The internet has been known to turn the lives of people around for the better and, occasionally for the worse alike. Ever since Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies were introduced with their rate of liquidity into society over ten years ago, it has gained the eyes of investors all over the world. However, investors are mostly the targets of criminals, as such, it has attracted more scammers than even investors. Crime in the world of cryptocurrency has been on the rise, just like its prices. There have been several reports of scam increments and also its application for more crime-related activities. In the same effect, when the prices of cryptocurrencies have fallen over time in the past, the crimes have also followed this decline due to the reduction in the number of investors and overall transactions. In the earlier days of Bitcoin’s integration, it was easier and more prone to attacks due to the primitive systems used in its first days of introduction.
Past Cryptocurrency Scams
In 2017, a spike in the prices of cryptocurrencies changed the dynamics of scams being carried out. The most common scams of the time were on initial coin offerings and we’re usually carried out with social media while talks of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies were spreading like wildfire. Now, the dynamics of these scams have also changed with the tide. Now cryptocurrencies have become more mainstream and have attracted institutional investors. This has shifted the focus of these criminals to targeting entire wallets. These wallets could be filled with different cryptocurrencies and as such are high targets for scammers. However, as unorthodox as it may sound, these new measures of scamming are required for the evolution of cryptocurrencies. There is almost no system that is completely foolproof, this is why these attacks are needed to expose the vulnerabilities of these systems and make them as safe as they currently are today for traders to carry out their businesses on bitcoincodeapp.io without any fear. To reach the point it currently is, the cryptocurrency space had to pass through some series of popular scamming techniques. Some of them are:
Social Media
Social media has grown to become an integral part of society and relationships. Beyond its obvious use which is for connecting with people, it is also used to increase awareness about certain things. This is one of the things that skyrocketed the visibility of bitcoin in society as a whole. As such, it comes as no surprise that scammers would make use of this platform to do their dirty deeds. They do this by hacking the accounts of people and soliciting for bitcoin from their followers. This attack is mostly targeted at people with a large follower base and fame. An example of this happened last year, in July when tech entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Bill Gates, among others, had their Twitter accounts hacked and said accounts directed followers to send bitcoin to an address.
Social Engineering Theft
This is also one of the most popular modes of theft used by scammers in recent years. It involves a process where the scammers use deceit and lies to extort important details relating to cryptocurrency from unsuspecting individuals. One of the most popular modes used currently is known as phishing. It is mostly done by scammers sending emails with certain links to a large number of people. These links lead to fraudulent websites where sensitive data is asked of people in order to facilitate the scams using their private key.
Final Words
These are some of the most popular scams that have terrorized the cryptocurrency world in recent times. However, due to a daily advancing technological system, scams relating to these have been greatly tackled. One of the methods employed in tackling the problem besides increased online security is awareness.
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