Crypto Scammers Never Sleep: Here’s How to Avoid Them
The cryptocurrency market is in full swing, and millionaires are being created everyday by this digital asset class. But with any new wealth creator comes folks who will try to make a quick buck off of you – and worse, try to scam you out of your hard-earned money.
Here at American Institute for Crypto Investors, we take your safety very seriously. You are a part of our community, and we’re in your corner to inform you of the nefarious ways that scammers lurk and scheme so you’re armed with the skills you need to combat and defeat any scammer at his own game.
In this report you will learn how to how to identify the following types of common scams surrounding non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and cryptocurrencies:
- Questionable Discord DM messages and how to handle them…
- Fake Twitter personalities and profiles…
- And shady airdrops and giveaways.
1. Discord DMs
Discord has become a popular communication platform within the cryptocurrency community. It gives investors a way to chat with other investors directly or even create a larger community where you can share information instantly through direct messages (DMs).
But as your Discord network expands, you will notice that you will receive more and more fake invites. Even Discord DMs that might come off as innocent on the surface could just be a shady way to steal your information.
For instance, you must be very mindful that someone is imitating a brand, NFT influencer, or artist.
Regarding NFT announcements, you should always ask or check with the group first.
If you by any chance receive a message that seems “off” from someone that you know, check their handle first to verify that it is “really” them, as you will see below.
Here are some examples of shady Discord DMs; note they come in all variances.
These were just two examples of how people try to phish and lure you into their shady link. The next type of scam deals with fake Twitter personalities.
2. Fake Twitter Personalities
Many NFT brands, projects, and influencers will have something happen to them as they reach that pinnacle of success; someone impersonates them. You must be mindful for fake Twitter personas because the fake profile will copy the original page, profile, and/or blog word for word. Below is an example of how you must be mindful of the details.
Notice how it is written “DLCBlogger” for the avatar name instead of DCLBlogger for the brand title.
Scammers have an actual staff that will send you a message pretending to have a real chat or conversation or enquire about something to get your attention. The targeted demographic for this NFT scam is for rookies that are new to the NFT space.
Once you have been adjusted to the NFT space, learn the lingo, and figure out how to navigate this system, you will be able to spot the knockoff profiles and conduct in no time.
Below are some common red flags for spotting fake Twitter accounts:
- Multiple retweets from other accounts…
- No original content…
- Copied & pasted tweets from authentic handles…
- And/or far less followers than they are actually following.
3. Airdrops and Giveaways
Airdrops and giveaways are a scammer’s favorite tool because they’re easy ways to target folks who are new to crypto investing.
As you go through your crypto journey you will see that airdrops and giveaways are commonplace in the crypto space. Not all airdrops and giveaways are pure and of good intentions.
Here at American Institute for Crypto Investors, we will guide you and show you how to recognize these shady airdrop & giveaway flags. The so called “free” airdrop and giveaway alerts will come up in a Discord group from a shady account with a method called social engineering – trickery.
The most common flag for a shady airdrop is the verified account that has now been stripped, cloned, and rebranded. You will notice huge flags in the spelling and grammatical errors.
This cloned account will appear very real, it has everything the authentic account has. It has viewers, followers, and actual posts. When they message you, they will send you a bait link.
This link is contaminated with malware and once clicked on this person will have access to all your NFTs and MetaMask wallet; you literally just gave this person your life.
There is another trend occurring is where mainstream YouTube videos are getting cloned, and they are having shady giveaways.
Cloned accounts are very hard to spot at first, these examples will help you develop an eye for this type of activity.
The areas that you would see these types of posts are Twitter posts and Facebook groups. Keep this in mind private means safety. When anyone is doing a random airdrop in your wallet this is definitely a flag and it could be malware or spam.
This message has a call to action for you to drop your wallet address for the latest airdrop.
These were three of the most common types of scams we see in cryptocurrency investing.
And while scammers are constantly coming up with new ways to trick you out of your money, we will be here all along the way to keep you informed, help you stay safe, and protect your crypto investments and your future.
To your investing success,
The American Institute for Crypto Investors Research Team