Topic: How do you avoid scammers? - page 5. (Read 720 times)

Hey there, DPHOR ! Welcome to the BitcoinTalk forum.

I get why you are worried about scams and phishing.  That stuff can get pretty tricky.  My advice? Be super careful with any links people send you.  Double and triple check those URLs so you know where you are really going and  stick to the well-known and reputable exchanges and wallets, those are usually safest.  Oh, and watch out for random messages from people you dont know.  Make sure to check any info yourself before trusting it.  The folks here probably have some other good tips too.  Never be shy about asking around if you are unsure about something.  Thats one of the best things about this community - we have so much collective knowledge to draw from.


Absolutely! Security should definitely be a big concern when you are just starting out.  You gotta keep your stuff and personal info safe, thats crucial.  A few things I would recommend are using wallets that are open source and have good reviews, turning on two-factor authentication wherever you can and being real suspicious of any messages that seem sketchy or too good to be true.  Getting into crypto is exciting, no doubt, but staying safe will make the ride smoother.  i know it's a lot to take in when you're just starting out.  So if you ever need any tips on staying secure or have questions, dont be afraid to ask! We are always happy to help folks just getting into crypto do it the safe way.

Sinec, you are concerned about security. I think you have an open mind to learn and to be safe in the crypto space, as there are a lot of scammers who are even more than the genuine crypto investors right now in the crypto community.
 
One thing you need to bear in mind, as the first commenter took out his time to explain, is that there is no free money anywhere, and you should be mindful of airdrops and fake promises from influencers and other scammers on different social media. If you must invest in altcoins, always be careful and don't rely on what you read online about a particular coin, which might not end well for you.
 
For security purposes, always download your wallet application directly from the wallet provider's website, using the link they provide. There are many cloned apps on the internet, so be sure to get the right one. New users may have trouble identifying which apps are authentic and which are not.
 
For a bitcoin online wallet, you can make use of BlueWallet and Electrum, which are both among the best online wallets.
Electrum official link: https://electrum.org/#home
Download link: https://electrum.org/#download
Blue wallet: https://bluewallet.io/

For altcoin, you can make use of Unstoppable Wallet:
Official links:
https://www.unstoppable.money/https://github.com/horizontalsystems/
You can read more about it in this topic by Husires . Unstoppable wallet {User experiences}
 
If you are a computer user, the best way to avoid being scammed without knowing is to avoid using pirated software, and OS always makes sure you get your software from licenced distributors to avoid buying already affected software, as clipboard viruses and other unidentified viruses are sweeping off users holdings without their knowledge.
 
And if you plan to buy and hold a large amount of bitcoin or any other crypto, an online wallet is not the best choice; you will need to get yourself a hardware wallet, as it's more secure when used carefully.

Welcome to the forum and congratulations for Finding the forum, you asked a very reasonable question, one of the biggest reason why scammers thrive is because their victims are ignorant, greedy and just completely careless.
Scams are not of same category, we have the social media scam, hacking, ICO or project scams where scammers organises a project with the aim of scamming their investors.

Joining this forum does not make you immune from scams and scammers can be found even here in this forum.
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/edu-how-to-spot-a-scammer-read-this-before-doing-any-transactions-137288
This is a good thread that can help you have an idea of spotting a scam and also pay attention to the scam acquisition board so you get new update about scams acquisitions.

For you to be able to avoid scammers you should learn to not be greedy; that’s one of the main reasons why scammers are able to lure people into their trap and also the reason why people still fall for scams that are obvious. If you’re able to avoided being greedy when it comes to free money online and bonuses you should be able to do well coupled with being security conscious, i.e know when not to download files from unknown sources and also when to avoid even clicking links as a while those could help you from hackers and scammers as well.

But if by any chance you’re referring to altcoin scams then you can take the advice of the posts above mine.

Scammers will always look for loopholes to gain access to your funds, so you have to prevent them from gaining access. Social media is the main breeding ground for scammers. They will always present deals that are attractive and difficult to resist. Don't be greedy to accept these deals because they can be baits to steal from you. Avoid clicking on any link you see on the internet because they might not be safe. Do your research on any project before investing because it is important to verify everything information we come across in the crypto space.

But my advice to newbies is to focus on only Bitcoin because it is the most reliable cryptocurrency. Consider keeping your coin in a trustworthy decentralized wallet preferably an air-gapped electrum wallet or a hardware wallet. Also, ensure that you download the Electrum wallet from the Electrum website to avoid falling victim to scammers. 

The first and most important thing in this space is security, from scammers and from one’s own negligence. My first tip in avoid scammers from getting to you either by fake projects, promises or exposing your keys is to never be greedy thinking that here is a get rich quick scheme, scammers easily exploit those people and lure them to fake projects or get their keys from them. Nobody is generous enough to give you a lot of money so be wary of fake promises.

Secondly is to use a secure wallet for bitcoin and cryptocurrencies hodling, a good wallet is an open source, non-custodian and offline wallet. Make sure to download from the right source to avoid phishing or fake wallet or you can verify them.

You can read on other threads to learn about security, here is a compilation by OcTradism on security and privacy

Congratulations op on finding your way to the forum. From you explanation it seems you have answered some part of the questions you asked because you pointed out some ways of avoiding being scammed which is very correct. Another ways you need to look at for so that you won't be scammed is giverways and airdrops, alot of people has been scammed because of free gift which sometimes comes in form of BTC, avoid opening site where you see free giveaways of btc they are all scam and as a newbie, do not go about asking strangers for help because most people you meet online will pretend to help you but at the end all they want to do is to take all your funds.

There is no free money. If someone offers you something which feels like a huge profit, that's most likely a scam.
When I was a beginner, I was introduced to Pump and Dump groups by one of my friend. What they do is pump a coin and they share which coin they will pump in the group with thousands of people.

What exactly they do is:
- Find a low Mcap coin with very less volume
- Buy that coin before announcing
- Once bought,  they announce  it in the group
- People start buying, they dump on them

It's almost free money for them. So, do not join groups like these. Stay away from Telegram.
If you find something suspicious, always make a post here and get feedback from the community.

I am new to Bitcointalk and I have been around my local board since from my sign up yesterday, I wanted to asked this question over there but need a general knowledge from the community at large not only from my locals. Just as what I have used on my title I want to know the possible ways to avoid scammer and phishing sites because I have came to understand that for one to excel in this forum and in bitcoin investment / holding at large, one needs to be very mindful with the ways we click on sites, where we store our funds and the techniques scammers often use to scam beginners like us.

I think security should be my number one priority as a fresher or newbies, although with time I will gets acquainted with the relevant information across the forum, I know that here is a lovable and a dedicated community that focuses on full discussion about bitcoin and its related cryptocurrencies which I can't easily outline all but I know you people knows about them taking a picture from coimmarketcapitalization (CMC).

Please we can share and discuss responsibly without any forms of comments.