Using Google Alerts to avoid getting scammed
Hi all,
After seeing how
users continue to get scammed by fake Electrum wallets despite multiple announcements being made across the crypto community, we decided to share this free and easy method that could potentially help you avoid getting scammed.
Why this matters?While cryptocurrencies allow you the freedom to be your own bank, this comes with responsibilities for securing your funds. If your credit card gets stolen, you could always call the bank’s customer helpdesk. However, in crypto, once your funds are stolen, they are unlikely to be recovered.
How to set up Google Alerts?Step 1: Create a Gmail account.1. Go to
https://www.google.com/gmail/about/2. Select
Create an account at the top right-hand corner
3. Fill in the relevant information
Step 2: Create your alerts in Google Alerts.1. Go to
https://www.google.com/alerts2. Sign into the email account you created in Step 1 by clicking
Sign In at the top right-hand corner.
3. Enter the type of alert you want to create. Suggestions for the type of alerts to create are as follows.
[Service / Wallet / Coin] + [Scam / Hack] Eg. Electrum hack, Binance hack
In this instance, we have typed in Electrum hack.
4. Select
Show options. Here you can configure the alert settings. For example, you can choose how frequent relevant results are sent to you. If you want to change the email to which alerts are sent to, see the section on changing emails below.
5. Select the
Create Alert6. And you are done, your alert has been created! You may create as many alerts as you please.
What happens next?When a relevant article matching the alerts you set are found, they would be forwarded to you at the frequency you chose. Thus, articles related to Electrum hacks would be sent to us immediately (based on our setup above) to our email address.
Can I have my alerts sent to an account other than Gmail?Yes, this can be done. In step 1, you still need to go to the sign-up page. However, you need to select the option “use my current email address instead”.
After that, you should be able to see the following screen allowing you to use your non-Gmail address. All alerts you go on to create as per step 2 above would then be sent to this address.
How effective is this method in helping you prevent losses?Using the Electrum phishing scam as an example. The announcement by Electrum of the scam was made on
Dec 27, 2018. Presumably, the scam would have happened around then. Complaints made by users on this forum also began around then.
Within hours, we had already received a Google Alert notification indicating there was an article by
Coin Telegraph describing the attack on Electrum.
ConclusionBugBasher82 certainly wouldn’t be the last person to lose crypto via the downloading the fake Electrum wallet. But hopefully, by raising awareness about how users can detect cryptocurrency scams, losses to users can be reduced going forward.
What other methods do you have for keeping track of cryptocurrency scams? Leave a comment below and we would update the thread for it.
For more guides on
securing your cryptocurrencies, visit us at
WhoTookMyCrypto.com.