Don’t just use any wallet or exchange you see online or hear about.

[Obim34]

One of the reasons why people get into problem of lost coin or hacked wallet is because they use exchanges or wallets without conducting a very good research about that exchange or wallet, as a newbie when ever you see wallet or exchange online or someone told you about it, before you proceed to use it conduct a very good research about it.
Some exchange or wallet has rules and regulations and some are even created just to scam people so just do a proper research before using.

If the exchanges or wallets are not well known, tested, and trusted by so many people, I won't use it.

Not all reviews are honest, developers can pay to get good reviews on their work, which defies trust.

If you don't trust the source of the wallet or exchange, make use of the popular ones.

[Joy- maker]

People don't have to be In a hurry to use a wallet or an exchange they just saw online, or probably heard from their friends. Most of those wallets and exchanges will see online influencers, or most site advertising are scams, that's why we have to be very careful when choosing a wallet or an exchange for ourselves. Always do your own research and be sure of what you are reading online concerning the wallet or the exchange before you start using any of them. If not you will just wake one morning and find all your coins missing.

[taufik123]

-snip-
The first thing most people do is Google. But search engines sometimes provide us with links that don't contain accurate information, and through mistakes, we learn where and how to look for real and reliable information. Therefore, as long as there are naive people and newbies who believe the bright and colorful promises of this or that exchange or site promising big bonuses, fraud will continue to thrive. These days, people are lazy about reading, and only a few will take the time to search for the necessary information; most will learn from their own losses and mistakes.

Now it may be a bit shifted, and it's not just Google that is the reference,
but AI is the first thing someone does to find complete and more accurate and detailed information according to the prompt given.

And fraud will continue to evolve with new methods that continue to be used to trap ordinary users and even old users who are not focused or careless about their own security.

People who do believe too much in the promises of big bonuses are always victims of scams that happen, they don't do their research first,
don't look at other people's mistakes or some instances of fraud that are the same method, If they become victims and have a scam experience they will learn from their own experience.

In the past I did research first and saw what mistakes people often made, so that I could learn from other people's experiences without having to experience them myself,
but only a few and other experiences I really felt myself.

[khaled0111]

“Don’t trust anything you read online” and this applies to almost everything and not just ads for wallets or exchanges. Why would you trust what a random person on the internet says or promotes?
Newbies, to be safe, they need to use only well known wwallets and exchanges. They will get all they need just by using those ...
Newbies, to be safe, should use only well known and reputable wallets and exchanges. They will get everything they need just by using those services (although the choices are a bit limited). They will certainly gain experience with time and that’s when they can start exploring/using new wallets or platforms and they will be able to check for themselves whether those services are legitimate and trustworthy or not.

[Ultegra134]

Around 2019 and 2020 people are creating fake exchange like where they will ask you to sign up on the platform and trade so that you can earn some big welcome bonuses, what saved me was the name of those exchanges, nobody knows them after asking around and also I have never seen any exchange in those names before, that's when I knew something was off.

I could have fallen for that trick is I was very new in crypto space and don't want to ask questions from solid source, I hope that people who are looking forward to start this crypto investment will find this forum and use it to their own advantages by asking questions before they do something they are been told to do online, most of the time by strangers.

It was one of the most common scams out there, I'm honestly surprised how people ended up being scammed from such petty attempts, such platforms also worked as phishing attempts, as I remember that in many cases, these fake exchanges would log you in whatever you typed into them. They also showed that you had a major balance but you'd have to pay a hefty withdrawal fee beforehand, and guess what, if you did, goodbye to your money. I believe that such scams have stopped working nowadays, how do you even sign-up on a scam exchange in 2026? The same applies to wallets, just pick a non-custodial such as Electrum and you'll be good to go.

[Darker45]

Actually, the best and first thing they should do is to go on any crypto community like this forum...

Agree. Done that myself. That's easy and free. On top of that, not only will you get the opinions of experts on a particular wallet you stumbled upon online, you'll also most likely to receive tried and tested wallet recommendations. You'll end up choosing from what's highly recommended rather than from those you just come across online.

In addition, it probably helps if you also have a set of criteria already. Meaning, instead of looking for just a wallet, for example, you'll look for, say, an open-source non-custodial mobile wallet. That limits recommendations to your desired preference.

[bangjoe]

One of the reasons why people get into problem of lost coin or hacked wallet is because they use exchanges or wallets without conducting a very good research about that exchange or wallet, as a newbie when ever you see wallet or exchange online or someone told you about it, before you proceed to use it conduct a very good research about it.
Some exchange or wallet has rules and regulations and some are even created just to scam people so just do a proper research before using.

This scam was very common before, but most of it started from someone online telling someone that might become the victim to access an exchange or a wallet  (but mostly an exchange), telling the person that the exchange is very good. Also luring the victims to refer people and earn money. The money showing on the exchange are just numbers set by the attacker but the victims will think it is money. The victims will realize that it is not money when they want to withdraw but not able to withdraw.

Yes they only use numerical details on what we deposit to the exchange, while the real assets are in their address pool which is controlled by them not by the user, more and more new users and affiliate marketing is also a problem if you don't pay attention to the security of an exchange that is affiliated, we must keep in mind the FTX shirt and also Mt.Gox that harmed many people, the bitcoin that we think exists turns out to be just a display of numbers made by the people behind the exchange, I think there are still many exchanges that use customer funds so we need to pay close attention to this issue and must always be socialized as adoption grows, especially those who do not do POR reports, this needs to be flagged.

[FinneysTrueVision]

Some of the first wallets I used were Coinbase, the exchange, and Trust Wallet. Back when Coinbase started, they used to pay transaction fees for you and they would give you some BTC if you could get some friends to join so it seemed like an easy choice.

Eventually, I learned that custodial and closed source wallets have a long list of problems that could cause you to lose money so I moved on to better options. If you are going to use a centralized exchange, it should only be for trading, not for storing your coins long term.

[robelneo]

.. as a newbie when ever you see wallet or exchange online or someone told you about it, before you proceed to use it conduct a very good research about it.

With so many paid promoters and shills online, investors should be discriminating when choosing the right wallet or exchange to trade. They should have their own requirements and tests for wallets and exchanges to meet, whether they are new or established.
Don't buy their too-good-to-be-true bonus and features until they establish their reputation in the industry.