It is no secret how crowded the cryptocurrency space is with scammers... Scammers who always try to exploit the Anonymity nature of cryptocurrencies to set up their evil traps, lure in unsuspecting users, and steal their hard-earned money. Just two weeks ago, I shared a post where some hard-working fraudsters managed to do phishing attacks on both Etherscan and CoinGecko using a Metamask pop-up. Of course, it wasn't the first time and won't be the last...As long as crypto expands, smart scam attacks will most likely expand too.
However, it seems that Metamask (my favorite crypto wallet) is on the way to put a limit on that and even try to chase the attackers...
How could that be in the world of crypto?
And is it really possible to protect users from those scams without compromising their privacy and personal data?
According to the news circulating last week, Metamask will partner with an investigation company called Asset Reality to provide support to fraud victims in the crypto space to "band together and, in some cases, put them in touch with lawyers, forensic services, and law enforcement."
According to MetaMask statement"
Victims of scams often have difficulty getting sufficient resources and attention from law enforcement. Asset Reality’s offering allows multiple victims of a scam operation to join forces and build a larger forensic investigation against a scam operation
Well, I must admit this certainly seems plausible to me. I mean the reason why there are so many hackers and scammers in crypto is that they believe that they are safe from punishment and chasing. A side effect of decentralization may be that no one is responsible for anything. This leaves plenty of room for bad actors to develop their own ways and tactics to carry out their crimes without fear of being prosecuted or sued.
This is why I think the recent news is great for the crypto industry as it provides a ground on which victims can count on getting their money back.
On the other hand, I wonder if this will result in crypto losing the privacy features we've always bragged about. I've read the news about the MetaMask-Asset Realty partnership several times and have yet to find any practical details on how they intend to help users get their crypto back. I wonder if Metamsk would ask users to provide their personal data in order to create new wallets. This seems a bit far-fetched to happen but if it did, it would mean that using Metamask would not be much different from using any centralized exchange!
Another unanswered question is how MetaMask can hunt down scammers. Does this mean that MetaMask will start collecting the IP addresses of its users? If there were any kind of tracking for scammers, doesn't that imply that there would be IP address tracking in the process?
In my humble opinion, it looks like a crossroads between privacy and security where choosing one could tacitly mean giving up the other...so... which one do you prefer?