Beware of These Cryptocurrency Scams

Scammers not only find a way to claim your money, but your digital money or cryptocurrency as well. There are various scams that use cryptocurrency to gather your personal information and hard-earned money. Since cryptocurrency is a non-regulated currency, once stolen it is hard to reclaim. Lets take a look at five well known crypto scams to watch out for.

1. Bitcoin Investment Scams

For this scam, a scammer will reach out to you or another crypto investor pretending to be an investment manager. They will claim that they have earned a lot of money by investing in Bitcoin, and will present you with the opportunity to do that yourself with their help.

Then, they will ask you for an upfront fee for their services. After they get your money, they disappear with it and you probably will never hear from them again. In addition to stealing your money, they also may ask for personal information that they steal so that they can access your accounts.

Be sure to never pay an upfront fee for a service without doing through research, and always be weary of giving away your personal information. Be weary of all investments that sound to good to be true.

2. Romance Scams

Don’t be fooled into a romance scam. A romance scam happens when a scammer or criminal using online dating sites to persuade people into believing they have found love. As time goes forward the scammers nurtures the “relationship” online and starts talking to you or the victim about an amazing cryptocurrency opportunity that will bring you and them great monetary returns.

Believing they have found love, the victim believes the request and makes an investment in the opportunity. Essentially, all that money is lost and the romantic partner disappears.

Be sure to never pay someone money online when you have not personally met the person.

3. Man-In-The-Middle Attack

This scam happens when a criminal intercepts personal information that a victim sends over public Wi-Fi. This could be any important information like login credentials, passwords, account information, crypto wallet keys and more. The scammer then uses this information to access the victims accounts.

Never share private information over a public Wi-Fi network. By using a virtual private network, or VPN you can send private information that is encrypting, therefore keeping your information safe.

4. Social Media Cryptocurrency Giveaway Scams

In this cryptocurrency scam, criminals use social media platforms to advertise crypto giveaways. These ads often look very appealing and promise great returns. Oftentimes, they will include fake quotes from celebrities endorsing and promoting the giveaway.

Once the target clicks on the ad, they are redirected to another website that asks them for payment in order to enter into the giveaway. By entering in their information and making a payment they lose money and potentially get their information stolen or introduce malware to your computer.

Be weary of clicking on ad links for crypto giveaways. If you have an interest in investing in cryptocurrency, then be sure to go to reliable and verified sites like Robinhood and Coinbase, or use your local credit union or bank to learn more about crypto.

5. Employment Offers & Fraudulent Employees

In an employment offer scam, scammers impersonate employees, recruiters, or job seekers. They may offer the victim a job that only takes payment in the form of crypto. Eventually, the job seeker loses all their cryptocurrency funds as well as the job that they thought they were training for and acquiring.

In a similar scam, fraudulent employees from an IT company call offering to provide you IT for whatever business or crypto you use. These freelancers seek out jobs that specifically deal with cryptocurrency so that they can gain access to your information, raise and steal money, and take your information. Often, they will use their IT knowledge to attack your devices and gather information.

Don’t ever accept a job offer that requires you to pay with cryptocurrency. Also be cautious of unknown contacts accesses your personal devices and information online. Use reliable IT companies if you have computer issues.

While there are lots of cryptocurrency scams out there, you can still invest in digital money by using a credible platform and being away of the safety and security risks.

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This article is for educational purposes only. WeStreet Credit Union makes no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, or specific suitability of any information presented. Information provided should not be relied on or interpreted as legal, tax or financial advice. Nor does the information directly relate to our products and/or services terms and conditions.