Has Cryptocurrency Ever Encountered a Scam?
March 12, 2021 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Almost everything online is unsafe and exposed to hacking. Many large companies and organizations have seen their failure because of no implementation of precautions against scams and hacks. The dark world of the web has some harsh realities of intruders taking away all your information or money online. Cryptocurrency is world-wide famous and traders are using platforms like bitcoin optimizer to earn a profit.
The danger of scam has penetrated through cryptocurrency as well. Here are the top three scams that you should be aware of and should take precautions against these:
Exchange and Wallet Attacks
Previously, cryptocurrency exchanges were the only way to buy and sell cryptocurrency. Thus, it was the main target of hackers who never missed an opportunity to steal the cryptocurrency. Nowadays, cryptocurrency wallets are more commonly used to store currency and hackers have picked it as their target. Many people lose their coins or worse their personal data is leaked on the dark web.
If we go back a little in time, in June 2020 hackers store the email addresses of 1 million cryptocurrency wallet users. This attack was launched on the France based crypto wallet company named Ledger which took a serious blow from it. The personal details of 9500 customers were stolen and published on the dark web.
Another major incident took place in 2019 when the cryptocurrency exchange, Poloniex suffered a similar breach and they asked their customers to reset their passwords immediately.
Social Media Scams
Almost everyone these days is active on social media platforms which have become a powerful and potent force in mainstream society. The rise of social media has made it easy for intruders to get your necessary information for hacking or stealing your resources. It is fairly easy to create a fake social media account and misuse it. Another way of scamming through social media is that the attackers hack the profile and then use it for their benefit.
In July 2020, many Twitter accounts of famous entrepreneurs and businessmen were hacked and it was tweeted from their account that their followers should send a specific amount of cryptocurrency to the respective address after which they will get a doubled profit. Within minutes, 350 people had transferred the cryptocurrencies. Although the accounts were recovered, these 350+ people lost a huge sum of money due to a scam.
This is one example from Twitter but, it does not imply that it is the only social media platform that is unsafe. Other platforms like YouTube have also experienced some frauds.
Social Engineering Scams
As the name refers, social engineering scams are related to the physiological manipulation of the victim. A popular social engineering scam is phishing. In such scams, the attacker sends some malicious email, SMS, or phone call which grabs your attention and makes you click on a link. The minute you click on the link, all your information is gone.
Sometimes, the scammer acts as if he/she is from a well-known organization like your bank or government agency and asks you to provide certain information. Many people cannot recognize that it is a fraud and they provide their information which proves destructive for them.
Sometimes, the attacker claims that there is a certain problem with the bitcoin wallet and will need your private key to fix it. Beware that you should not provide your key to anyone because the official organizations would never ask for it.
Conclusion:
Buying cryptocurrency may seem like a profitable and money earning investment but, make sure that you take all the necessary precautions. Be a little vigilant and keep your passwords and private keys to yourself, you will be out of trouble.
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