Why asking for help publicly can sometimes make you a target.

[ColdLava40]

Personally, i would advise newbies to first search the forum if they can find a thread with similar issue, if they see any, they should go through the thread to see their issue may have been solved on that thread or not. they should also read pin beginners guide, take their time to understand the basics. And after doing all these things still could fine the solution to their problem, they can proceed with opening threads.

Perhaps dump people make dump mistakes?

I have $5k in a wallet and it's stucked what should I do? Then someone sends a dm claiming to have a legit way to help you get your funds unstacked. First thing that should come to your mind would be why is he sending a private message when you asked for help publicly.

You become an easy target for anyone having dubious ambition on the forum. There are so many of them, including those who fell victims. In cases where you create threads publicly then seek help from then thread and avoid people offering help in the secret.

[Joy- maker]

Theere is nothing bad for newbies to ask questions in public,

Nobody said it's bad for newbies to ask questions publicly, they are actually free to ask questions publicly but how they ask those questions matters. There is how you will ask questions, someone can easily tell you are either confused or you're a complete beginner who doesn't know how things are done in the crypto space, and that can make you a target. Another thing you should know is that, scammers are very smart, they can make things look really and genuine enough for you to trust them, and once you trust them they can easily manipulate you into giving them sensitive informations.

[Smartvirus]

Honestly coming from what I have seen especially on Telegram it's always the scammers asking people like you and I some help, normally I don't expect someone to ask strangers for help, it's always the strangers asking for help.

Telegram is one of the very worst places you can go seeking help on how to handle your Bitcoin or Altcoin issues. Even on official channels, you can easily get scammed as, there are always scammers within these channels, taking advantage of their free to access and public nature to scout for vulnerable targets.
They most times create users that look official and wouldn’t hesitant to private message you, using official formats and offer help. Give in and you would be well on your way to counting more losses.

This forum remains one of the most reliable source but, you must watch out for private messages and its content, scammers are definitely amongst us as well. When the information or help you are receiving isn’t following a public media, watch out.

[KiaKia]

You can ask anything on here if it's crypto related, but as a beginner it's possible to get some PM from members on this forum, do not listen.to them and if you can ignore them you can ignore fake or scam mails in your email as well.

You can also choose to expose and report them to moderators, I think I have same experience with the forum many years back and I moved on never bothered by the links because I don't click on them.

I also think you can adjust your private settings too if you don't want to receive some strange PMs from anyone, same on Telegram and Twitter too..

[Lontor]

There is no way to avoid asking for help in the public, when you need to know something you are going to ask a group of people and it's always possible that some part of those groups are bad people are are looking for those to take advantage of.

Knowing this and expecting possible attempt on you is what will make you saver, you knew already, meaning you are a step ahead of them, avoid listening to what any members have to tell you.

If they can't opening ask the rest and they come solely for you then something is very wrong, be calm and see what they ask of you, if you don't like where they are going just block them or report them.

[avp2306]

Honestly coming from what I have seen especially on Telegram it's always the scammers asking people like you and I some help, normally I don't expect someone to ask strangers for help, it's always the strangers asking for help.

Telegram is one of the very worst places you can go seeking help on how to handle your Bitcoin or Altcoin issues. Even on official channels, you can easily get scammed as, there are always scammers within these channels, taking advantage of their free to access and public nature to scout for vulnerable targets.
They most times create users that look official and wouldn’t hesitant to private message you, using official formats and offer help. Give in and you would be well on your way to counting more losses.

This forum remains one of the most reliable source but, you must watch out for private messages and its content, scammers are definitely amongst us as well. When the information or help you are receiving isn’t following a public media, watch out.

Not only telegram but also discord to. There are many people will send you a message especially if you expose yourself on any active channels.

To many scammers scouts their potential victims, that's why its important to be aware on those schemes they have made on those platforms.  This is why I choose not to be so active there, because the scammers is annoying and its like so hard to find good updates knowing that if you chat on public groups. Those scammers will come and send you a message.

One of the reason I stay in Bitcointalk, because same as what you have said this platform remain reliable and its easy to spot then stop the attempts made by scammers here.

[tech30338]

Honestly coming from what I have seen especially on Telegram it's always the scammers asking people like you and I some help, normally I don't expect someone to ask strangers for help, it's always the strangers asking for help.

Telegram is one of the very worst places you can go seeking help on how to handle your Bitcoin or Altcoin issues. Even on official channels, you can easily get scammed as, there are always scammers within these channels, taking advantage of their free to access and public nature to scout for vulnerable targets.
They most times create users that look official and wouldn’t hesitant to private message you, using official formats and offer help. Give in and you would be well on your way to counting more losses.

This forum remains one of the most reliable source but, you must watch out for private messages and its content, scammers are definitely amongst us as well. When the information or help you are receiving isn’t following a public media, watch out.

Not only telegram but also discord to. There are many people will send you a message especially if you expose yourself on any active channels.

To many scammers scouts their potential victims, that's why its important to be aware on those schemes they have made on those platforms.  This is why I choose not to be so active there, because the scammers is annoying and its like so hard to find good updates knowing that if you chat on public groups. Those scammers will come and send you a message.

One of the reason I stay in Bitcointalk, because same as what you have said this platform remain reliable and its easy to spot then stop the attempts made by scammers here.

I would not suggest seeking help in telegram, one thing you have to learn is never ask help or let other people whom you just met or know guide you help you, or even give a your trust for example letting them access your wallet, giving seed phrase, then make transaction in your behalf, that is a big no.
If you are seeking help in telegram make sure the person is your friend or relative where you can easily chase, but even though its your relative still you are not sure, they can change because of the money.

[Humblevirus]

I see absolutely nothing wrong with asking help in a public group or a community such as this forum, because it you don't ask for a solution, you can never find help, and for the fact that you asked a general group for a solution, then their will always be someone who is genuinely willing to help you publicly in that same group you asked question publicly. Because one thing I will advise you do is avoid people that may want to come to your private inbox while claiming to offer solutions, because this is how scammers operates. And inasmuch as you could apply your personal safety measures, then you are good to go.

That is the point. If the question is asked in public, the answer should also be given in public. Those who are really ready to learn will hardly message someone privately for help, and that is the part where most newbies are making mistakes.The public is the easiest place for someone to always get answers to their questions. So, asking questions in public is very good because, even if someone gives the wrong answer, there may be others there to correct it.

Like in this forum, when a question is asked, many members who have the answer to the question will respond. Some members answers may not be completely correct, and when other members see that someone has given the wrong information, they will argue against it and provide their own proof.When a question is asked in public, there will always be different explanations and perspectives.

[WhoYouCantKill]

I would not suggest seeking help in telegram, one thing you have to learn is never ask help or let other people whom you just met or know guide you help you, or even give a your trust for example letting them access your wallet, giving seed phrase, then make transaction in your behalf, that is a big no.
If you are seeking help in telegram make sure the person is your friend or relative where you can easily chase, but even though its your relative still you are not sure, they can change because of the money.

That’s just ridiculous, I can’t imagine myself giving out my seed phrases to someone I even know very well, let alone someone I just met or barely know, that’s the highest level of stupidity, even coming from a newbie, because I don’t think anyone would feel comfortable giving out their bank or credit/debit card pin to some random or unknown person, except of course the person is completely ignorant of the fact that seed phrase is a direct access to their wallet and funds, but who wouldn’t know that?

[Silverstonez]

There is no way to avoid asking for help in the public,

That's true, but you should avoid adding sensitive informations when asking for help publicly, especially on this forum. You also need to be smart enough to identify those who want to genuinely assist you and those who want to steal from you.

Because once you ask for help publicly you automatically become a center of attention and a target for scammers. At that point both genuine users and scammers will PM you, so you need to be very careful about who you respond to.

[DPHOR]

Personally, i would advise newbies to first search the forum if they can find a thread with similar issue, if they see any, they should go through the thread to see their issue may have been solved on that thread or not. they should also read pin beginners guide, take their time to understand the basics. And after doing all these things still could fine the solution to their problem, they can proceed with opening threads.

There are some help that is really need to asked but not the sensitive ones that involve either buy a specific coin or currencies with the said amount on their topic they created. Sometimes you could get lured to the wrong question. For instance there are some questions you would asked on the exchange telegram group immediately you would see people sending you random messages with the said request to help you fixed your issue that they are admin, without knowing that admin would never pm you first, same thing is applicable here. So when asking such sensitive questions here they should know that attack may come and let you know that not everyone who is sending you messages are to help you fixed your request.

[Emjay24]

Theere is nothing bad for newbies to ask questions in public,

Nobody said it's bad for newbies to ask questions publicly, they are actually free to ask questions publicly but how they ask those questions matters. There is how you will ask questions, someone can easily tell you are either confused or you're a complete beginner who doesn't know how things are done in the crypto space, and that can make you a target. Another thing you should know is that, scammers are very smart, they can make things look really and genuine enough for you to trust them, and once you trust them they can easily manipulate you into giving them sensitive informations.

Life as a beginner is very dicey, they are mostly vulnerable. The truth is that there is almost no way a beginner can ask questions to look like an expert, beginners are always filled with curiosity and it is easy to spot, the difference are those who are committed to learning and already did some research and have some good knowledge and safety practices before hand, so they can recognize the barest minimum of deceits and smart acts from predatory people when approached for help.

A good example, if a beginner that already knows about safety of seeds and not giving it to a third party runs into the error of slow synchronization of wallet, he can can better safeguard his wallets than a total novice getting into the same issues, a scammer they ask for help can retrieve the seeds easily from the latter while pretending to help.

[bakasabo]

Because once you ask for help publicly you automatically become a center of attention and a target for scammers. At that point both genuine users and scammers will PM you, so you need to be very careful about who you respond to.

That is true. Especially asking it on telegram in exchange/project related groups. Several times I had issues and asked for help there, hoping it will be quicker than writing ticket to support. Every time someone imitating support contacted me by PM and try to make me send funds to their address for various reasons ( to accelerate transaction, to check if my sending address belong to me, to verify something and etc).

[Taskford]

Because once you ask for help publicly you automatically become a center of attention and a target for scammers. At that point both genuine users and scammers will PM you, so you need to be very careful about who you respond to.

That is true. Especially asking it on telegram in exchange/project related groups. Several times I had issues and asked for help there, hoping it will be quicker than writing ticket to support. Every time someone imitating support contacted me by PM and try to make me send funds to their address for various reasons ( to accelerate transaction, to check if my sending address belong to me, to verify something and etc).

Those experiences you have tried became normal on telegram, especially if you didn't change your setting and let anyone to send you a message.

So if you don't want to get bothered try to limit those people trying to send you a pm on telegram. Because scamming is so rampant, because there are so many scammers out there.

Those issue is the reason why I don't bother to go on telegram groups when seeking for answer or trying to asked help from their support. I go directly to their site and try to chat or email them, although there are times that they are so slow, but that's fine as long as we are safe from those scammers.

[Aanuoluwatofunmi]

Ignorance is one of the reason why you would discover people are seeking for help on what day should have been giving help to do the need, when you feel to understand the role you stand to play in a particular setting, how can you know your value and worth and also decided on what to do to help others in the same condition you are.

To be sincere, almost everyone needs but there are some things that we should not be made in public appearance, except the condition truly warrant for doing such in that manner, have you ever seen a scenario whereby some people are in need of help and later got the attention of the scammers on them and the set them traps to be a victim of their attack through their appearance they make in public.

[Yeesha]

When you are new to bitcoin it is normal to ask questions, especially here on Bitcointalk. But what many newbies don't know is that the way they ask questions can expose them to scammers.

What you need to know as a newbie is that scammers don't wait randomly, they actively look for beginners who are confused in one way or the other so that they can take advantage of them. So, when you make posts like this on Bitcointalk while asking for help. i have $5000 stuck in a wallet can someone help me recover it. You just did two things. first, you just announced that you have funds stuck somewhere, secondly, you are showing people that you might be confused or inexperienced which makes you a perfect target for scammers.

What will happen next after posting such thing is that you will start receiving private messages from people offering help, message from fake support agents, links to phishing websites, and request to verify your wallet or seed phrase. At first, you may see them as people who genuinely want to help you recover your funds, but their goal is to simply gain access to them.

As a newbie on Bitcointalk, here are things you most know or have at the back of your mind. No legitimate helper will ever ask for your seed phrase, your private keys and remote access to your device, so be guided. If anyone ask for these things i just mentioned the person is not trying to help you, he or she is trying to steal from you.

So, instead of exposing yourself to scammers be general when asking questions, don't be specific. if you have funds stuck in your wallet, don't post things like, i have $5000 or i have 0.04 bitcoin stuck in my wallet can someone help me recover it, make the post general i am having troubles accessing funds in my wallet, the transaction is not going through or i can't restore my wallet can anyone guide me on what might be wrong? Avoid sharing your wallet balance or screenshots with sensitive details. And only stick to public replies not private message, because those sending you private messages are scammers.

Personally, i would advise newbies to first search the forum if they can find a thread with similar issue, if they see any, they should go through the thread to see their issue may have been solved on that thread or not. they should also read pin beginners guide, take their time to understand the basics. And after doing all these things still could fine the solution to their problem, they can proceed with opening threads.

What you said is recommendable, appreciative, reasonable, educative, sensitive and informative. Scammers may take advantage of the newbies, expecially if they realise that the person is completely new to the system and know absolutely nothing about it. Cryptocurrencies world is very wide and deep and you require patient in order to navigate the system. There is nothing wrong with asking questions, but you don't have to make everything or your personal life publicly accessible to avoid people from taking advantage of their weakness. Doing your own research helps in making bitcoin understanding much easier.

[Cossyblack]

I would not suggest seeking help in telegram, one thing you have to learn is never ask help or let other people whom you just met or know guide you help you, or even give a your trust for example letting them access your wallet, giving seed phrase, then make transaction in your behalf, that is a big no.
If you are seeking help in telegram make sure the person is your friend or relative where you can easily chase, but even though its your relative still you are not sure, they can change because of the money.

Telegram is a den of scammers that's why you have to be extreme careful when going there to ask for help. I'm not saying that telegram isn't a good app entirely but the rates of scammers that's operating in the app is too much. You can't seek sensitive information concerning money that scammers won't chat you to exploit you. I'm talking from experience,then on telegram some scammers tried several times to convince me to share my seedphrases but they didn't succeed because i was smart,some even called me video call because I wasn't replying to any of their messages. Honestly,telegram isn't the best place where a newbie should ask for help especially if it concerns withdrawal.

[Big Dirams]

I would not suggest seeking help in telegram, one thing you have to learn is never ask help or let other people whom you just met or know guide you help you, or even give a your trust for example letting them access your wallet, giving seed phrase, then make transaction in your behalf, that is a big no.
If you are seeking help in telegram make sure the person is your friend or relative where you can easily chase, but even though its your relative still you are not sure, they can change because of the money.

Telegram is a den of scammers that's why you have to be extreme careful when going there to ask for help. I'm not saying that telegram isn't a good app entirely but the rates of scammers that's operating in the app is too much. You can't seek sensitive information concerning money that scammers won't chat you to exploit you. I'm talking from experience,then on telegram some scammers tried several times to convince me to share my seedphrases but they didn't succeed because i was smart,some even called me video call because I wasn't replying to any of their messages. Honestly,telegram isn't the best place where a newbie should ask for help especially if it concerns withdrawal.

I agree on that, telegram is full of scams and I’m also speaking from experience and not just only you have experience this scam traps and they keep on disturbing and getting on one’s nerves to reply them and fall for their traps.
In my own telegram so many unknown users have texted me regarding investing in their companies where I can start with $200 to $15k and my money will make profits for me almost 20% in just 24hours and I’ll be able to withdraw both the profits and my capital which of course I know it just a trap to get scam and plenty of them keep disturbing me I had to block them. Telegram is full of theft and fraudulent activities let be careful.

[Umulala-alala]

I don't see anything wrong in asking some questions that will be of help to you as a newbie you are free to ask any question you want to ask as long as it will help you solve the problem you are facing I don't think asking a question will endanger you or make you become a target for scammers because I believe that everyone has a little knowledge about being scammed so whether you ask a question as a newbie or not you are still a target to scammers.
If you say a newbie should not ask some questions that will help them just because they can be a target for scam don't you think they will make a bigger mistake by losing their coin or losing their security.

This days anybody can be scam despite having the experience before it's still not every thing that you will be able to know, there is nothing wrong asking questions because the reason why people ask questions is to know and understand more about what they are asking questions about, but i believe what the Op meant is that newbies should know who they asked these questions, because there are people you will ask you might be scam because you will believe what the person is saying to be real because you don't know about it, some could also plan evil against you because they will think you have enough money since you mentioned BTC to them so people just need to be extremely careful in what they do most expecially newbies that are investing in bitcoin.

[MiF]

I don't see anything wrong in asking some questions that will be of help to you as a newbie you are free to ask any question you want to ask as long as it will help you solve the problem you are facing I don't think asking a question will endanger you or make you become a target for scammers because I believe that everyone has a little knowledge about being scammed so whether you ask a question as a newbie or not you are still a target to scammers.
If you say a newbie should not ask some questions that will help them just because they can be a target for scam don't you think they will make a bigger mistake by losing their coin or losing their security.

This days anybody can be scam despite having the experience before it's still not every thing that you will be able to know, there is nothing wrong asking questions because the reason why people ask questions is to know and understand more about what they are asking questions about, but i believe what the Op meant is that newbies should know who they asked these questions, because there are people you will ask you might be scam because you will believe what the person is saying to be real because you don't know about it, some could also plan evil against you because they will think you have enough money since you mentioned BTC to them so people just need to be extremely careful in what they do most expecially newbies that are investing in bitcoin.

I do agree that it is OK to ask questions, particularly for a newbie. It's not the asking for help part of the problem, it's the amount of information you give out and who you listen to. By stating publicly, for example, that you have some amount of BTC, or providing wallet information, or providing detailed information about a security issue, you will only get more people to scam you. Meanwhile, giving the silent treatment, out of fear, may result in expensive blunders. First of all: ask questions and don't reveal personal information; double-check the responses from more than one trusted source; and never believe something from a person because they seem helpful in a public forum. Cautious disclosure and trust enables us to learn, and not unnecessarily risk ourselves.