Detecting Airdrop Scam!!!
The Digital Space has witnessed tremendous growth in the past 10 years, in my own view, I think one of the reasons we witnessed such growth include the endless competition existing between the Good guys - White Hat Hackers, Genuine Apps developers, Online Business owners etc., and the Bad guys - Black Hat Hackers, Scammers. Both sides are trying to outsmart one another - of course we all know the good guys want to protect their names, brands and customers while the bad guys have neither name nor brand to protect; they just want to exploit us all.
I will give some simple Tips to detecting Scams. I will as well list some sites to help us confirm credibility of sites. So let get started with the simple but effective tips.
Tips
HTTPS (hypertext transfer protocol secure) - always take note of this when accessing any website when it related to financial transactions or entering your vital information. If the https is missing in the site address - do not walk or run, please jet out of the site. Some scammers do go all the way to install security certificates (https certificate) on their sites to make them look legitimate.
Don't ever disclose the following details over email or telephone conversation or a website your are redirected to - Password, Pin Code, Security Question & Answer, Wallet Key, Wallet Key Store Code, Recovery Phrase - in short anything that has to do with security of your wallet/account. As a matter of fact, no genuine airdrop or ico will demand for the following.
Always cross-check the address of any website you are visiting. Sammers do alter one letter or two to make it look like the original one. Example https://www.myetherwallet.com - original. https://www.myetherwalet.com - fake one. A letter 'l’ is missing in the fake address. https://yahoo.com - real, https://yah00.com - fake (replacing 'oo’ with ‘00’). To be on a safer side, always bookmark those crucial websites.We should all be the chief security of our funds.
It's a norm to follow most crypto projects on social media, such as telegram, twitter, facebook etc. Whenever anyone private chat you to send any amount of fiat currency or crypto currency in order to claim your token or airdrop - please do not send. I repeat, do not send. Only obey the instructions given on the official website of such crypto project.
Visit credible sites set up to discuss everything related to cryptocurrency to get current update on all credible ICO and projects. SteemIt and Bitcoin Talk are recommended.
Install Internet Security extension on your browsers.
You can make us of the sites listed below to check if sites are safe:
i. Kerpeskey VirusDesk https://virusdesk.kaspersky.com
ii. Scan URL https://scanurl.net
iii. PhishTank https://www.phishtank.com
iv. Google Transparency Report https://transparencyreport.google.com/safe-browsing/search
v. Virus Total https://www.virustotal.com/#/home/url
- Always DYOR (Do Your Own Research), you will learn more in the course of carrying out your won research. Actually the best way to get things done is doing it by oneself.