Scammers follow the money, which means they’ve got their hands in cryptocurrency as well as traditional USD. Here are five cryptocurrency scams to watch out for:
1. Bitcoin investment scams
In this ruse, a scammer reaches out to crypto investors pretending to be an investment manager. They say they’ve earned millions investing in Bitcoin, and can invest the target’s money for similar results. The catch? An upfront fee, of course! With money in hand, they disappear.
Protect yourself: Never pay an upfront fee for a service you’ve never used without doing solid research into its authenticity.
2. Romance scams
In these scams, criminals use online dating sites to scam singles looking for legitimate love connections. Once the “relationship” feels trustworthy, the online “date” starts talking about an outstanding cryptocurrency opportunity, promising lucrative returns. The victim makes an investment and loses it all to their “romantic partner”.
Protect yourself: Never share money with an unverified online contact you’ve never personally met.
3. Man-in-the-middle attack
This scam involves a criminal intercepting info a victim sends over public Wi-Fi, including login credentials to cryptocurrency accounts and cryptocurrency wallet keys. The scammer then uses this info to access accounts.
Protect yourself: Use a virtual private network (VPN) when accessing sensitive and financial accounts.
4. Social media cryptocurrency giveaway scams
Scam rings use social media platforms to advertise crypto giveaways. If a target clicks on the giveaway, they’re directed to another site seeking a payment to verify their account for the giveaway. If they comply, the victim loses this money. Worse, the link to pay the fee may contain malware.
Protect yourself: Never click on an ad to buy cryptocurrency. Instead, look up secure investment sites directly.
5. Employment offers
In this scheme, scammers impersonate recruiters to gain access to crypto accounts. They may offer a job opportunity that only takes payment in crypto for job training. Of course, the job is bogus and all the target will gain from the “training” is a loss of cryptocurrency.
Protect yourself: Never accept a job offer that insists on payment for training via cryptocurrency.