HOW TO AVOID FAKE CRYPTOCURRENCY APPS

[RockBell]

In addition to creating programs that can take your money, con artists have always discovered new techniques to defraud people of their possessions through social media. Scammers have been a problem when it comes to cryptocurrencies; they have taken advantage of the decentralized nature of blockchains to fleece a number of cryptocurrency investors. According to the FBI, scammers used fake apps to defraud crypto investors out of an estimated 42.7 million dollars. Scammers prey on people's interest in cryptocurrencies by making them seem appealing and legitimate.

Strategies used to lure individuals into downloading scam apps

- Social engineering: has an effective method where they utilize dating apps to disguise and entice their victims to trade on these apps once the fund is transferred by the victims then is no longer available to withdraw funds. Because social engineering needs minor work, this is one of their primary tactics for influencing victims.

- Recognizable brand names: the latest cybercrime reported to the FBI involved scammers attempting to persuade people to use the YiBit trading app, and the YiBit exchange stopped all transactions in 2018 as a result of numerous complaints of funds being transferred to the fake app they are using extensively.  Scammers use reputable brand names to promote there fake apps since those brands have the full trust of individuals they hide using the brand as undercover in using the apps. Scams have caused millions of dollars to be lost.

 -Fake apps being promoted through legitimate app stores
There are many apps that are uploaded to app stores that are used for scam activities; some of these apps are used to gather data about your wallet or any related cryptocurrency account information. App stores like the play store check apps frequently to remove apps that have trust issues, but some of these apps manage to get past the checks. A false trezor app was being uploaded to both stores, and users who downloaded it were required to share their seed phrase in order to access the app's functions. Futures on the app allowed these scammers to flee with people's money. Numerous instances of con artists stealing money from victims using fraudulent apps.

Different digital businesses are attempting to educate people about security and various methods of keeping your money safe.

How to spot fraudulent cryptocurrency apps.

-spelling, description, and icon.
-Application permission.
-The number of downloads.
-Read reviews
-Confirming authenticity by contacting support

[1714881754]

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[5W-KILO]

There is a way around increasing the number of downloads for an app on Google playstore, erase this thinking out of your mind, the best way to avoid fake app is simply using the app official website.

I don't go to play store and search for app, instead I let the official website of the app to redirects browser to play store.

[Charles-Tim]

Many people are also very ignorant and believe in Google Play store and other other app stores. They will search for an app and just download it. Some people can do this and download fake app.

-spelling, description, and icon.
-Read reviews

The spelling can be very correct, but just little changes. Just like this: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5315562.msg56297549#msg56297549

The icon can be very different but deceiving, likewise the name. There is nothing better than to go to the official site to download the app. Reading reviews would be of help, but we should be careful too because reviews can be fake at times and some good apps can be reviewed not accurate, just like electrum some reviews on playstore.

[Ultegra134]

One of the most common ones is conducted via platforms such as Telegram and Discord. These places are filled to the brim with scammers who pose as administrators or good samaritans willing to help you out when you ask something in the group. They are a lot more dangerous than the usual spam bots found on the same platforms regarding fake giveaways from fake exchanges, charging you a fee to withdraw your so-called prize. A few months ago, I was approached by one of the first mentioned scammers and was tricked into entering my private key on a fake Dapps website. I was fortunate enough that after doing so, I realized how stupid that move was and quickly withdrew all my funds to another wallet.

It's a combination of social engineering and phishing, probably the worst type of scam you come across on such platforms.

[examplens]

I expected something more from this analysis, but I'm afraid that it can only introduce more confusion for beginners.

How to spot fraudulent cryptocurrency apps.

-spelling, description, and icon.

fraudsters are very advanced and it is not a big problem for them to clone any site or application.

-The number of downloads.

it is possible to buy fake downloads, ratings etc...

-Confirming authenticity by contacting support

If you ask for support, they will certainly not admit to you that they are scammers and that you do not use their application. they will promise you the best that you can hear.

-Read reviews

this is probably the only thing that can be considered approximately relevant, and it is very important to distinguish fake from real reviews. Even when it is a highly ranked review source.

[decodx]

How to spot fraudulent cryptocurrency apps.

Hahaha, this was debunked pretty quickly! 

-Read reviews

this is probably the only thing that can be considered approximately relevant, and it is very important to distinguish fake from real reviews. Even when it is a highly ranked review source.

Yes. Despite the fact that there is no 100% reliable way to spot fraudulent or deceptive crypto apps, this is probably the only one that can still give relevant results. Reviews, if from reliable sources, provide a fairly objective opinion of the app and are usually helpful in eliminating snake oil that might look like a legit thing but in fact might be nothing more than a scam.

[SOKO-DEKE]

Every time I read a post like this under Beginners and Help, I am very relieved since it serves as a good reminder for all of us, especially newbies . Spend some time learning about all the ways that people can be scammed , in my opinion. Some people believes they won't be scammed, yet scammer are clever and constantly come up with new ways to scam people.

[KingsDen]

To be on a safer side, the smartest thing to do is to first know the name of the exchange that you want to get its app. Then checkout for their official website, visit the site and confirm that is it the real site you visited. You can know this by not following any link provide you. Or if you landed there by link, try do google search with the site name as the key word and see if you would be giving a similar site and you know there's a red flag.
But if same site, you proceed and make your download from the site you visited.  I only download from the playstore if it is not finance related, maybe for fun or for test running of apps.

[PX-Z]

How to avoid those fake apps? Just don't install any kind of shits on your phone without going in the official website of the service you're looking for.

How to access the original website without going to phishing sites?
Google their website name ^{(always know how to distinguished a non-ad result and ad result)}, search their website name on social media accounts like facebook and twitter, because their website url is always on their socmed accounts. Double check links and always double cross check. Why? Because apps are linked always on the official website.

[sheenshane]

How to spot fraudulent cryptocurrency apps.

-spelling, description, and icon.
-Application permission.
-The number of downloads.
-Read reviews
-Confirming authenticity by contacting support

The bolded part above can be fake which is it's hard to determine if it's fake.
Cybercriminals these days have many ways to fool people with their fake apps because when the company brand has many users it's very easy to confuse those new users.

In addition above, it could be also the right way of checking legitimate apps is the release date, you'll become suspicious if the app has been recently released but has a massive number of downloads.  The last and the best option is to go to their official website.

[Oceat]

It just means that all or mostly of what the OP said can be bypass by the scammers but going to the official website of that certain app will be helpful but we should be very careful too along the way since searching it on Google sometimes will lead us to the fake website/phishing site. If in doubt, search the internet for thorough information about the website then you are good to download the app to their official website.

[SquirrelJulietGarden]

First of all, don't install too many apps on your devices.
Second, if you want to install any app, visit official website and get a link to download application from their site. Don't search in Apple Store or Google Play. In bad days, you can find fake applications.
Lastly, don't install 2FA application on a device you use to login your account.

About fake apps, it's easy to see their download time is very low. They can not fake M of download times like what we can see with famous app.

[Mpamaegbu]

To be on a safer side, the smartest thing to do is to first know the name of the exchange that you want to get its app. Then checkout for their official website, visit the site and confirm that is it the real site you visited.

That's the same thing I've been doing now in addition to bookmarking or saving on home screen every official site I visit. I quit trusting Playstore when I discovered that fake downloads are possible with them to up the figures. As a noob, I used to get my crypto apps from Playstore, relying on the reviews I read there and the rankings for apps. I don't even type in addresses to sites I visit for serious transactions without getting that from official sources, even that for this forum is permanently saved on my device.

[NeuroticFish]

-spelling, description, and icon.
-Application permission.

These can be a proper indicator.

-The number of downloads.

These can be faked, so I would not take this alone into account; it needs more.

-Read reviews

No, just no. There are so many fake reviews - in both directions! - you better not rely on those.

-Confirming authenticity by contacting support

Many very good wallets are open source and don't have support page as you'd expect.
Support is usually an indicator of a private product, usually meaning custodial service, which brings another list of risks (KYC, "not your keys, not your coins").


I think that best is to check/ask on bitcointalk for good wallets. You will get the names and official websites. And the official websites will have the correct link to the correct wallet (and also ways to check it's the correct one).
I would not google search for the official website, since nowadays those also get cloned and get high ranks in search engines.