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Over the weekend, the EXODUS subreddit filled with posts concerning fake apps and downloads. Unfortunately, several people fell prey to scams involving the much praised Exodus wallet. This marks a significant uptick in scamming activity in crypto as the various currencies catch the attention of the public eye. There is no worse feeling than having your hard earned money disappear right in front of you, and so I am here to show you some steps you can take to secure your investment from scammers, con artists, and thieves.
What's Their Angle?
Trust is a wonderful thing. We like to think that most people are good and trustworthy, and that might be true to some extent. But trust must have some sort of collateral to be worth investing in. In the case of friends and family, there is history you can rely on. If someone approaches you (in person, online, or on the phone) you have no history with them, and therefore they have zero collateral. In short, they're not invested in your future.
My angle is to give you helpful information, while emotionally satisfying, also has the potential for monetary reward. I'm vested in your future, and am accountable to my readers. Now, take someone who direct messages you on Reddit. You trust the group they came from, and they're probably good people, but there are wolves that scour subreddits and YouTube channels hoping to trap someone.
Ask yourself: what does this person get out of helping me for no apparent reason? If your only answer is warm fuzzies--move on. It's likely a scam. In this case, the scammer is relying on your trust. Don't give it to them without an ample amount of collateral on their part.
Everyone's Unofficial Until Proven Otherwise
Another common tactic relies on fear. I've seen this type ratchet up in the last few weeks. You'll get a phone call saying the FBI is looking for you and they're going to connect you to somebody. Please. The FBI don't call. That's not how they operate. They just show up. Trust me, if they want to find you, they will. Or you'll get a similar phone call, but it's the IRS. Again, not how they operate.
This is a good example of a phishing campaign: I recently received an email claiming to be Amazon. It was to confirm a purchase that was over $500. Looked near legit too. But, I caught at the end where they said to hurry and call a number to cancel the shipment. I rolled my eyes. First, it was an email address I haven't used with Amazon for well over a decade. Second, the phrasing about canceling the shipment. Sure, I've bought third party items on Amazon, and some of them will send you a receipt, but they include nothing about hurrying to cancel the order.
I could go on, but I think you get the point. They're hoping you panic and then call them. Once they have you on the line, they know they're two-thirds of the way to stealing your money. FOMO and FUD are similar, in that they rely on fear, but are slightly different because it comes from someone you think you can trust (i.e. have supposed collateral with.)
Everything's a Scam Until Proven Otherwise
FOMO and FUD, if you're not familiar with the terms, they stand for Fear of Missing Out and Fear Uncertainty and Doubt. This type of scam is a combination of the last two. They attempt to gain your trust by giving some information that seems true, or is something you want to hear. I call these people Hype-Men. These are the Bitconnect Crypto-vangelists on YouTube and at special events that are so excited about what they're talking about that you swear they snorted a pound of coke beforehand. With one hand they're telling you to trust them, and with the other making you afraid of losing out.
You canThey're always up on everything. Until they're not. They use the volatility of the crypto market to satisfy your confirmation bias about whatever coin or token you're into. DOGE to the moon today, put everything you own into it now or you might miss out. Or, oh no! DOGE is plummeting! Better dump all your dogecoins before you lose all your money. You can usually sort these people out because there never seems to be any middle ground with them.
Another kind are the Elmer FUDs. They pop into subreddits and other social media just to drop their expert advice, which just so happens to be all negative. They'll sound like they're only looking out for you, but what's in it for them? They offer partial facts which support their negative message. Between these two, what you really have are people attempting to influence the market. The sad thing is that this extends beyond social media all the way to news outlets and financial advisors.
Want to know what financial advice I listen to? Someone who tells me the facts about a crypto and lets me decide. They give me links so I can fact check on my own. They might give their opinion, but it's usually balanced—giving both the positive and negative. They're upfront about their holdings. In short, they're realistic.
Too Good to be True
The title says it all and it still some of the most sound financial advice out there. Always ask yourself what the payoff is for the other person. If you can't find it, or is too difficult to understand, then RUN!
For example, I heard today about a website called Crypto Tab. Their selling point is your web browser can mine Bitcoin. Wait. What? That's not how any of this works. So I did some investigating on their website. First thing I search for is how are they making money. Second, I plumb through subreddits and gauge the overall sentiment. Come to find out, it's a pyramid scheme where the more people you get into (LOL) your network (LOL) the more Bitcoin you're supposed to be able to mine. Oh, and you have to pay $50 for their service. You can't get anymore pyramid than that. From what I was able to gather, your ROI is going to suck.
Now contrast this with another web browser: Brave. You know, the thing Crypto Tab advertises against, saying you won't have to look at ads or fill out surveys (Faucets.) BRAVE makes money by blocking ads you don't care about, and if you want, will replace them with ones more catered to your interests while giving you a portion of what they make in BAT (Basic Attention Token.) You can hold on to that as an investment, trade for something else, or cash out. The sellers benefit, Brave benefits, and you benefit. You can't get more mutual than that.
Due Diligence
Please. If you own even one Ravencoin, please go out and get two things: a comprehensive antivirus platform and a hardware wallet. Most people don't leave their seed phrase laying around, but there are ways to snatch them from your computer if you have them anywhere on your system. All it takes is one visit to the wrong website and poof.
Software wallets like Exodus are fine while learning the ropes with crypto, but if you are going to have any sizeable investment, you will need a hardware wallet like TREZOR or Ledger. The antivirus is just to make sure you don't get compromised until you can deposit into your hardware wallet.
Listen. I know you're proud. But for godsakes, don't post your money on Reddit or anywhere else. This goes for crypto, or really anything else. I beg you. It's not always the people in the comments you need to worry about. There are lurkers everywhere waiting for a weak point to strike. Don't be that point. There is no countering the dreaded wrench attack.
Lastly, always double check the sources of downloads, even if it's an app on your phone. There are thousands of websites and fake applications being made daily with the hope you misspell a word and land on their scam site. Triple check even. It's worth your time, and potential money, to ensure that you landed on the official crypto website. Fakes are looking more convincing all the time. Never go with the first thing you see.
Did I miss anything? Do you know of other ways to safeguard your finances from thieves on the internet? Leave your best tactics in the comment section below.
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Mandatory discretionary statement: I am not a financial adviser. Research everything I tell you. I will make every effort to give you the absolute best I can, but I am bound to get some things wrong. I'm just as fallible as the next guy or gal.
