For as long as anyone can remember, there have been scammers that have tried to swindle people out of their money using less than ethical tactics. They were once called “grifters” and were later renamed “conmen”, but in the 21st century, they have been grouped together and are known as scammers.
Over the years, we have seen many famous scams, such as people doing insurance fraud or stealing your credit card information. The most well-known scam would be the Nigerian Prince email scam where you were contacted about a long-lost relative who happened to be the Prince of Nigeria. You were asked to send a certain amount of money to free up some funds, and after that, you would be rewarded with a title and more money than you could dream of.
Do People Run Cryptocurrency Scams?
Yes, cryptocurrency is just the latest industry that they have infiltrated, and some elaborate schemes have caught many people off guard.
How can You Spot a Cryptocurrency Scam?
If you want to avoid getting scammed while buying cryptocurrency, look out for these red flags.
Fake Websites
Anyone can make a website these days, so it is easy to be fooled by a fake one. Still, there are several signs you can look for, such as the date the site was made, the prices of the cryptocurrencies or poor wording or grammar. Most scammers are not that intelligent when it comes to language, so any significant typos or grammatical errors are a dead giveaway.
Seller Who is Selling for a Much Lower Price Than the Market.
If it sounds too good to be true, then it most likely is. The price of Bitcoin is currently $24,276 AUD, but if someone came up and offered to sell you one Bitcoin for $10,000 AUD you might think it is a great deal, but this is indeed a scam. Never buy cryptocurrency at a price that is different than the market.
Email Blackmail
We have seen cases of people receiving emails telling them they had been hacked and their crypto wallet were being held up and they must pay them to get the contents back. All crypto wallets are password or key protected so even if someone had your wallet, they could not get into it. Most likely they got your email from a mailing list and chose you at random so do not be fooled.
Comments on Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube
You will always see some comments on cryptocurrency stories where people are bragging about how much they made using a strategy that you can also use. They can also say they are selling their crypto for lower prices than exchanges. Any comments like this are spam and should not be taken seriously.
For many, these are obvious, and they would not fall for them. Still, the scamming industry is a multi-million-dollar industry that continues to grow and evolve. So, no matter how much experience you have, always be careful.