Secure digest from IQeon: how to protect your crypto assets from scammersCrypto frauds are inventing ever newer and more sophisticated schemes for stealing crypto assets. We tell you how not to get cheated.
For many crypto enthusiasts, 2019 has been sadly marked as the year of “scam”. According to the report presented by CipherTrace, within the first six months only, fraudsters managed to steal crypto at a total of $ 4.26 billion!
With all seeming reliability of cybersecurity, hackers continue to invent ever newer and smarter methods of withdrawing funds from crypto wallets and exchanges. In most cases, hackers use traditional methods, such as target phishing, URL interception, SIM card swapping, malware downloads, site deface, and also combine several methods at once. As a result of even a single successful attack, fraudsters can steal huge sums of money. And all this with minimal risk of being caught!
Since cryptocurrency remains a magnet for financially motivated scammers, IQeon team has prepared some pieces of advice for you on how to protect yourself from a possible crypto attack.
Do not leave personal data open for public viewing online
In the modern world, almost everyone places personal data in the public domain on the Web, for example, in social networks. But when it comes to crypto savings, this can play a trick on you. Hackers hunt for information to hack into user accounts. Therefore, if you cannot delete certain email addresses from social networks, you’d better create a completely new and unique account for working with your crypto assets.
Protect your smartphone
Hackers are more often use phone accounts to gain access to users' personal information. With minimal effort, scammers can take full control of a SIM card that is linked with email address. Therefore, create and put a strong password to unlock the screen and don’t leave the phone in the public place.
Cold wallet is reliable walletOnline platforms are extremely vulnerable crypto storages. Cold wallets are the best option when talking about security, so they are used for storing even huge amounts of money. A cold wallet involves the use of a public address to receive digital funds, but withdrawal is carried out using a private key. And the private key is stored offline. When holding large amounts of money, it’s better to split them up and store on several cold wallets.
Get on with two-factor authenticationWith two-factor authentication, you need to go through two verification steps to log in to your account. This method is useful, because even if a hacker breaks into your account, he will still not be able to get access to your account – for this you need to have access to a receiving device to view a generated code. Therefore, two-factor authentication is something that can protect against hacking.
Off with QWERTY123! Choose strong passwordLet’s imagine a situation: a fraudster managed to gain access to your computer, phone or mailbox. How to prevent the attacker from gaining access to wallets? Strong password! Thanks to good encryption, you will at least gain time to transfer assets to other wallets, and at most – an attacker will simply fail to get access to them!
Put different passwords on all accounts. Today there are many services helping to create truly robust passwords that cannot be quickly guessed. Moreover,we advise you to regularly change passwords to new ones.
Update programs with cautionPay great attention to software updates and extensions in browsers. Very often, fraudsters exploit vulnerabilities in an update algorithm or disguise a virus under the latest version of a program. Update, but check! Twice!
Of course, not all scammers use sophisticated tricks. Often they use websites with similar names, channels in messengers, groups in social networks, fake accounts and many other tricks.
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We remind you that IQeon team never requests users personal keys and never asks to transfer funds to any wallets! We communicate with users only through our official channels! The latest news is published only on official websites and communities with a link to the source.
Do not put off the security issue for later. Follow our simple tips and keep your crypto assets safe!