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5 common methods of cryptocurrency scammers

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Over the past few years, the value of Bitcoin has been rising. This has attracted many investors to invest in digital currencies, especially Bitcoin. Even people who do not know about the technology or philosophy of Bitcoin are seen among the investors.

 

Unfortunately, some of these people, who are looking to build their future, become victims of fraud by actors and hackers. One of the advantages of digital currencies is that there is no central or government body to control it and therefore it is much more private. But this positive feature has paved the way for fraudsters.

 

If you intend to invest and trade Bitcoin, you should also know about fraud methods. In this article, we introduce 5 main methods of Bitcoin fraud:

 

The first method: fake exchanges

 

In order not to get caught by fake exchanges, you must choose your exchange carefully. If you use the services of famous and large international exchanges such as Binance, Bitmax, Hubei, etc., there is no need to worry about this.

 

The problem arises where unknown exchanges enter the arena with attractive promises and services for customers. In 2017, South Korean financial authorities exposed one of the biggest frauds in this field. In this case, an exchange called BitKRX introduced itself as part of the largest trading platform in this country and took away people’s capital.

 

To stay safe from this type of scam, use popular and reputable international exchanges. For this purpose, we introduced the best Iranian exchanges and the best foreign exchanges for you separately.

 

Second method: Ponzi scheme

 

One of the most famous Ponzi schemes is related to Bernie Madoff. He has done this with ordinary investment. In this plan, which works similar to pyramid schemes, you receive money from new investors and give it to previous investors. For more information, what is a Ponzi scheme and how is it different from a pyramid scheme? read the

 

In 2019, three men were arrested for participating in a $722 million Bitcoin fraud scheme. These guys ran the BitClub network for several years. In this scheme, investors’ money was received in exchange for shares of digital currency mining pools, and investors who attract new people were also rewarded. As you know, in the end, none of the investors could return their capital.

 

The third method: fake digital currencies

 

One of the common scams is introducing a new digital currency as a replacement for Bitcoin. The idea behind choosing these currencies is that it is too late to invest in Bitcoin and you can earn more profit by investing in new currencies.

 

One of the applications of this method has been My Big Coin. Using this coin, fraudsters collected 6 million dollars from customers to invest in this fake currency and transferred these funds to their personal bank accounts.

 

The fourth method: traditional fraud

 

If someone called you or received an email saying that you need to pay taxes or other fees immediately, would you do so? Unfortunately, many people fall into this trap. Instead of paying fees and taxes officially, these people pay to the known bank account numbers of some people at the request of Bitcoin fraudsters.

 

The best way to avoid these types of scams is to not trust anonymous phone calls and emails that claim to be from government agencies. Officials and legal authorities will not contact you with these methods and will never ask you for Bitcoins.

 

It may seem strange, but last year, thieves in Iran managed to pocket billions of dollars by recovering the safe words of stolen wallets! ”

The fifth method: Malware

 

Malware is a suitable tool for hackers to obtain passwords needed to access computer networks or credit card and bank account information. Now this method is also used to steal bitcoin scams.

 

If your bitcoin wallet is connected to the internet, they can use malware to access the wallet and the funds in it.

 

These malwares can be easily downloaded through a download link on websites, your personal email or social networks. For example, a link to download a free Bitcoin mining program can cause malware to be downloaded on your computer system.

 

In order to protect against these malwares, you should make sure of the authenticity of the sites or emails you receive. If you can’t find reliable contact information from that company on its website or other media, this should be a red flag for you.

 

Don’t fall victim to digital currency scams

 

Digital currency is a volatile investment. Do not risk your capital by using these fraudulent schemes and programs. Always be on the lookout for potential scams and trust your instincts.