How to avoid scammers (Must read for newbie)

[kentrolla]

This is to create awareness amongst new members to avoid getting scammed.

I am going to list down a few of the tactics used by scammers to scam newbie as well as other users by luring them with huge profit scheme or some sort of plan which is difficult to refuse at times.

Tactics #1: Chinese regulation trick
You will receive a message from a random person stating he is from China and he has close to 1 BTC into his wallet but is unable to withdraw it due to some restrictions in their country and share a fake exchange link asking you to register there and he will transfer the amount to you and then you can transfer it to his another wallet wherein he will pay 20% of the amount as a gesture, sounds good isn't it? Once you log in to the exchange he will transfe3r the amount (just a digital value on fake site) but when you try to withdraw it the site will says it's a new account and you need to deposit some BTC in order to verify which will make you eligible for withdrawal and once you transfer the required BTC it will ask you to deposit more stating this account is froze and it will keep asking you to deposit the amount until you give up and reach out to their customer support agent who will say there is suspicious activity with this account hence you have to deposit but if you question them stating you wanna withdraw the amount which you have deposited they will threaten you stating you are involved in money laundering and block you from chatting, the random guy who messaged you will also block you.

This is a planned method to rob our money which we deposit in part to withdraw a huge amount.

Tactics #2: Investment plans through telegram
This method is not new and most of you would have experienced it wherein you will be added to some random telegram groups and where you will find people from different nationalities praising and thanking the admin stating they have earned a lot and it has changed there life, wherein they will ask you to buy a plan and state you will 200% of return on your investment withiin 3 days or a week.

Most of us might get convinced since people from around the world are endorsing it but these are all fake profiles and bots which has been created using profile pictures and DPs stoles from social media to make it look like genuine.

Tactics #3: Impersonating a crypto influencer of Youtube(Especially crypto analysts)
A genuine crypto analyst (youtuber) will never ask you to pay them and even if they ask they will share the details over video itself but there are imposters who have scammed so many people. When you watch a youtube video of crypto analyst and make a comment or ask for their contact details you will get response from imposter with same profile picture and ask your to transfer minimum amount to trade on behalf of you and assure you weekly or daily payout. these are scammers who barge into comments section of youtubers and whenever they find a comment from any user asking for youtuber's contact details or appreciate these guys trap the users by replying to their comments share a contact links of themselves to scam them.

I have encountered these situations and lucky to stop myself at the right time, I hope this was helpful article not only for newbie but for other users as well and save atleast someone from getting scammed.

[chance57]

Some of the scams seems very stupid i just wonder how they really fall for it 

[LTU_btc]

Thanks for sharing these tips. So far I haven't faced scame related with Chinese regulations. But in general, most of scamming methods are old and don't change much throughout years. Some are very primitive, while others is more complex.
Telegram investment is another type of HYIP. Previously HYIP websites were quite big thing, but it required scammers to put some investment to create website. While scamming through Telegram is free.
Impersonating is probably most effective scamming nowadays. There is so many fake Twitter or Youtube profiles looking like real. You have to pay attention to small details to spot fake profile. Unfortunately, many people don't notice these things and fall into scam.

[CryptopreneurBrainboss]

Some of the scams seems very stupid i just wonder how they really fall for it 

Same way people fall for giveaway scams, it's either out of ignorant (in the sense that, they're not educated/inform on this tricks used by scammers) or they fall because of greed. Humans are greedy naturally, they fully know such offers are unrealistic but their greed will overshadow their reasoning and they'll fall victim. Scammers aren't innovative anymore, they just wait on this two factor to play on their favour, either the victim is ignorant or greedy.

This Chinese scams aren't restricted to only Chinese as any region with restrictions on crypto can be used and most times those behind the mask at the other end aren't really Chinese, they are scammers from all part of the world in disguise and this is sending a wrong impression about Chinese same as it's for other regions that get profiled due to story of scams online.

To protect yourself from all scams, stay updated/informed and most importantly be skeptical about everything except the Bitcoin in your personal wallet because if it's too good to be true then it usually a scam.

[Upgrade00]

These are all common methods, but rather than making a list, anyone who visits the internet should consider everything to be a scam until proven otherwise. Scammers can come up with multiple different tactics to weasel someone out of their assets, but if you start every discussion from the standpoint that it is a scam, it would take a lot for a scammer to convince you otherwise.

Cryptocurrencies are largely unregulated and you act as your own bank, more reason to be extra skeptical. Do not trust, verify.

[sheenshane]

Tactics #2: Investment plans through telegram

A house of a lot of scammers is here, I think if you're new in the crypto world maybe you must avoid using this social media platform if you don't know how to verify legitimacy.  It's better to avoid dealing with people using this platform because it seems a bit annoying when there's someone who will offer you investment and sweet promises that you will earn after putting in investment.

In addition, these threads are related to your thread too that newbies would aware.

• Frequently Ask Questions(FAQ) & Answers about cryptocurrency scam.
• Types of Scams in Crypto - Awareness

Anyway, thank you for sharing this.

[Piggymonster]

Some of the scams seems very stupid i just wonder how they really fall for it 

Yes it is true, it seems very stupid and too good to be true but somehow people wanna try their luck and some are just credulous. In my case, I was once a victim of a scam because I fully trust my close cousin that he will not betray me but blood is not always thicker than water. At first, he persuaded me to invest just a small amount because I was skeptical. Initially it was good, my money grow and he always assure me that this investment is legit, showed me some evidence and it was pretty convincing so I invested more. Then one day, he was gone and all my money. I managed to contact him and he said it was a scam, there were lots of complaint filed against that company but the odds of getting our money back is so slim. Lesson learned.

When someone message me through telegram and convinced me to invest, I automatically blocked it as I don't wanna fall again into the scammer trap.

[tranthidung]

Tactics #1: Chinese regulation trick
You will receive a message from a random person stating he is from China and he has close to 1 BTC into his wallet but is unable to withdraw it due to some restrictions in their country and share a fake exchange link asking you to register there and he will transfer the amount to you and then you can transfer it to his another wallet wherein he will pay 20% of the amount as a gesture, sounds good isn't it?

Random messages are mostly from scammers. And if they send you random messages just to ask for personal information or give you offers that are too good to be true, they are definitely scammers.

You don't have to care of where are they from, China or not, it is not a matter.

Tactics #2: Investment plans through telegram
they will ask you to buy a plan and state you will 200% of return on your investment withiin 3 days or a week.

Again, stay away from offers that are too good to be true.

Tactics #3: Impersonating a crypto influencer of Youtube(Especially crypto analysts)

It is similar scam approach when scammers try to impersonate famous people. Again, the protective key is avoid offers that are too good to be true.

Crypto transactions are irreversible so scammers will abuse it, ask you to send your crypto first. Then, it will go forever.

You don't know who they are, and crypto transactions are irreversible. Remember that.

[Piggymonster]

These pointers are helpful, everyone should take time to read this as this could help to avoid to fall for a scam. Scammers are getting smarter and taking advantage on everything that will make you fall into their trap and take part with your money. It is important to be always suspicious and take some time to do a bit more research.

I have read this article that states the five psychological reasons on why people fall for scams and how to avoid them, here is the link. https://theconversation.com/five-psychological-reasons-why-people-fall-for-scams-and-how-to-avoid-them-102421

[isaac_clarke22]

~

It is not only in China actually. There are people out there claiming to be United States as well, but sometimes they are either from Spain or India. I have been watching scambaiters trying to waste these scammers time and that is from what I heard so far.

[crwth]

I have experienced #1 and #2. Mostly #2. For #3, it is seldom to see and receive messages from someone who can be impersonating someone. But you should always be careful and check the telegram username and the connected profiles in it. It's pretty apparent for sure.

For the messaging of China regulations, I think it's not just there. There would be someone in your DMs that is offering something, and I have tried to "converse" with them, and they just gave me a link with a "satisfactory" looking website that is copied somewhere on the internet to look legit. And I did a couple of steps and did encounter that deposit. It's too apparent just to think that I would risk my BTC to withdraw more. And I just played with the scammer that I said that I already deposited ^{and of course I didn't} but convinced him that I did and just circling until I was bored.

It's pretty obvious because if you have like 2 BTC in the exchange and still need a deposit of 0.01 or any other amount to take it out, why not withdraw it whole and deduct it, right? That's just common sense and a scam.

The telegram messages, that, I get a lot. It's super freaking annoying because it's too obvious, but there are a bunch still going there. I know I can turn off the PMs and ignore non-contacts, but since I'm included in sales, I can't help wonder that they might be a client, so it's a risk, but I immediately block them if it's evident that they are just phishing or scamming lol.

Remember, "If it's too good to be true, it probably is." Just don't go and depositing and putting your seeds somewhere, hoping to connect your wallet or something.

[lovesmayfamilis]

These pointers are helpful, everyone should take time to read this as this could help to avoid to fall for a scam. Scammers are getting smarter and taking advantage on everything that will make you fall into their trap and take part with your money. It is important to be always suspicious and take some time to do a bit more research.

I have read this article that states the five psychological reasons on why people fall for scams and how to avoid them, here is the link. https://theconversation.com/five-psychological-reasons-why-people-fall-for-scams-and-how-to-avoid-them-102421

You contradict yourself. Write that the methods of deception are becoming more modern with every year, and even scammers are getting smarter, but you yourself offer an article that is more than 4 years old. Trust me, there is fresher information out there if you want to look smart.

And if on the subject, everyone should ask themselves why the hell is this person writing to me? Why is he inviting me to participate in his story? Are there really few in the world who could also receive such letters? Asking yourself, you should think that you are not unique, which means that this scammer is looking for another sucker to steal his money.
There is no need to create the illusion that there are kind people on the Internet who are ready to share their property.

[traderethereum]

I have experience facing numbers one and two, but I do not follow what they want and delete the email because I know that is part of scammers trying to seduce people to help them.
But the most thing that still happens is the investment programs that will tempt people to join with them because if people hear about the investment thing, they will directly get "AHA" that is my way to make money and start investing in that programs.
The key here is how we can be careful to research and find more information about the offers and if those offers look good to be true, then that could be a scam, so we need to stay away from them.
Our job is not to follow them because we need more time to know about them so we do not get a scam.

[ifarted]

Recently i had read about "how to avoid scams" many times with different threads. I am grateful that the seniors are thinking a lot about us newbies who are unexperienced in marketing and trading.

The experiences you shared helps us to learn more about scams like how they uses tricks to win over us. You taught us how to determine a scammer by creating this thread. This will serves us guidance in the future if ever we came across scammers and then at that time we knew how to avoid it as we've gain knowledge about scammers because of seniors like you whom shared their experiences and knowledge to us.

Lastly i wanted to say thank you for sharing your knowledge.

[Cryptoababe]

Most Telegram Scammers are absolutely senseless.. They use same tricks .I once told a scammer on Telegram that i used dextool.io as investment platform and he/she didn't even know what dextool is. The next question he/she asked is.. How is it going for you?
 

[Piggymonster]

These pointers are helpful, everyone should take time to read this as this could help to avoid to fall for a scam. Scammers are getting smarter and taking advantage on everything that will make you fall into their trap and take part with your money. It is important to be always suspicious and take some time to do a bit more research.

I have read this article that states the five psychological reasons on why people fall for scams and how to avoid them, here is the link. https://theconversation.com/five-psychological-reasons-why-people-fall-for-scams-and-how-to-avoid-them-102421

You contradict yourself. Write that the methods of deception are becoming more modern with every year, and even scammers are getting smarter, but you yourself offer an article that is more than 4 years old. Trust me, there is fresher information out there if you want to look smart.

And if on the subject, everyone should ask themselves why the hell is this person writing to me? Why is he inviting me to participate in his story? Are there really few in the world who could also receive such letters? Asking yourself, you should think that you are not unique, which means that this scammer is looking for another sucker to steal his money.
There is no need to create the illusion that there are kind people on the Internet who are ready to share their property.

What I mean about the article I shared even if it is old is the psychological reasons on WHY people fall into their trap not HOW they scammed them. And what I refer to about the pointers are the lists of advices written by Kentrolla  that at least helpful to us, newbies.  Scammers being smart is as you said they are becoming more modern as they adapt to new technologies and target their victims.   Sorry, I don't want to look smart it is just that I relate myself to that article because I was once a victim of scam because I listen to my heart more than my head if you know what I mean. I was scammed by my own kin and that was hurtful.

[kentrolla]

Thanks for sharing these tips. So far I haven't faced scame related with Chinese regulations. But in general, most of scamming methods are old and don't change much throughout years. Some are very primitive, while others is more complex.
Telegram investment is another type of HYIP. Previously HYIP websites were quite big thing, but it required scammers to put some investment to create website. While scamming through Telegram is free.
Impersonating is probably most effective scamming nowadays. There is so many fake Twitter or Youtube profiles looking like real. You have to pay attention to small details to spot fake profile. Unfortunately, many people don't notice these things and fall into scam.

Yes impersonating us doing wonders for scammers because most of users are in so much hurry to get rich quick they don't bother to validate when they receive a message or response to their post from an imposter and moreover I have seen many youtubers literally begging people not to pay anything to them as they will never request for money still users end up scammed. I think we should create more awareness of such techniques used by scammers because now crypto has become mainstream and so the scammers are trying all the possible way to squeeze as much as they can due to lack of validation from users.

[Husires]

Tactics #1: Chinese regulation trick

This type is called “Nigerian Rich Scam” and it may not be your money but your personal data or any type of fraud that someone needs your help to withdraw money.  Nigerian prince scams still rake in over $700,000 a year

Greed is what drives people to provide such services for free in an attempt to get a higher return.
Sometimes software, locked coins or any kind of gifts are sent.

All the profit that can come to you from a random person on the Internet is a scam.

[GeorgeJohn]

Some of the scams seems very stupid i just wonder how they really fall for it 

The only thing i noticed that always push people to fall victim to scammers is profit, so majority today have be victimized because they are inquisitive to have extra profit, many investment platforms today that indicates or showcase that investing in their platforms will enhance for huge profit is a scam organization or platform, so the only remedy i portray from my perception is to avoid their inbox, because scammer always look for who will patterner or patronize them seriousness via any social media group, and they have different dimensions or strategies to deserve people, so the only way out is to isolate their pm.

[kryptocanon]

This is very informative. Thanks for sharing. Though I know greed is the number one reason people fall for their traps. I just hope I get to learn more of these scam tactics in here