should always remember the saying, "If it's too good to be true, it probably is." Doing bit of a research won't hurt. It might even save one from losses. And I must say that this kind of thread is informative and applies not only for crypto but also in fiat. It's always better to be safe than sorry.

[erikoy]

Fake exchanges, Phishing sites, Malware links are hard to avoid especially if one is always in a hurry. There is never easy in this part unless you are techie and knows well even at the first sight that the link provided or the sites when checking the site address is a fake or a phishing site. Definitely this is one of the reason why many bitcoiners and other crypto enthusiasts get scam or hack by them. However, getting an offline wallets for bitcoin or other crypto if applicable will be a good choice and decision to make to avoid getting scam or hack. Hopefully, everyone or platforms could be more secure like integrating KYC using mobile phone numbers as what other platforms had been into but I do not know how secured this kind of 2FA but for me it is quite good especially in withdrawing money which needed the code before it will be process sent to the 2FA devices or the likes.

[ShowOff]

Thank for sharing, I appreciate your effort. I don't think this warning is intended for beginner only, as all forum user should be aware of it and should always be reminded. I think the situation is becoming more and more important due to the continuously increasing price movement of bitcoin and this will be a great momentum for scammer to do their job.

Fake exchanges are one of the most important warning right now because the high price of bitcoin has triggered scammer to break out of the nest. I would also like to suggest that anyone should bookmark the site or service they use frequently to prevent them from being redirected to fake site especially exchange. When scammer can do more to get prey, increase awareness of all the potential.

[abdulodoi]

Thank you for sharing this with us, it's always good to be reminded of life's dubious ways of taking advantage of those vulnerable. Once we are online, we are already vulnerable to scams and these scammers are becoming more smarter that they play reversed psychology on us.

This reminder is definitely for everyone and not only newbies. We all need to keep ourselves informed of current suspicious activities and always triple check before investing our money or time into anything. Never be in a hurry when clicking links or even making online payments.

[Cryptoababe]

Thees are exactly what beginners should know. Especially the scam coins and pump and dump part. Those parts are very important for beginners who are willing to invest in new coins.

[nakamura12]

What I think about the list you made is it is a way of how scammers will use like phishing sites, email, ponzi schemese and many more. There is a thread with the same concept on what way you will know that it is a scam or not. You did the right thing about reminding everyone about how will you determine if it is a scam.

[skarais]

Bump....

So far I have seen a wave of newbie coming to bitcointalk, creating account and asking question about their troubled wallet. They came because they just realized that bitcoin has hit ATH and are eager to find something they left behind in hope of having something good for the bitcoin they left behind.

I just wanted to suggest a few thing to them:
1. Don't trust anyone offering recovery services via PM.
2. Avoid sending PK, password, etc. associated with your wallet.
3. Create a new thread and solve the problem by asking a few question.
4. Solve your problem openly in the thread that you created. Not recommended via PM.
5. Read the point that have been mentioned in the OP to avoid fraud.