Decentralized blockchain technology and the cryptocurrencies that are based on it have changed the financial world. They allowed users to freely transfer and manage their funds without the control of banks and financial regulators. Unfortunately, this free market, thanks to this feature, also attracts hackers who seek to get money from their victims by any available means, who are defenseless due to the lack of poorly regulated legislation. Therefore, the responsibility, first of all, lies with the users themselves. You have to know how to ensure security in order to not get scammed. We will talk about this in today’s article. Let’s see how malicious hackers work and how to avoid becoming a victim of a sophisticated crypto scam.
What methods of deception do exist
There are many methods. In addition, cybercriminals are constantly coming up with new methods to appropriate the money of careless users. But they all come down to a few basic principles:
Get a private key from your wallet
A fraudster can pretend to be a project manager and an exchange/exchange platform support service operator to ask you for your account password or private keys to your wallet. This information will allow scammers to get hold of the client’s funds.
How to protect yourself
Never provide private keys, authorization data, or any other confidential information that provides access to your funds. This information should not be disclosed to anyone.
Phishing
One of the most popular forms of hacking. Hackers use fake resources that copy the appearance and script of the other site: a wallet, project, crypto exchange, or exchange platform. When going to the site, the victim enters their data in the authorization form, and instead of logging in, they get an error. Meanwhile, the data is sent to the fraudster, who enters it on the original site and gets access to the wallet.
How to protect yourself
Always check the domain address. For example, for Binance, it should look like https://www.binance.com, and for a Blockchain wallet — https://www.blockchain.com. Carefully check the address before logging in or signing up.
The address may differ from the original one: the characters may have been rearranged. For example, blockchian.com or blockchaỉn.com/ if you try to log in through these sites, you will be victimized and your data will be stolen.
But pay special attention to the second link in the example. The address looks very similar to the original domain, but the letter ‘i’ is replaced with ‘ỉ’. This is very easy to overlook. Therefore, after registration, save the site in browser bookmarks or copy the domain and open only the copied address. The history is also saved in the browser. Therefore, the next time you visit the site, go to the address from AutoFill, and not through search.
Also, set up two-factor authentication (2fa) for your account. It is best to use a phone number, rather than Google Authenticator, if possible, because hackers can also copy the six-digit authentication code. If the crypto exchange supports 2fa protection for withdrawing funds, you should use it.
Fake emails
Another common method of deception is fake emails from the company/service/Manager of a popular project. You may receive an email with something like this:
“Hello! Your account is blocked. To restore access, please contact us immediately.”
After receiving feedback from you, hackers will ask you to provide your username and password or private key, ostensibly to unblock it, and also to make sure that the account really belongs to you. With this approach, scammers use urgency to put pressure on the victim. For example, they may write: “send us your username and password immediately for verification, otherwise you will lose your money.”
How to protect yourself
If you suspect that you may have been hacked or your account was blocked, contact the support service. Confidential information can only be requested by scammers. Real managers will never ask for information that could compromise your account. They may require, for example, the date and time of login, the IP address from which you logged in to the system, and similar information. Always keep your passwords and private keys secret.
Reviews
Fraudsters can promote fake projects or so-called SCAM projects on the network. They use fake data: fake trading volumes, deceptive activity, etc. As a rule, such resources contain a lot of errors and a bad interface, because their goal is to steal money, and cybercriminals will not spend their budget on a quality resource. Although there are also large-scale scam projects with high-quality development. Such projects are often found in the form of financial pyramids. They will fuel users’ interest by publishing deceptive posts from fake accounts like these:
- “Everything is great. The platform pays”;
- “The withdrawal is instant. You get a bonus for a deposit”;
- “The best project I’ve ever seen.“
Such monosyllabic reviews do not make a detailed impression about the project (wallet, exchange) and do not fully reflect its features.
How to protect yourself
Pay attention to the nature of reviews. Even if the resource is perfect, the negative will still be there. There are no perfect services. Users should also describe their actual experience in their reviews. A series of positive reviews without any specifics may turn out to be faked. Pay attention to this.
How to buy and sell Bitcoin and not to lose last shirt
You can purchase Bitcoin through a crypto exchange or online exchange platform, which is not difficult to find on the Internet. Just type “reliable bitcoin exchanges” in the search field. Pay attention to user reviews and experiences. With the sale, the situation is different, because it is important to sell cryptocurrency not only quickly and safely, but also profitably. Therefore, you need to find a platform that allows you to sell bitcoin at a higher rate.
One of such services is the HiRiBi exchange platform which allows you to exchange Bitcoin for PayPal at a rate that is higher than that of other sites, and supports automatic exchange: your order begins to be fulfilled after 3 confirmations in the Bitcoin network. You can read reviews about the site, for example, on Trustpilot, to assess how secure the exchanger is and how fast the exchange takes place. BTC for PayPal is the only exchange direction available, but this approach is an advantage for the exchanger, since Bitcoin is the most popular cryptocurrency, and the PayPal payment system is used all over the world. Why do you need something else?
If you look for a service where you can profitably sell bitcoin for dollars via PayPal, then HiRiBi will be the right solution.
37 comment(s)
3
to 3
3
3
3
3
to 3
3
3
3
3
to 3
3
3
3
3
to 3
3
3
3
3
to 3
3
3
3
3
to 3
3
3
3
3
to 3
3
3
3
3
to 3
3
3
3
3
to 3
3
3
to 3
3
3
3
3
3
3
to 3
3
3
3
3
to 3
3
3
to 3
3
3
to 3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
to Jane
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
Jane
Ibalik nyo yung pera ko $142 scamer kang HIRIBI ka