Crypto scams surge 1000% percent
The cryptocurrency market has been booming since the beginning of 2021. Due to the rise of popularity of crypto trading and bitcoin’s price, many people are rushing to buy cryptocurrencies to make some quick gains. As the interest around cryptocurrency surges, so is the number of cryptocurrency scams. According to government reports, It is alarming to see the number of scams reported have increased more than 1000% since Oct 2020. Many crypto scams in 2021 have been reported, costing users millions of dollars. The scams range from big to small, costing millions of dollars of crypto funds and value lost by traders. Since cryptocurrency is decentralized, it is difficult to trace the identity of the scammers. With little recourse for the traders, many crimes go unreported. We have researched some of the biggest crypto scams this year and have provided a crypto scam list.
Crypto scams. Investments from large corporations and funds
Cryptocurrency has been around for 10 years, but only now it is going mainstream and being established as an asset. At its peak in 2021, Bitcoin’s price surged to over $60,000 per coin, creating headlines all across mainstream media. Celebrities like Elon Musk were also busy promoting coins, causing another rush to buy cryptos.
Even major corporations, like Tesla, Square, MicroStrategy, Visa, have started to publicly discuss their interest in accepting bitcoin and cryptocurrency as payments.
Ethereum, Dogecoin, and other popular cryptocurrencies also increased in price as the market started to capture the world’s attention. Many new users to crypto are unfamiliar with the risks of cryptocurrency, how to safeguard their coins and often are scammed.
Scammers looking for victims
Scammers have realized this as an opportunity to defraud people. Unsuspecting people fall victim to these scams everyday. To avoid being a victim of these scams, many resources, like LATOKEN blogs, provide helpful information.
Scammers are constantly finding new and creative ways to steal cryptocurrency from traders. Here are some of the most common scams you should avoid.
Scammers use social media
Scammers are using social media to impersonate celebrities. Impersonating celebrities is nothing new. However, scammers are now using this in the crypto industry. They pretend to be Elon Musk or Vitalik Buterin on Twitter, both notable high-profile figures in the crypto scene. Scammers post on social media requesting their followers to send them cryptocurrency like bitcoin or ether, with the promise of multiplying the coins you send. Many people do not realize that they are responding and sending money to scammers. These funds are then stolen and never returned to the person. As a general rule, do not send your crypto or digital assets to anyone online unless they are a verified and known person to you.
Crypto scams on messaging apps
Another way scammers approach people is through the use of social messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram. Many new projects have a telegram chat room. These scammers are often lurking in these chats and waiting for an unsuspecting victim to fall prey to their scam. The scammer sends a message to the person impersonating as a team member of the project. They offer the person tokens or access to presale tokens and request the user to send them funds or ask for access to their wallet. Many people unwittingly provide their wallet information and find out their entire wallet has been depleted of funds. There are many red flags that should alarm you. The project or team members do not generally contact anyone in chats and do not request access to funds or ask for funds directly. Avoid sending anyone over telegram or WhatsApp any funds. Do not share your wallet information or passcodes.
Ledger Hardware Wallet Crypto Scam
One of the biggest crypto scams of the year was with Ledger Hardware Wallets. This scam occurred in early 2021, when fake Ledger Hardware Wallets were being sent to Ledger customers. The scammers sent fake Ledger Hardware Wallets to Ledger’s customers along with a letter asking them to use their new wallet and claimed the old wallet was unusable due to a bug. However, the “New” Ledger wallet was, in fact, fake, owned, and controlled by scammers. So when customers used the wallet to store their crypto, they would actually be giving the scammer access to all your cryptos. The scammer would then deplete the account and disappear.
The cryptocurrency and digital assets landscape is constantly evolving. As a result, new scams are constantly emerging. All traders need to take caution when dealing with online wallets and accounts and be careful when dealing with sending cryptocurrency. Scammers are constantly looking for victims to lure into their traps, and it is best practice to be careful online and not trust random messages from social media apps.
For more information about crypto scams and how to avoid cryptocurrency scams, please read our posts.
If you want to read more articles and find relevant information about crypto, follow us on LATOKEN on Medium, on LATOKEN Blog, or LATOKEN VCTV channels.
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LATOKEN crypto exchange does not provide any investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. This article is written for informational purposes only. Like other assets, cryptocurrency is subject to market risk. Please do your own research and trade with caution.
