Cryptocurrencies are digital assets built on the blockchain that are governed in a decentralized manner. From bitcoin to ether, several cryptocurrencies with different architectures have been developed and launched for users to explore.
All of these assets and transactions built have created a new financial system and industry that has grown into a market cap of more than a billion dollars.
In the midst of this growth, several malicious actors have also launched attacks on holders of these cryptocurrencies. Chainalysis said that in 2022, $3.8 billion was stolen from hacks by attackers while 24% of new cryptocurrencies released in 2022 were pump and dump tokens.
Knowing that attackers of cryptocurrencies keep developing and launching new kinds of scams, here are the top five users should watch out for:
Giveaway scams
In giveaway scams, fraudsters ask their victims to send a particular amount of cryptocurrency in order to redeem a planned prize which is always in the form of cryptocurrency and is more than what the victims send.
Once victims send, they are disconnected from the team behind the project or told that their sent crypto is yet to reflect. Sometimes, the faces of celebrities are used to promote such endeavors.
Impersonation scams
Impersonation scams use threats or promises of security as the key instrument for driving the scheme. Thus, the fraudsters position themselves as someone that is among the team involved in a particular project and ask victims to send very sensitive details like private keys or passwords to make corrections on their accounts.
The details are intended to be used to either solve or avert a problem. Once done, the fraudster can take all the cryptocurrencies the victim has and cut off communication immediately.
Investment scams
In investment scams, the goal is always to convince victims that they can earn more by investing in a particular project. They are promised ROIs such as 10x, 40x, or even 100x if they send an amount of money within a period of time.
NFT scams
NFT scams are used to deceive victims who are not conversant with a successful NFT project to invest in a lookalike NFT project. For example, an NFT project that looks like BAYC can be marketed and linked with BAYC to deceive investors into investing.
Romance scams
In these romance scams, fraudsters first aim to build a cordial and romantic relationship with a victim before they proceed to ask for money. They use the relationship as bait to either convince the victim or guilt them into sending the requested money.
As a cryptocurrency user, especially a newbie, it’s advisable to always be vigilant when promotional contents about dating sites are sent on social media platforms or in communities such as Telegram or Discord.
To avert scams users should always not be quick to indulge in any new or unfamiliar crypto project or dating site released to the public.
Read also;
How victims of ransomware are winning against crypto crime
Crypto scam: the use of stablecoins, and ATMs
