You may have been tricked into sending Ethereum to Elon Musk or another celebrity, who promised you to return the money immediately. Or a fraudulent trading broker had promised returns and then disappeared never to be found again. These are some classing Etherium Scams you have to look out for, and there are ways to spot them.
What is an Etherium scam?
These are usually contained within a Facebook post, or profile or a Twitter account, where you are asked to send money with a promise of a profit from an investment. However, the people in charge of these accounts rarely fulfil their promises. What is a real Ethereum investment scheme? These are usually run by individuals, who buy in bitcoins and other currencies, and then use Ethereum to get rich. This investment scheme is known as initial coin offerings (ICOs). Many investors have lost millions of dollars because they don’t know what Ethereum is, and there are few regulations in place.
How do Etherium scams work?
As with many scams, you must be careful about using public WiFi. Some scams pose as Bitcoin and Etherium exchanges, and use the idea that you must use a public WiFi network. There are numerous examples of how the scam works, and the effects can be staggering for unsuspecting users. Some scammers will simply post a message on a social media platform such as Facebook, promising to return your money to you. And if you send Etherium to the account, they will quickly do a trade and return the money to you. In other cases, the scammers may send you Etherium via an Ethereum wallet, and then immediately send back your Etherium to your debit card. That is if you don’t notice a big difference on your balance when you check it.
One example is Elon Musk. He got scammed with a fake email that lured him into sending Etherium to a cryptocurrency exchange, which was then hacked and the coins were never returned. Another scam involves exchanges that require cryptocurrency trades to be made within a specific timeframe, which could be 4 hours or even up to two days. So people rush to fill their trades within these limited time frames. That is where cryptocurrency exchanges like Changelly come into play. All you need to do is find an exchange that doesn’t require you to hand over your personal information or do some sort of transaction through your social media account. These platforms can quickly help you exchange cryptocurrencies for fiat or other cryptocurrencies and bring you the best price for your favorite coins.
How to protect against fraudsters
Many people use social media as a gateway to purchase cryptocurrencies and Etherium is no exception. On Twitter, Facebook, Reddit and many other platforms, fake Ethereum investment scam posts are prevalent, and although there are many of these, how can you spot one? Check the URL “A lot of these scams go on Twitter and they don’t even bother to register at Facebook, but they’re still on the site and that’s where you have to look,” warned investment advisor Charles Townes on the Bitcointalk forum. “Make sure they use an https:// address.” If the link uses a wysych query or ask text, it’s a scam. Websites should use https:// instead, or the full address of the website (in case it is also registered with Facebook).
Conclusion
Etherium is one of the most powerful ERC20 tokens out there, and it is almost impossible to say no to it. But never give out personal information and never send money to someone you don’t know. In fact, never send any money to anyone you don’t know either. Always be wary of scammers and use the trusted crypto-exchanges to buy your tokens.