I have written many blogs in the past on this topic but I thought I should write again today. One of my friend's friend was scammed and nearly 700$ were stolen from his bank account due to ignorance. I received a call two days back from them and they wanted to ask me for an opinion. I was hearing the full story and it looks like it was a regular scam that was done with people who are curious about crypto and would like to learn about crypto.
The affected individual was going through some videos on Instagram and YouTube to learn and invest in cryptocurrencies. On Instagram, he was contacted and asked to invest in something to multiply the money. Many links were given to him to click and he did his first Google pay transaction after that, everything else happened without his knowledge, and all his bank balance was wiped off. I was guessing that when he clicked the link, a bug was sent to his phone and everything else was hacked. His Google account was hacked and his Instagram was hacked and then his Google Pay was hacked to send money to their accounts.
Do not click unknown links
This is the most dangerous thing. In the above case, the scammer had sent a link to the mobile device and had asked the individual to click on that to make the payment. When we click on such links, it will download and install a bug to our mobile or laptops. Those bugs are like a service that would be running in the background tracking all the user information. With the help of the link the scammer provides, they will be able to take control of your complete system with all the passwords and everything in that.
Don't buy crypto products from strangers
Crypto products should always be bought from a reputed source. There should be a clear understanding of what we are going to be buying and how that can be useful to us. If we are not clear on what we are going to be buying, there is no point in purchasing that. It is mandatory to avoid purchasing anything from strangers. There are so many scammers out there and they might even show you authentic and convincing sources when you purchase but they would end up scamming you.
Nobody gives you free money
People fall into this trap only because they get attracted to the free money that is being offered. There are airdrops and giveaways done in the crypto world and it is very popular but it happens once in a while and also for some reason. Otherwise, nobody would give you free money and ask you to click on a link to claim the free money. Sometimes there would be messages on Discord saying that we won 1.5 BTC and if we pay 0.25 BTC, we can get 1.5 BTC credited to our wallet. Especially in the crypto world, we don't pay money upfront for anything unless you know it very well.
Do your own research
The biggest problem with people falling into these traps is that they don't do their research properly. Of course, there are some good and nice things in the crypto world but people use the name blockchain and crypto and they scam others. It is essential to do our own research before falling into any trap. Never send money to anyone anonymously even if the offer is very attractive. I would even say it is not good to accept money from anyone too. It will always have some strings attached and we might fall into the trap. Doing research is good and that too from authentic sources.
Learn about crypto from an authentic source
If you really want to learn more about crypto and get started, there are several authentic places available. I would say it is better to talk to a friend whom you know is doing something in the crypto world. Most of the time people get questions on how legal it is and how we can deposit and withdraw money here. But people always start with how they can earn money here. It is a good exploration but getting it explored from an authentic source is good otherwise it becomes a gift for scammers and your curiosity will be the route for them to reach you and scam you. Most of the offers by scammers are highly convincing, we still have to escape from that trap.
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