Protect Your Personal and Financial Data
- Never share your personal or financial data with unknown individuals who contact you by phone, email, or social media.
- Remember: Once cryptocurrency is sent to a scammer's wallet, it is irreversible and cannot be recovered.
Tips to Avoid Being Scammed
- Do not provide remote access to your computer to anyone.
- Be cautious of individuals promising big returns for a small commission fee.
- Never trust anyone who claims there is bitcoin on your account and insists you pay a commission to "unlock" it.
- Do not respond to unsolicited messages or phone calls asking for personal or financial details; simply delete the message or hang up.
- Verify the legitimacy of any contact by checking independently via trusted sources like phone directories, previous bills, or reputable online searches.
- Avoid clicking on hyperlinks in emails or social media messages, even if they appear to be from a trusted source.
- Always inspect URLs carefully to ensure there are no extraneous words or misspellings.
- Keep your network and devices secure: Update your software regularly and use a strong firewall.
Research Before Engaging
- Check reviews: Before working with a company, search online using phrases like “company name + reviews” or “company name + scam” to see if others have reported issues.
- Verify the website’s age: Use online tools to check when the website was created.
- Confirm licensing: Look up the company’s license number online to ensure they are legitimate.
- Educate yourself: If you are not familiar with cryptocurrency, take the time to learn how it works. An informed user is less likely to fall victim to scams.
- Always consider the possibility that an online approach may be fraudulent.
How Scammers Typically Contact You
- By phone or in person: They may call you or even come to your door.
- Via social media: Using platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Skype, and Telegram.
- Through convincing-looking websites: Fraudsters create sites that mimic legitimate companies.
- Impersonation: They may pretend to be government officials, police, Microsoft representatives, or bank employees through calls, texts, or emails.
- Gathering data: They collect personal information from your social media profiles to make their approach more convincing.
- On dating sites: Scammers target vulnerable users with romantic proposals to eventually ask for money.
Guard Your Bank Details
- Never disclose your password, PIN, OTP, or any online banking security codes to anyone.
- Note: Banks will never ask for these details by email, phone, social media, or in person.
- Ignore any OTP (One-Time Password) that you did not request or when no transaction has been initiated.