Keep your Bitcoin Fund safe, Be wary, Be Safe before Clicking

[Callido]

I feel that the best way to stay safe from phishing link is not to click on random links but avoid them. It's also good that you don't involve yourself in a lot of activities on the internet that will make you more vulnerable to phishing links. Like others said, if you can have two devices, one strictly for your crypto assest and the other for whatever you want to do on the internet.

The social media is scammer's hub. Someone who is active in many social media platforms will be prone to these scams attempts. I have learned to reduce my social media activities to enable me to control some of the links and messages I receive. Having a phone reserved to access the internet and social media is not also a bad idea. You would never be a victim since your financial transactions or personal details are not exposed to people online. These scammers are not sleeping, they are coming up with new ways of stealing from people. There is a need to be more vigilant.

From the OP instance of Phishing link, it may be difficult to detect that it is not the official platform being browsed to. Most social media are currently apps built which reduce how much links you can receive, the problem is with sites and links you get from your browser or through emails which have more phishing danger than social media.

[CryptopreneurBrainboss]

You would never be a victim since your financial transactions or personal details are not exposed to people online. These scammers are not sleeping, they are coming up with new ways of stealing from people. There is a need to be more vigilant.

We pray not to become victims of scam because it's a very painful experience. I can't remember the last time I was scammed because it has been a very long time now but when I was their frequent customers, it use to be very painful. You can't be more skilled than the scammers because they work in groups and brainstorm ideas together that eventually will get them multiple victims. At times they make use of the letter L which is l in lowercase to deceive people that they're visiting the right website with I (i) in the web links. We can't outsmart the scammers that easily without knowing their tricks so that's what we have to be watching for to stay ahead of them.

[Su-asa]

I think those that haven't been scammed won't believe that scammers do exist, so they might keep clicking some phishing links and believing some funny good to be true stories or deal online.
However the earliest one knows how to stay safe on the Internet the earlier they stay safe from scammers. Actually the Internet is kind of not safe for those who have a lot of crypto currency because IMO the major Target for scammers is those that deals on crypto currencies.

[lionheart78]

I think those that haven't been scammed won't believe that scammers do exist, so they might keep clicking some phishing links and believing some funny good to be true stories or deal online.

With the news and reports being heard and watched every day, I doubt those people who has not been scammed thinks that scammers don't exist.  I think these people are ultra careful when dealing with online stuff or they are knowledgeable enough to not fall for these scams.

However the earliest one knows how to stay safe on the Internet the earlier they stay safe from scammers.

Yes, the earlier a person knows about the strategy of the scammers, the earlier they can prptect themselves from being scammed.  So they are working safely through cautious browsing.

Actually the Internet is kind of not safe for those who have a lot of crypto currency because IMO the major Target for scammers is those that deals on crypto currencies.

I agree, crypto users and crypto holders are somehow at a high risk of being targeted by hackers and scammers,  this is also one of the major reasons why we read lots of news about crypto holder  being scammed, wallet hijacked and system hacked draining their wallet.

[CryptSafe]

You would never be a victim since your financial transactions or personal details are not exposed to people online. These scammers are not sleeping, they are coming up with new ways of stealing from people. There is a need to be more vigilant.

We pray not to become victims of scam because it's a very painful experience. I can't remember the last time I was scammed because it has been a very long time now but when I was their frequent customers, it use to be very painful. You can't be more skilled than the scammers because they work in groups and brainstorm ideas together that eventually will get them multiple victims. At times they make use of the letter L which is l in lowercase to deceive people that they're visiting the right website with I (i) in the web links. We can't outsmart the scammers that easily without knowing their tricks so that's what we have to be watching for to stay ahead of them.

You are right, scammers are always 10 steps ahead of their victims, and they work in groups, which enables them to brainstorm and think of new ideas and strategies to outsmart their victims. They are most successful because they work with a network of groups all over, and they are so equipped with gadgets that could help them do their dirty jobs perfectly well. All we have to do is to always be watchful and alert, to not be taken unawares, and constantly be updated with their new tricks when discovered so we can be safe to not fall a victim of their ill act.

[MainIbem]

I think those that haven't been scammed won't believe that scammers do exist, so they might keep clicking some phishing links and believing some funny good to be true stories or deal online.
However the earliest one knows how to stay safe on the Internet the earlier they stay safe from scammers. Actually the Internet is kind of not safe for those who have a lot of crypto currency because IMO the major Target for scammers is those that deals on crypto currencies.

Scammers are very intelligent, they're smart people and anyone who thinks they're above being scammed is very delusional. Yes, being very careful matters but sometimes it not about how careful or how well informed one is, the slightest mistake can expose someone to scammers or hackers and in a twinkle of an eyes you've become a victim that's why you'll hear that some people develop blood pressure or mental illness after losing their funds to scammers it's the shock of being victimised despite how careful or well informed they're that leads to that. Everyone just need to do as you've said by staying and being very careful when dealing with stuffs on the Internet, with the awareness that the slightest mistake could exposed them to hackers or scammers.

[taufik123]

I think those that haven't been scammed won't believe that scammers do exist, so they might keep clicking some phishing links and believing some funny good to be true stories or deal online.

With the news and reports being heard and watched every day, I doubt those people who has not been scammed thinks that scammers don't exist.  I think these people are ultra careful when dealing with online stuff or they are knowledgeable enough to not fall for these scams.

People who ignore their security by carelessly clicking on links or receiving strange files on their devices,
they are completely unaware and do not know if it is true that the scam is being carried out in a more sophisticated way as it is today.

But those who really understand how crypto scams work will be very vigilant and careful to click on the links or files you want to access, because all the loopholes can be used by scammers to get in.

But not only hacking that relies on links and malware, but psychological manipulation or commonly called social engineering is a hack that takes advantage of the weaknesses of other people's psychology so that they are deceived and can carry out the instructions made by scammers to drain all the contents of the victim's wallet.

So stay vigilant and be aware that scams will happen everywhere and happen to anyone if they are not focused.

[Agbamoni]

With this, I wanted to share some information that might be helpful in identifying if the link is malicious or safe in order to minimize the chance of losing our Bitcoin fund from any possible malicious or phishing attempt.  This information can be seen in this site : 21 Tips to Check If a Link Is Safe Before You Click

A safest practice is don't check link, don't click on link from strangers. You don't have to mind about links sent to you by strangers and don't need to waste your time for checking whether those links are safe.

If your checking skill is bad, you can have false result and believe that a link is safe.

So I was just imagining the risky effect it could be of someone learning that a link is phishing and you still attempts to click on it just to check it out.
So you want to fall victim before believing such scam exist? Just wondering how people steps on toes.

If you are too curious to know what is in the link. Then open the link with a different device that does not contain any personal information, data, wallets, passwords, or sensitive files you do not want to share. Only use an empty device with no saved password, no crypto wallets installed, no personal accounts logged in to access the link. That way, even if the link is malicious, it can’t access anything valuable to you. I know humans can be very curious to know something at times, but we should priorities precautions first.

[JoyMarsha]

This post is helpful for each one of us to be mindful of what we click because scammers are getting wiser every day to create a link or site that will be the same as the original site, with little difference that will be hard to notice if proper not cross-check.

However, I will let people know about these tactics of hackers to create phishing links that will be similar to the site they click on. They shouldn't fall victim to clicking any random links sent to them again. Times are bad on the Internet, not every link sent by anyone is a genuine one

[JiiBs]

With this, I wanted to share some information that might be helpful in identifying if the link is malicious or safe in order to minimize the chance of losing our Bitcoin fund from any possible malicious or phishing attempt.  This information can be seen in this site : 21 Tips to Check If a Link Is Safe Before You Click

And among those lists, I wanted to emphasize this one:

Watch Out for Sneaky “Look-alike” Links

This scheme uses a homograph attack where the link looks exactly the same as the original one but they are actually entirely different.  See the article example:



We can't see the difference do we?

But well, they are different since one is in full Latin while the other one uses Cyrillic on "a" or "app" and Latin the rest of the letter.  Although these two seem to look like the same link, they are different.

I’ve had to go over the provided image several times and o couldn’t spot the difference. Looked at it from different perspectives and even after reading where to spot the difference, it’s just so slightly and negligible to be where we find an error.

Imagine not having where to compare with as it’s the case in the OP, you’ll just be vulnerable for the right reasons. Browsers flagging this would be definitely the best way out if you aren’t inputing those characters yourself which is the primary way out of this.

[SquirrelJulietGarden]

It is true that hot wallets are not safe as cold wallets because of their connection to the internet and as a result of that, anybody can monitor these wallets because they are online and hackers can attempt on it since it is connected but the reverse is the case for a cold wallet storage because it is always offline except when it is connected to your system to have access to it otherwise one can not be able to monitor their wallet if not connected to the internet.

It is good that enthusiasts take note of this so that they do not make any mistakes when it comes to their wallet safety, as it is very important to keep our assets in a safe and secure way and manner so that we don't regret our actions in the near future.

Cold wallets are safer than hot wallets but at your end and practice, you must learn and practice rightly with cold wallets.

Cold wallets are not like powerful tools to secure your bitcoins if you don't purchase and use them rightly.
[LIST]Open Source Hardware Wallets.
[GUIDE] How to buy a Hardware Wallet the right way
Recommended wallets.
[Guide] Cold storage.

[Moreno233]

Thank you OP for this post as it has opened my eyes to a new way phishing attacks can be designed that makes it almost impossible to spot by a novice or someone who have not seen it. Without post like this I wouldn't have known there is something called homograph attack. The only problem is that it is very difficult to notice even by experience people since everything is the same on visual checks unless when links are checked with other means to know that there is a difference. Maybe we should always check every link properly before accessing them or using only the official platforms to access links.

[CryptSafe]

It is true that hot wallets are not safe as cold wallets because of their connection to the internet and as a result of that, anybody can monitor these wallets because they are online and hackers can attempt on it since it is connected but the reverse is the case for a cold wallet storage because it is always offline except when it is connected to your system to have access to it otherwise one can not be able to monitor their wallet if not connected to the internet.

It is good that enthusiasts take note of this so that they do not make any mistakes when it comes to their wallet safety, as it is very important to keep our assets in a safe and secure way and manner so that we don't regret our actions in the near future.

Cold wallets are safer than hot wallets but at your end and practice, you must learn and practice rightly with cold wallets.

Cold wallets are not like powerful tools to secure your bitcoins if you don't purchase and use them rightly.
[LIST]Open Source Hardware Wallets.
[GUIDE] How to buy a Hardware Wallet the right way
Recommended wallets.
[Guide] Cold storage.

The safety of our wallet and assets depends on how we protect them on our end. As a user, it is pertinent that we put efforts in making sure we always do routine checks on our wallets and also on our keys, if they are safe, because that would reveal things to us if there is any imminent danger lurking around. This would put us on check too, to further always look for every means to keep our assets safe and secure. The links you provided are very much useful thanks for sharing them.

[Curious T]

A safest practice is don't check link, don't click on link from strangers. You don't have to mind about links sent to you by strangers and don't need to waste your time for checking whether those links are safe.

Practically speaking, is there a way you can be on the internet without clicking links entirely? I don't think so. I mean, the OP posted links, and you also posted links, so if I don't click on the links posted, I won't learn about what the link contains.
I receive emails that require me to click links from streaming services, work related and other stuff, so personally speaking, I don't see how I can avoid clicking links entirely. All I can do is try not to click links that look suspicious. I know it's a flawed way, but I can't decide not to click links.
I'm super careful about the source of where it came from and other stuff because I know hackers can pretend to be something else and send me an email.
The good thing is emails from unverified sources usually go to "spam" but I'm still careful nonetheless.

[Taskford]

It is true that hot wallets are not safe as cold wallets because of their connection to the internet and as a result of that, anybody can monitor these wallets because they are online and hackers can attempt on it since it is connected but the reverse is the case for a cold wallet storage because it is always offline except when it is connected to your system to have access to it otherwise one can not be able to monitor their wallet if not connected to the internet.

It is good that enthusiasts take note of this so that they do not make any mistakes when it comes to their wallet safety, as it is very important to keep our assets in a safe and secure way and manner so that we don't regret our actions in the near future.

Cold wallets are safer than hot wallets but at your end and practice, you must learn and practice rightly with cold wallets.

Cold wallets are not like powerful tools to secure your bitcoins if you don't purchase and use them rightly.
[LIST]Open Source Hardware Wallets.
[GUIDE] How to buy a Hardware Wallet the right way
Recommended wallets.
[Guide] Cold storage.

The safety of our wallet and assets depends on how we protect them on our end. As a user, it is pertinent that we put efforts in making sure we always do routine checks on our wallets and also on our keys, if they are safe, because that would reveal things to us if there is any imminent danger lurking around. This would put us on check too, to further always look for every means to keep our assets safe and secure. The links you provided are very much useful thanks for sharing them.

Would agree about that everything will matter on how we protect our valuable data's and assets stored in our wallets. Also there are lots of ways to verify those unknown site or link that we see, that's why its really bad action to do immediate decision to check and try to do something crazy since this will just lead us to a harmful condition.

I know many of us don't want to experience hacking that's why before clicking something unknown to us. We better browse to find information and do proper background checking so that we can verify if everything is alright with the site or link we are trying to access then do some activities out there. Proper checking is important and people should not be lazy on doing their own research since aside that it can make them safe they can also learn lots of things which is helpful for them to become a knowledgeable individual on crypto space.

[Coyster]

Practically speaking, is there a way you can be on the internet without clicking links entirely? I don't think so. I mean, the OP posted links, and you also posted links, so if I don't click on the links posted, I won't learn about what the link contains.

That is the reason why your assets should be stored offline and not in the device you use for other internet stuff. As long as your device is connected to the internet, any wallet in that device can be compromised by hackers, just because the internet is connected.

In order to keep your bitcoins safe, use a hardware wallet or a wallet that is air-gapped, that does not mean you are going to go on and be careless with your online device, but you can use it with the realization that any mistake wouldn't be so costly.

[Chikito]

Practically speaking, is there a way you can be on the internet without clicking links entirely? I don't think so. I mean, the OP posted links, and you also posted links, so if I don't click on the links posted, I won't learn about what the link contains.
I receive emails that require me to click links from streaming services, work related and other stuff, so personally speaking, I don't see how I can avoid clicking links entirely. All I can do is try not to click links that look suspicious. I know it's a flawed way, but I can't decide not to click links.
I'm super careful about the source of where it came from and other stuff because I know hackers can pretend to be something else and send me an email.
The good thing is emails from unverified sources usually go to "spam" but I'm still careful nonetheless.

We live on internet everytime, if you are on crypto world, better to have not just one device but separate it which one you have daily use for internet and which one you can use itu for wallet.

I am on over 5 years use non custody wallet, so far don't have problem, because I used the methods.

[CryptopreneurBrainboss]

Yes, being very careful matters but sometimes it not about how careful or how well informed one is, the slightest mistake can expose someone to scammers or hackers and in a twinkle of an eyes you've become a victim that's why you'll hear that some people develop blood pressure or mental illness after losing their funds to scammers it's the shock of being victimised despite how careful or well informed they're that leads to that.

I don't think it's the shock from being victimized but the shock from the money they just lost. People that lose a lesser amount that isn't the total money they have on them won't be shocked to the extend of giving up on life or having other illnesses. People aren't careful that's just the problem. People keep all their money in one place that when the scammers get into their heads or wallets successfully, they're able to take all the money that the victims have. We can diversify our wealth and also not keep all our money in one place. Instead of thinking we can be over cautious on what we clicl or websites that we visit, it's better we take precaution measures to avoid the scammers taking all our life savings because this guys don't have conscience.

[lionheart78]

We live on internet everytime, if you are on crypto world, better to have not just one device but separate it which one you have daily use for internet and which one you can use itu for wallet.

This is one of the better moves to avoid our important data being stolen through malware infection.  Aside from this, if one is limited on resources, one can just create a virtual systemby creating a virtual machine inside his pc  and use that to browse.  Of course, one should also be careful not to fall for phishing sites since virtual machines can't protect us from the error of filling important details of our account on the phishing website.

I am on over 5 years use non custody wallet, so far don't have problem, because I used the methods.

Yeah, your stated method is one best way to protect our important data from malware that sniff and steal our data without our consent.  But this can't protect us if we fall victim to phishing sites since it is a personal error (giving out important information thinking that we are on a legit site) that give the creator of the phishing site the opportunity to steal our important information specifically our financial accounts and wallet seed phrases and private key.

[Cookdata]

This is real, crypto holders ought to be Meticulous in any activity they are doing online because their are so many scam methods that scammers are using now. Apart from the clicking on fake website link, some people are also getting hacked in ways I can not tell. My friend who recently created and verified her Bybit exchange account got logged out and she didn't know why but when she tried to log into the the account, her phone number has been changed and the account was placed on google authenticator, she can't log into the account since last week.

What you said really make sense but it's not the best. The way to avoid these problems you made mention is to buy a hardware wallet, and put your Bitcoin there and perhaps if you have any other coins, that's the only way you can avoid such scams completely. Another is putting your coins on a wallet you don't use or just put small amount into the one you spend frequently and then the one with large chunk of Bitcoin should be taken off the internet.

Scammers are very wise and are among us. Some of the things and solutions given is been read by them and they go again to improve on their stealing method to always have access to your wallet that's why it's advisable to go for something that doesn't have access to the internet, if something doesn't have internet, it can't be access on the internet unless someone around you gives them or they come to rub you physically otherwise it's not possible to access your wallet.