Getting Scammed by Phishers
This continues my series aimed to help crypto newbies avoid costly mistakes. Know some people new to crypto? This should be helpful.
Cryptocurrency gives control to the user. This powerful feature removes third party reliance. Unfortunately, it also removes third party protection in the form of fraud protection. Furthermore, crytpocurrency transactions are permanent once recorded on the blockchain. The current most common fraud attempt is through phishing.
Phishing is when attackers impersonate reputable sources to cause victims to give them money, access, or data they shouldn't have. Many cryptocurrency startups use Slack for community relations, which was designed for trusted teams of people.
This past weekend, my phone was blowing up due to notifications from phishing attempts.
Example of iExec Slack phishing attempt
The typical phishing attempt preys upon one of two powerful emotions: fear, and greed.
Attention! There is a second round crowdsale! <--greed
Alert! Ethereum wallets are vulnerable! <--fear
How to Handle Alerts
Don't trust the Slackbot. Ever.
Don't click links for sites like My Ether Wallet, Coinbase, Kraken, or any other blockchain sites. Use Google and search for the site, then ensure the certificates are ok (the top of your web browser will show green and a lock) before entering any information. Note: using hardware wallets like Trezor or Ledger will protect your private keys even if your computer gets infected with malware. But sending money to the wrong wallet is impossible to undo.
If you're unsure if something is true or not, check out reddit, twitter, etc. Things like The DAO hack will be reported widely among community leaders. The average phishing scam will be ignored (or possibly countered).
I hope this was helpful, and that it might help at least one person avoid being scammed in the future. If you liked it, and want to see more articles like this, please click the button below!
Note: Just as I was about to hit POST to publish this, my phone notified me once again of another phishing attempt. Be safe out there crypto friends.