If you belong to the world of investment, you must have heard of bitcoins. The price of bitcoin has increased a lot in the past few years, and investors are thinking of bitcoin as one of the best investment opportunities.
People are spending Billions of dollars on the market capitalization of bitcoin. Most investors see the value and the appeal of bitcoin as an investment tool. No doubt bitcoin is a great investment tool, but it comes up with good and evil. One of the most damaging aspects associated with bitcoin is the fraudulent activities by scammers and hackers.
The fraudulent activity targets naive investors who end up losing their hard-earned money. This informative article lets you know about the different bitcoin scams and how you can avoid them. If you spot these frauds and scams, you will be well-prepared to prevent the fraud.
Fake bitcoin exchange
One of the significant frauds related to bitcoin is the presence of fake bitcoin exchanges. You may not believe this, but almost 50% of all bitcoin exchanges are fake. These fake exchanges will lure investment, and once they get the fee and access to your bitcoins, they will shut down the website.
To avoid this fraud, the first thing that you need to do is to make sure that the website is HTTPS secured. Thus, the website should have HTTPS instead of HTTP. The addition of “S” means that the website is encrypted and secured. Another red flag that can help you spot a fake bitcoin exchange is that fake exchange will offer Bitcoin sales through PayPal. Thus, if an exchange asks you to make the payment via PayPal, it is a red sign that you don’t need to partner with the exchange. Most of the fake bitcoin exchanges are for a single day. They will vanish the second you make the payment.
Fake bitcoin wallet
Another significant fraudulent activity associated with bitcoins is the presence of fake bitcoin wallets. Spotting and finding a fake bitcoin wallet is quite challenging. Bitcoin wallets have the main aim of storing your bitcoins safely and securely. The fake bitcoin wallets are scams for malware that will infect your device. After infecting your bitcoin wallet, they will steal your password and private keys. Therefore, try to access as much information as you can about the bitcoin wallet before choosing. This way, you will be able to prevent fraudulent activity.
Just like the fake bitcoin exchange, you need to check whether the wallet uses HTTPS or not. You should also check whether the bitcoin wallet is reputable or not. If the name of the bitcoin wallet resonates with a famous wallet, there are chances that the wallet is fake. A good option can be to ask senior investors about choosing the best bitcoin wallets.
Phishing scams
Another common scam related to bitcoin is the phishing scam. Phishing is an act when someone tricks you into thinking that it is a trusted company or website. Pay close attention that the phishing companies will try to contact you via email.
The result, in this case, is that you will visit their website and get malware infection in your device. Thus, if you are investing in bitcoins, you need to be careful with your emails.
A single step that can help you in preventing frauds is by not clicking on any hyperlink. Instead, go directly to the website if you want any information. Unfortunately, many times hackers also make the hyperlink look real. Thus, always check the sender’s email.
Ponzi scams
Ponzi scams are not only related to fiat currencies. These days, they are also related to digital currencies. Many times, you will get messages that will claim to double your bitcoin. However, Ponzi websites are not commonly present. Thus, you may find it difficult to spot a Ponzi website. Most often, the Ponzi websites offer referral programs. Thus, if you are getting referral programs and coupons for bitcoin investment, it is a red flag that you don’t need to invest through those platforms.
So, these were some of the typical bitcoin frauds that you need to know. You can check the platform Oil Profit to get additional details. But, make sure to prevent all these frauds if you are planning to gain from bitcoin investment.
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