HOW TO STOP & AVOID CRYPTO SCAMS

Investors have lost over $1.2 billion in crypto scams since 2021 to date

Mind you, this is crypto-only, leave alone Phishing scams, social engineering scams, romance scams & Imposter scams which has seen a whooping $34B of hard earned money drained from Americans alone.

It really doesn’t matter how well informed you are or how intelligent you are, at some point you will fall prey to scams either online or offline especially with this budding web 3.0 industry.

So, how are these scams successful & why?

First, Let's crunch some numbers down..

• 46k+ people have fallen victims to crypto scams since the start of 2021

• $680 million lost to scammers was reported in 2021

• $329 Million lost to scammers in Q1 2022 alone

• The average individual loss is $2,600

• The average losses increase with age, topping out at $11,708 for people in their 70s

Now, to put things to perspective, these numbers are bigger than the GDP of countries like Dominica & Palau combined

Remember, this are pure crypto transactions for anonymity of scammers.The top cryptocurrencies people said they used to pay scammers were:

• Bitcoin (70%)

• Tether (10%)

• Ether (9%)

How did the victims fall prey? Mostly, it started with:-

• An online advert

• Social media post

• DM on Social Media including TG & Discord

The top platforms reported by investors were:

• Instagram (32%)

• Facebook (26%)

• WhatsApp (9%)

• Telegram (7%)

Check out more stats here 

Mind you, TIKTOK data is not yet available  which I believe has played a key role in propagating scams with over 1B monthly active users

Now, how do you recognize a scam & what dominant characteristics do they have?

• Anonymous founders & team members - 

• Guaranteed returns on Investment - E.g 5% daily ROI

• Friends & family recruitment - Pyramid scheme to earn more

• Fake & unsecure websites & apps

Scam models are usually the same, they only come wrapped in different fabrics.

Finally, now that we got stats & figures let me highlight some do's & don'ts when it comes to crypto projects

DO'S

• Always do extensive research on the project - Start with online reviews

(No reviews or only good reviews is a huge red flag)

• Make your social DM settings to private - Avoid strangers into your DM

DON'S

• Never accept DM'S offers (Ignore)

• Avoid clicking links from strangers (i.e customer support)

• Make sure founding team is publicly doxed (Open profile of linked IN/ twitter)

• Never ignore your instincts/gut

• Avoid FREE MONEY

Crypto scams will never seize & the right thing to do is expose yourself to knowledge & the models used. 

Don’t feel dumb being a victim, learn & move forward. It happens to everyone at some point in life.

If you love crypto & enjoy my writing style, check out my other crypto related articles https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/5-main-ways-make-money-crypto-kimani-capital/ 

Credits - https://news.bitcoin.com/us-regulator-investors-reported-losing-over-1-billion-in-crypto-to-scams-since-2021/ 

Kimani Alex - CryptoTrader & Research Analyst