Why Technical Knowledge Alone Does Not Protect People From Scams.

[Webutxo]

Having technical knowledge alone will not completely save you from scammers because everyday scammers are coming up with new tricks,

It's true that scammers might improve their skills to keep up with technological developments. But actually, the scammers' schemes aren't that different. What we need to internalize is not to easily engage with other people. I believe scams designed by scammers are more likely to target beginners because they know beginners are the easiest potential victims.

Scammers are not ordinary people, they are not dumb people, they are regular people that have high skills and knowledge that decide to use their knowledge the bad way. They study things and front run people that does not know how somethings are built. There are some people that will understand how a wallet is created and knows how to use it but a scammer may even understand the building block of the wallet and may know how to clone the same wallet to fool others to use them.

When you see people lose money to scammers, they are usually not knowledgeable like them. I do feel bad when some people lose their coins to ordinary scammers with email but by the time you check properly, it's because those people have not experienced such before, this is why it's good to be active on crypo to know how to know what scammers are doing to take money from people.

[GlobalPayout]

Most stories in this thread follow the same pattern: the wallet was never hacked, the person was. Technical knowledge protects your keys, but it says nothing about the counterparty, and that's where even experienced people get burned — for example in P2P deals where you can receive tainted coins and end up with a frozen exchange account. The skill that actually saves you is a verification habit, not cryptography knowledge: checking where funds come from before they touch your main accounts. That's one reason I prefer swapping through services that run AML checks on incoming liquidity, since it removes a risk no seed-phrase hygiene can fix. Scammers adapted to social layers faster than our security advice did.

[yixichloro2xx]

You are very correct, lack of updates can make someone vulnerable to scammers, therefore we have to always stay updated. Scammers always change their tactics when people become familiar with the old ones, and  learning about new scams can also help you avoid becoming a victim.

The reason why scammers are still getting success is that they continuously update there attack vectors and there are people who remain unaware of there latest strategies. People who don't update them self regarding new techniques of scammers are potential target of scammers. Scammers rely on mistakes of people like they have to download malicious files or click unknown link. It is not necessary that only non-technical people will be victim of scammers but technical people who are not aware of whats happening in current cyber world can also become victim of scammers. 

Yes, the point is, we just have to be careful right now, and never open or click on anything that looks suspicious. Because that's essentially where scammers start to rob or deceive us. So, with the rapid advancements of this era, with everything easily accessible, we have to be even more cautious. Because sometimes, what seems practical and convenient is the most likely place for scammers to take advantage.

Even in my area, someone can be scammed even with a phone call, and I don't understand why. And what scares me is that there was once an incident where someone was called by a scammer, and the person who was scammed spoke normally. But then it turned out the scammer had recorded their voice and possibly used AI to imitate it and use it to deceive. So, with that in mind, we all need to be careful right now. Because in this day and age, evil and truth are separated by only a very thin barrier.

People needs to beware on the kind of websites or links they click , because that's where most of these scammers lurk in. Nowadays scammers doesn't even need to steal your seed phrases, they can get it through your database on the internet. especially someone who saves their seed phrases on their Google drive or email, it can be easily accessed by scammers. The mistakes people makes is that they are often in a hurry or too trusting when dealing with online situations. We need to learn on how to improve on our security habits and ability to recognise threats, because the way technology is advancing, we investor also need to be careful.

[JunaidAzizi]

Yeah, that's true, technical knowledge alone does not protect you from scammers. You know, when you have basic knowledge and they realize that they can't hack you through the system, they use other tactics, targeting your mind. They inject greed, fear, or overconfidence, and then you take the steps they have been waiting for. So, while you may be protected by technical knowledge, how will you be safe from these tactics? For that reason, critically analyze everything, control your emotions, and make decisions based on logic rather than emotions. I hope this will protect you from their traps..

[Felicity_Tide]

Yeah, that's true, technical knowledge alone does not protect you from scammers. You know, when you have basic knowledge and they realize that they can't hack you through the system, they use other tactics, targeting your mind. They inject greed, fear, or overconfidence, and then you take the steps they have been waiting for. So, while you may be protected by technical knowledge, how will you be safe from these tactics? For that reason, critically analyze everything, control your emotions, and make decisions based on logic rather than emotions. I hope this will protect you from their traps..

I think at the end of the day, your level of exposure/awareness contributes greatly to how well you can navigate through a space like the crypto space without falling victim to obvious scams. The other day, someone posted a thread on how he came across a telegram channel that offered to give users free coins that they didn't work for, and it was obviously a scam attempt. The first question that came to my mind was... how do people manage to find themselves, or come across such a channel?.

The thing is, we humans are actually our own biggest vulnerability. The lack of basic awareness is not entirely different from ignorance. A lot of people are naturally not good at using their common sense, I.e the sceptical part of them does not trigger when it needs to be. Like I have always believed, many scams could actually be prevented if people simply stop giving attention to things that looks so interesting or good to be true... But of course, everyone wants to take advantage of something else, so they end up becoming the victim.

[Tamaperdana]

You are very correct, lack of updates can make someone vulnerable to scammers, therefore we have to always stay updated. Scammers always change their tactics when people become familiar with the old ones, and  learning about new scams can also help you avoid becoming a victim.

The reason why scammers are still getting success is that they continuously update there attack vectors and there are people who remain unaware of there latest strategies. People who don't update them self regarding new techniques of scammers are potential target of scammers. Scammers rely on mistakes of people like they have to download malicious files or click unknown link. It is not necessary that only non-technical people will be victim of scammers but technical people who are not aware of whats happening in current cyber world can also become victim of scammers. 

Yes, the point is, we just have to be careful right now, and never open or click on anything that looks suspicious. Because that's essentially where scammers start to rob or deceive us. So, with the rapid advancements of this era, with everything easily accessible, we have to be even more cautious. Because sometimes, what seems practical and convenient is the most likely place for scammers to take advantage.

Even in my area, someone can be scammed even with a phone call, and I don't understand why. And what scares me is that there was once an incident where someone was called by a scammer, and the person who was scammed spoke normally. But then it turned out the scammer had recorded their voice and possibly used AI to imitate it and use it to deceive. So, with that in mind, we all need to be careful right now. Because in this day and age, evil and truth are separated by only a very thin barrier.

People needs to beware on the kind of websites or links they click , because that's where most of these scammers lurk in. Nowadays scammers doesn't even need to steal your seed phrases, they can get it through your database on the internet. especially someone who saves their seed phrases on their Google drive or email, it can be easily accessed by scammers. The mistakes people makes is that they are often in a hurry or too trusting when dealing with online situations. We need to learn on how to improve on our security habits and ability to recognise threats, because the way technology is advancing, we investor also need to be careful.

Fortunately, even now, I rarely store important data on Google Drive or other online storage. I don't trust its security. While it's true that Google will tighten its systems, I still don't feel confident using Google Drive for any storage, especially important data. So,, yes, I like to store everything in a place I feel safe, especially when it comes to wallet phrases. I prefer to write them down on a piece of paper. It's better,, and no one will be able to hack it, haha.

So, the point is, we still need to think more than once. I mean, don't immediately believe everything presented online. Because that can clearly be very dangerous for us. Furthermore,, I've heard, if I'm not mistaken, that a lot of people's data has been read or leaked. But I haven't researched it further,, so I don't know if it's true or not. But what is clear is that nowadays we have to be more careful when dealing with applications or websites that ask for KYC.

[KingsDen]

Yeah, that's true, technical knowledge alone does not protect you from scammers. You know, when you have basic knowledge and they realize that they can't hack you through the system, they use other tactics, targeting your mind. They inject greed, fear, or overconfidence, and then you take the steps they have been waiting for. So, while you may be protected by technical knowledge, how will you be safe from these tactics? For that reason, critically analyze everything, control your emotions, and make decisions based on logic rather than emotions. I hope this will protect you from their traps..

You are very much in order. But I however feel that someone who is intelligent and smart enough to understand the technical things of bitcoin ought to be psychologically and emotionally mature also. They need to be aware and understand when they are being manipulated or not. The technical brain should not be very much different from the psychological brain. Meanwhile there are people who are not technically sound but they are very much aware and take proactive measures against scammers and hackers.

Contributing from the context of Op, I agree that technically knowledge alone is not enough. We all need the social, emotional and psychological knowledge to survive.

[9ja Amaka]

So, if technical knowledge is not enough what else is needed? Imo, what I think is needed are: critical thinking, emotional control, patient and healthy skepticism, because scammers mostly succeed because they explore human psychology rather than technical weakness. therefore,  greed, trust, fears, urgency and overconfidence are some of the common tools used by scammers.

Greed, laziness, being naïve, monkey see, monkey do are all part of the reason a few individuals get scammed. The list can be longer if everyone who has been scammed comes out to speak of the experience. 

Technical knowledge alone is not the ultimate weapon to combat scams, but we will all agree it plays a major role because all scams go through the digital form. With technical knowledge, upcoming victims will come across important information online if they search for it. Source information will help them to identify scams easily.

[Localhostspeed]

Most stories in this thread follow the same pattern: the wallet was never hacked, the person was. Technical knowledge protects your keys, but it says nothing about the counterparty, and that's where even experienced people get burned — for example in P2P deals where you can receive tainted coins and end up with a frozen exchange account. The skill that actually saves you is a verification habit, not cryptography knowledge: checking where funds come from before they touch your main accounts. That's one reason I prefer swapping through services that run AML checks on incoming liquidity, since it removes a risk no seed-phrase hygiene can fix. Scammers adapted to social layers faster than our security advice did.

Why are you going to buy a coin in a p2p and send it to a centralized exchange? How does it make sense. If I want a coin from centralized exchange, I would have gone there straight and buy but the purpose of p2p is to avoid kyc that is why people tend to buy in a decentralized exchanges. If you buy a coin in a decentralized p2p and you sent the coin to a centralized exchange, then that means you don't know what you are doing or you don't know anything about privacy.

I will also address people with tainted coins don't do direct p2p directly on decentralized exchanges, they try as much as possible to make sure that their traces are hidden, some swap their coins on other coins before they make use of p2p, they know the risk involved in tainted coins, so they hardly send fake coins to trade with good people because they know they are definitely getting caught.

[Big Dirams]

So, if technical knowledge is not enough what else is needed? Imo, what I think is needed are: critical thinking, emotional control, patient and healthy skepticism, because scammers mostly succeed because they explore human psychology rather than technical weakness. therefore,  greed, trust, fears, urgency and overconfidence are some of the common tools used by scammers.

Greed, laziness, being naïve, monkey see, monkey do are all part of the reason a few individuals get scammed. The list can be longer if everyone who has been scammed comes out to speak of the experience. 

Technical knowledge alone is not the ultimate weapon to combat scams, but we will all agree it plays a major role because all scams go through the digital form. With technical knowledge, upcoming victims will come across important information online if they search for it. Source information will help them to identify scams easily.

Honestly if many people that got scammed try to come out and come give their experience and how they got scammed then there are many factors we will need to consider because even some basic things we don’t need to get worried about can be use against us to scam us. The list will definitely be a long one, but when a person doesn’t even consider the technical knowledge as something important or something that will save us from unforeseen circumstances then that when we are not being defensive enough to avoid some scams.
 Technical knowledge serves as a shield and alarm for us to be aware of any suspicious activities coming towards us.

[Nightwatchmare]

Having technical knowledge alone will not completely save you from scammers because everyday scammers are coming up with new tricks,

It's true that scammers might improve their skills to keep up with technological developments. But actually, the scammers' schemes aren't that different. What we need to internalize is not to easily engage with other people. I believe scams designed by scammers are more likely to target beginners because they know beginners are the easiest potential victims.

Scammers are not ordinary people, they are not dumb people, they are regular people that have high skills and knowledge that decide to use their knowledge the bad way. They study things and front run people that does not know how somethings are built. There are some people that will understand how a wallet is created and knows how to use it but a scammer may even understand the building block of the wallet and may know how to clone the same wallet to fool others to use them.

When you see people lose money to scammers, they are usually not knowledgeable like them. I do feel bad when some people lose their coins to ordinary scammers with email but by the time you check properly, it's because those people have not experienced such before, this is why it's good to be active on crypo to know how to know what scammers are doing to take money from people.

I cannot send money to someone i do not know, so for scammers to convince random person online and scammed the person his hard earned money i concur they are not dump people and they are highly skilled which make it possible for them to be at the top of their game. My cousin brother lost more than $1000 to scammers through ponzi scheme, as i talk to you now his life is in a mess. Scammers has made plenty of people life a living hell. I hate scammers and i also feel bad whenever i see people share their story how they were scammed.

[Doan9269]

That you are experienced in technical aspect of Bitcoin does not mean you are 100% protected except you maintain all the necessary precautions that are needed to be observed as the Bitcoin or crypto holder, don't create a vulnerability that will serve as an entry route for scammers to hack you and take away your coins, don't also reveal anything about your personal information or wallet keys online or even to a third party, avoid public appearance because of wrench attack as some scammers are only targeting on physical appearance to some crypto holders using wrench attack.

[Y3shot]

It's true that scammers might improve their skills to keep up with technological developments. But actually, the scammers' schemes aren't that different. What we need to internalize is not to easily engage with other people. I believe scams designed by scammers are more likely to target beginners because they know beginners are the easiest potential victims.

The main target for scammers is beginners because most beginners don't even understand the basics, and because of this, they easily fall for scams. But this doesn't mean people who have been in bitcoin/cryptocurrency can't fall for a scam.

Anybody can be a victim of a scam; it might not even be the common scams that beginners fall for; it could even be something you never expected, maybe using a fake app or something else. This is why it is important for all to be very careful and to do research about things, even the ones we think are the real ones, such as wallets and other apps.

[Nanga Parbat]

if you are technically good, you are unlikely going to bump to them, if they see you and try they luck with you, there is this sense of guide that you will always have even if they come up with new tactics. Scammers don't have new things to get people, they look at new opportunities like the new trend or they do the same scams that they have tried before. They have this believe that if they did before and they have victims, they can still try it again and it's going to be successful.

Yes, Scammers will be available in all era because they will try to rober which is easy work because labor work is very difficult for these people. If the people will do the click on fake links and they will give their personal information on social media they can get your assets. Your assets will be safe if your tougue is silent and you security is high . If there will be any small mistake, you will lose your thousands of investment which they got after a hard work of many days. Don't give detail of your wallet if you want to be safe in that era.

[mabji1]

This thread came about because of the conversation I had with my friends yesterday. At least one of my friends stated that most people get scammed because they don't know much of technical things.

I can partly agree with him, as indeed, not knowing much, or not knowing about technical things can make it easier to be scammed by someone.  However, there are also many cases where technical skilled individuals still fall victim to fraud.

So, if technical knowledge is not enough what else is needed? Imo, what I think is needed are: critical thinking, emotional control, patient and healthy skepticism, because scammers mostly succeed because they explore human psychology rather than technical weakness. therefore,  greed, trust, fears, urgency and overconfidence are some of the common tools used by scammers.

Understanding how wallet works, and how signature and blockchain transactions work is perfectly ok, but it doesn't prevent you from being manipulated. So, feel free to give your 2 cents on this discussion.

Scams exploit human psychology, greed, and impatience, meaning technical skill cannot protect those who lack caution and skepticism.

[Berry2d]

Having technical knowledge alone will not completely save you from scammers because everyday scammers are coming up with new tricks, making it easier for them to keep scamming people. As someone who has technical knowledge, for you not to fall for fraud, you need to have knowledge on how scammers operate, having self believe of not sending money to someone you do not know and reading other people's scam stories will always protect you from scammers and you will not to be a victim to fraud.

There is know one with 100 percent assurance in knowledge and understanding, an individual may be blessed with knowledge and understanding but without consciousness it will be very difficult to avoid been scammed.
There is one unique quality possessed by scammers that differentiate them from all, which is  the ability to improvise when people think they have known it all.
Understanding the working processes is very helpful in preventing scammers but can't provide complete protection from the hands of scammers as they easily capitalise on every opportunity they see to archive there goals.
To me the easiest way to escape been scammed is by eliminating greed and not been curious in turning every opportunity to our advantage, as there greatest tool of operation is the introduction of life changing opportunity as they know many must fall for it.

[Joy- maker]

Can you guys believe that I had the same argument with someone I met at a beer parlor today, and this person strongly disagreed with me that it is not possible to scam someone who is technically skilled. As for person, anybody can be scam whether you are technically skilled or not.

The only thing is, someone who is technically skilled is less likely to be scammed through technical attacks, but that doesn't mean the the person is immune to scams, because technically skilled people can still be scammed through social engineering, emotional manipulation or other non technical scams.

[Hazink]

I think it's just that the human factor has now become a tidbit in the hacking system. Well, for example, why crack the code if you can send a phishing email that will deceive a negligent IT specialist. After all, an intelligent and executive specialist does not mean that he is always attentive and careful in life.

Social engineering is also another thing here. While someone can be all careful and have good security knowledge, scammers can also come in the form of building a relationship, build trust with the person and then discovering when they pay less attention and suspect nothing from their end and that's where the phishing link attack can come in, if it's just sending of random link to some developers they can easily feel that something is off without even clicking on the link and ignore it.

[Achalugo BTC]

Yes, Scammers will be available in all era because they will try to rober which is easy work because labor work is very difficult for these people. If the people will do the click on fake links and they will give their personal information on social media they can get your assets. Your assets will be safe if your tougue is silent and you security is high . If there will be any small mistake, you will lose your thousands of investment which they got after a hard work of many days. Don't give detail of your wallet if you want to be safe in that era.

Exactly, one can easily have access to their private information if they can't control of their tongue, because a single careless word can create a big mess in their lives will affect every aspect of their lives including their bankroll and this will also jeopardize their Mental well-being. That is why, it should always ring like a bell in our ears not to disclose our private information to strangers, as scammers are looking for any small mistakes that they will use to scam someone and for one to be safe from all this, one has to act wisely in all they do and ensure they make solid verification before taking any action.

[hafiztalha]

You do not necessarily need to have technical knowledge to avoid both hackers and scammers and then telling them to read forum, article about malware and learn about them is actually technical knowledge. So do not dismiss technical learning while you suggest doing so. And it is terrible advice just relying on forums and staying away from technical learning. Relying only on forums can still leave people vulnerable to different type of malware. So do not only depend on forum do your research and stay safe. Always take care and verify info from multiple trusted sources and try to protect yourself from hacker don't believe on everything you see .