Steemit Crypto Academy Contest / S6W5 - Common Crypto Scams And How To Avoid Them

Hello great minds, I trust all is well with you. This happens to be the fifth week of the Steemit engagement challenge, and here is my presentation on the topic Common Crypto Scams and How To Avoid Them. Hope you find my submission interesting, enjoy 😉

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Explain Your Understanding Of Crypto Scam

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To my knowledge, crypto scam is the situation whereby crypto enthusiasts are being duped by people or fake crypto platforms due to ignorance or greediness.

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Many crypto enthusiasts lose huge sum of funds as a result of these scams, which is very disturbing as some people go to the extent of commiting suicide after being scammed.

Of late, crypto scams have become very alarming as people are being taken advantage of by ponzi schemes and other fake crypto platforms.

Since the advent of crypto, numerous crypto scams have taken place such as squid game token and the Onecoin, which is dubbed as biggest scam of all time, as the scammers made $25 billion.

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Explain The various Types of crypto Scam

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Apparently, there are several types of crypto scams and I will ponder on some key ones of them.

Phishing scam: With this, malicious links of fake sites are being sent to people through emails just to steal their vital data such as private keys and other personal information.

Ponzi scheme: This is one of the oldest form of crypto scams. It promises huge returns with little risks.
Investors are lured with huge profits returns, and this normally has to do with referrals. The higher the referral the higher the interest, and that helps to bring more people on board to be looted at the end of the day.

Fake exchanges/wallets: A group of people sit behind their PCs to create fake exchanges or wallets and then convince investors to come on board, afterwards they will run away with the investors funds since such platforms are illusions and doesn't fit what they are told to be.

Giveaway/airdrop scam: Giveaway scams have become prevalent more especially on social media, where people fall victims by making some payments to activate their accounts in order to fully claim the underlying giveaway, whiles others personal information are being stolen through malicious links.

Pig butchering scam: people engage in fake relationships with crypto enthusiasts just to take advantage of them by taking crypto from them and then ending the relationship, since the stealing goal is achieved.

Rug pull scam: Over here, a crypto project or token is created and advertised to gain more investors, and afterwards, the investors are left stranded as the developers run away with their funds and leave the project dead.
Normally investors are left with valueless investments as they are unable to even trade the acquired assets due to the coding method utilized by the scammers.
The Squid game token scam falls under this category as the token has become valueless and unable to trade.

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How Can We Do In Other To Spot This Types Of Crypto Scams.

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Crypto scam is worrisome and a canker in the crypto world, but fortunately there are some reg flags associated with these scams which we can use to identify them.

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The following are ways in which we can spot these scams.

• Promises of huge returns or profits; as said earlier, these scams give promises of huge profits or double the investment within a short period of time.

• Grammatical errors and misspellings; Scammers find it hard to do away with grammatical errors and misspellings, due to their unprofessionalism and rash.

• Promises of free funds; always remember there's no free lunch. Scammers usually claim to be offering free funds which can be redeemed with just a single click. Mind you, this click can aid them have access to your private information, therefore boycott such.

• Short information of the investment/project: Scam crypto related projects have minimum information regarding their existence. They usually have no adequate roadmap, purpose or vision and mission, they just exist.

• Endorsements by fake influencers: People out of nowhere will be campaigning intensively for such scam projects just to attract more people and get them duped. Watch out for for such fake preachers.
  If for nothing at all, I saw some fake YouTubers advertising TRX mining on smartswaps.com, which lured many people to losing their funds.

• Strange crypto in one's wallet: finding crypto you never bought in your wallet or crypto you never transferred to your wallet gives a hint of scammers trying to steal your funds. Don't fall for such. It is better to find a new wallet.

• Crypto platforms not available on credible app stores: All legit crypto platforms are being listed on app stores or Google play store or on both. Beware of such platforms which aren't available on these platforms.

• The platform's interface: Usually these scam projects lack quality graphics or interface. This is per my personal experience.

• Random social media dms: crypto scams normally comes to ones doorsteps through direct social media messages from aliens. Ignore all.

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Have You Ever Be Scammed Before? Or Have A Person That You Know Ever Be Scammed? Explain To Us The Incident.

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Yeah, I got scammed of $10 a few months ago.
I was aware it was a ponzi scheme though, but I wanted to outsmart them and it went sideways.
A friend referred me, and upon my research and knowledge, I realized it was ponzi, I informed her, and then tried to play smart, but I was caught up in the process.
So, it was all about mining TRX on a platform called smartswaps.com, of which most of us are aware TRX isn't mined.
They made daily mining packages from $10 to $300, and you earn in proportionate to your invested capital.
In fact, the returns where catchy.
$10 investor was able to mine $1.5 daily, $30 mining for $3 and it continues.
The mining was about clicking a button on their site and after 60 seconds countdown your profit would be credited to you, and you can mine once each day.

With my invested $10, I mined and had $17 hoping to withdraw at $20, but unfortunately for me the site went down as they run away with our funds.
It was no shock to me as I already knew the genesis of the platform, hence I invested only $10 as that was the minimum.

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How Can One Protect Himself From Crypto Scam

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Crypto scam keeps booming as the days go by, but fortunately, one can actually protect himself/herself from such scams.
Below are some precautionary measures I believe can help to escape such scams.

Thorough research: Before investing in any crypto project one has to do a thorough research concerning the underlying project or token. Research will help you as a trader or investor to have a fair idea of what you are dealing with, whether it is worth investing in or not.
Research gives knowledge and knowledge is power, therefore it is relevant to embrace the habit of thorough researching within the crypto space.

Avoid greediness: normally ponzi schemes and other crypto related scams promise huge returns or profits on small short term investments. They present unthinkable profits on short term investments, which lures people to buy into their tricks and they are later left in doom as their funds are being looted.
It is good to chase money, but don't be too greedy and fall for such cheap tricks.

Utilization of decentralized wallets: It is advisable to always keep ones long term holdings or funds in a non-custodial crypto wallet. This helps to keep our funds safe as we have in possession of our private keys, therefore depriving third parties of accessing our funds.

Don't disclose your private keys, regardless: Don't disclose your private keys when you are not ready to lose your funds, because whoever you disclose them to might end up looting your funds.
As the saying goes, not yours keys not your coins, therefore keep your keys safe to yourself.

Avoid trading outside exchanges: Some individuals tend to make themselves exchanges whereby they claim to buy and sell crypto, meanwhile they don't really mean it.
They may end up running away with your funds after you have placed an order, precisely a buy order, and there is no tracing of such lost funds.
When you are fortunate and the trader sends you the token, it might not be in proportionate to the amount of money you sent him or her, therefore avoid such people when it comes to crypto trading, and find yourself a reliable exchange platform through research.

Boycott random crypto related dms: Out of the bloom, scammers will come in your social media dms offering you all sort of fake investment opportunities with huge returns, and what you just have to do is to ignore such random offers.

Use two-factor authentication: This gives a solid protection to ones funds, in case there is a scam attempt. Multi protection of funds is far better than one.

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Conclusion

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Crypto is the new phase of finance and the new world order, but let us be more vigilant with our choices of investments, since there are bad guys who will always try their possible best to steal from us.
Find yourself a decentralized wallet and store your long term funds, whiles keeping your private keys out of the reach of third parties.
Also, don't forget to always do your own research (DYOR) before trusting any project and investing in it.
Do away with greediness and always utilize proper risk management, as anything can happen in the crypto world.
Always trade on well renowned and credible exchanges.

I will draw the curtains here.
Merry Christmas to you all.
I hope you enjoy the festive season to the fullest.