5 Awesome Ways To Lose All Your Bitcoins 👌
In this article I will show you the most popular ways people get scammed for their tokens and how to prevent it from happening.
Anyone who has been in the crypto space for a while knows, that there are plenty of ways you can lose your cryptos. Since the media exposed bitcoin and ethereum in various mainstream channels, we have seen a massive influx of new users. And as always, when the money comes - the scammers will follow.
Crypto scams have become the new trendy "emerging sector" of the fraudster industry. I guess it's the natural evolution of things.
The thing with blockchain technology is, you are responsible for your own money and security - that is both empowering and daunting. Not all of us take the time to really access one's own security level and potential risks, thus leaving out some basic measures that can be crucial to the well-being of your precious coins. The truth is - even your hardware wallet isn't bulletproof. But it's pretty cool that you are using one anyway.
To help you protect your hard earned tokens, I would like to present you some common ways fraudsters and hackers attack cryptos and what you should look out for.
1. Website clones
Phishing - the good ol' method with a proven track record is well alive in crypto. Phishing usually refers to an immitation of a legitimate web page. The scammer reconstructs the appearance of a trusted websites like Bittrex or Bitfinex. They make an impressive site clone, however past the login form there isn't much else to be found. Once you've entered your credentials the scammer already has all he needs.
How to avoid: Lookout for tiny misspellings in the website address. Trustworthy websites implement the HTTPS protocol, and are marked as secure by your browser. You can distinguish them by making sure there is a green padlock in the upper left corner of your browser. If there is no padlock, stay away.
It's easy to imitate a site using Ads
(image source)
2. Email phishing
You get an email about a security alert from a service like MyEtherWallet asking you to upload your Keystore file and check your balance, but it's not really MEW contacting you. It is merely a scammer looking for yaccess to your wallet.
How to avoid: Check the name of the email sender, it usually gives you a clue about the trustworthiness of the email. Before you enter a password into any web form or upload a file, double-check that you are connected to a secure site.
MyEtherWallet would never ask you to do this. Ever.
(image source)
3. The Copy/Paste hack
You want to send some bitcoin to someone and you copy/paste the address into your wallet, as usual. However there are programs like CryptoShuffler that exchange the information in the copy buffer to something different. In this example a fraudster could change it to different wallet address. This can also be used to obtain your Wallet password when you copy it.
How to avoid: Keep your antivirus up to date and perform regular system scans. When copying an address double-check that they match or use the QR-code.
4. Slack bots
Most recently we've had an infestation of malicious Slack bots. These bots reach out to users with a "helpful" security alert about your wallet and usually send you to a fake login form that requires you to enter your private key.
How to avoid: Stay away. Just ignore the bots and remember that there is no legitimate reason for anyone to ask you for your private keys. That's why they're called private.
This bot does not want to help you, trust me
(image source)
5. Mobile 2FA Authentication
You are already using 2FA protection - great. I can't stress enough how important it is to have this implemented on the exchanges. But did you know that mobile 2FA via SMS is super vulnarable? Hackers have found a way to remotely exploit your authentication code if they are able to obtain your phone number; And there have been numerous cases of these scams happening recently. Therefore always go for the 2FA software solution like Google Authenticator.
How to avoid: Don't use Phone/SMS at all. Use software based 2FA. Keep your authentication app on a separate mobile device like your smartphone or tablet. It's much more comfortable to keep the app on your desktop - I know - but if the hacker already has access to your PC, then you have basically left the key on that table for him to take and defeated the purpose of 2FA.
Conclusion
The crypto community is a great target for scammers. Just as technology innovates, so do the scamming schemes and creative ways to get a hold of your coins. In this article I discussed only a few ways of how you can get scammed, there are so much more ways and new ones being invented every day. To be safe remember a few things: Always keep your private key offline and never share it with anyone. Implement 2FA authentication on a separate mobile device. Keep your system updated and do regular virus scans. Be careful when clicking on links and suspicious emails and check the that the connection is secure in your browser. Don't let them scammers get to you.
Stay safe dear reader!
Information sources:
https://kb.iu.edu/d/arsf
https://bitnewsbot.com/slack-attack-phishing-scams-target-blockchain-companies/
https://hackernoon.com/10-tricks-hackers-use-to-hack-your-cryptos-82fc8a0a1bfe/
https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/18/ss7-coinbase-bitcoin-hack-2fa-vulnerable/
More Articles like this:
Do you want to learn how to protect yourself from browser tracking? (Read article)
Do you want to learn how to stake PIVX coins and earn rewards? (Read article)
- Nick ( @cryptonik ) -
Very good guide-post @cryptonik !
You are right on the web are a lot of scam sites or copy cats and not to forget the hackers as well.
I can give an example....long time ago when ether coin was a baby I had just 100 of them in one wallet ...then the attack happened and many of the wallets got "frozen" , I could see my ether amount but I could not use it for nothing...
What I learned from that...well...backup the wallet and use different internet connection...small lessons but I'm still learning.
Wow ! 100 ether that sure sucks. We have all encountered these tricks at some point. I have already received 10 facebook messages from scammers so far. Thank you, I appreciate the feedback :)
Those are good tips. I only recently learned about the risk of SMS 2 factor authentication myself.
It's pretty crazy, I used to think it was safe until I read a few articles about recent scams and attacks. Also a popular investor on twitter lost everything because he had his Google Authentication also as a Desktop App. That was my inspiration for this post.
Und dann wären da noch kriminelle ICO's , die sich immer schneller ausbreiten.
Servus @lilpachiku. Das haengt davon ab was du als kriminell bezeichnest. ICO's sind grundsaetzlich nicht schlecht und eine Innovation die es jedem ermoeglicht eine Projekt, eine Innovation zu starten - ohne den regulatorischen Huerden - denn jeder kann sich am Projekt beteiligen und Investieren. Natuerlich birgt diese Freiheit die Gefahr das manche Menschen dies ausnutzen. Ein konkretes Beispiel ausser ein Paar lending Platformen ist mir nicht bekannt - Ich weiss nicht ob diese Platformen ein ICO hatten. Wenn wir aber abstrakt von ICOs reden, so sehe ich kein Plage. Diese neuartige Unternehmensform ist in der Babyphase. Wir werden noch Tausende, ja gar Millionen von Coins und Projekte in der Zukunft sehen, und das ist gut so. Die Marketcap Verteilung bleibt bei den Top 20 Projekten die wahrhaftig innovativ sind und dadurch Wert gewinnen, die restlichen Tausende an coins werden 5% des Marketcaps unter sich aufteilen. 95% der Coins werden scheitern und das ist okay, um Innovation zu betreiben muss man Neues ausprobieren und auch ein paar mal scheitern. Auf dem Weg dahin werden wir gemeinsam lernen schlauer zu investieren.
@cryptonik da hast du total recht. Ich find die Idee hinter ICO's völlig legitim und spannend. Mit kriminellen ICO's meine ich nur dass Laien oftmals die Versprechungen die ICO's machen kaum überprüfen können beziehungsweise Sie nicht in der Lage sind Codes zu lesen und deshalb schneller einem das gelbe vom Ei versprochen werden kann. Zudem gibt es meistens nur wenig Transparenz. Alles Sachen die die Zeit regeln muss, damit der Kryptomarkt noch gefestigter wird. Unter " kriminelle " ICO's verstehe ich ICO's die in Schneeballsystemen auftreten beispielsweise. Nur muss ich meine Aussage revidieren wenn es so rüberkam das alle ICO's per se schlecht sind, denn dass sind sie definitiv nicht :) Sollte nur dazu anregen sich gegebenenfalls kritischer gegenüber ICO's zu sein, da der Kryptomarkt momentan vor allem junge Menschen anzieht
Na dann sind wir auf einer Wellenlaenge :)
This post received a 26% upvote from @morwhale team thanks to @cryptonik! For more information, click here! , TeamMorocco! .
the first two are easy to spot. the last 3 are more sophisticated
That's right @ethercash!
great post, cryptonik as usual!
Thanks mate, cheers!
@originalworks
The @OriginalWorks bot has determined this post by @cryptonik to be original material and upvoted(1.5%) it!
To call @OriginalWorks, simply reply to any post with @originalworks or !originalworks in your message!
img credz: pixabay.com
Nice, you got a 92.0% @anu upgoat, thanks to @cryptonik
It consists of $1.17 vote and $0.23 curation
Want a boost? Minnowbooster's got your back!
Congratulations! This post has been upvoted from the communal account, @minnowsupport, by Reaper7132 from the Minnow Support Project. It's a witness project run by aggroed, ausbitbank, teamsteem, theprophet0, someguy123, neoxian, followbtcnews/crimsonclad, and netuoso. The goal is to help Steemit grow by supporting Minnows and creating a social network. Please find us in the Peace, Abundance, and Liberty Network (PALnet) Discord Channel. It's a completely public and open space to all members of the Steemit community who voluntarily choose to be there.