BITCOIN SCAM

A Bitcoin scam is a form of online cryptocurrency fraud that takes advantage of the open-source, decentralized nature of Bitcoin. Blockchain technology powers Bitcoin, and its most distinguishing characteristic is decentralization—i.e., it has no central bank or single administrator. Bitcoin payments can be made nearly anywhere, at any time, with low fees. The network is peer-to-peer, with transactions possible between users directly without an intermediary. Since Bitcoin permits parties to send and receive money without necessarily being connected to a genuine-world identity, it can come across as attractive to scammers as well as cybercriminals. It was designed as an off-ramp currency to purchase goods and services, but its anonymity and lack of oversight have also utilized it as an instrument of fraud.Scammers have preyed upon individuals ever since the discovery of money, and Bitcoin has emerged as a good tool for a number of reasons:

Bitcoin Savings and Trust was a notorious cryptocurrency scam that operated as a classic Ponzi scheme, initially presented as an ICO (Initial Coin Offering). In a Ponzi scheme, the operator provides fake investment reports and pays returns to earlier investors using funds from newer ones, rather than from legitimate profits. The scam promised investors exceptionally high returns—up to 7% per week—and continued to attract more victims over time. Ultimately, more than 265,000 bitcoins were stolen through this fraudulent scheme. The operation collapsed in 2012, and its mastermind, Trendon Shavers, was arrested. He was later sentenced to prison and ordered to pay a $40 million fine. At the time of his sentencing, the value of the stolen bitcoins was estimated at around $97 million.

Silk Road was an infamous black market platform used for buying and selling drugs and various other illegal goods over the internet. After shutting down the site, the government decided to auction off the Bitcoins seized from Silk Road and contacted potential participants to inform them about the auction. However, due to a classic “bcc” (blind carbon copy) email mistake, all recipients could see the full list of people the email was sent to. That list was quickly copied, stolen, and sold. As a result, a wave of scam emails was sent to those individuals, many of whom were already interested in purchasing Bitcoins. These emails impersonated government officials or related agencies, requesting sensitive information that scammers then used to steal Bitcoins from the victims.

This is a most prevalent fraud. Phishing involves trying to make you think that he is a reputable and safe company or site by leading you to an imitative one. More often, phishers can send you an email or use fake web pop-ups. The safe approach is not to click on links in an email or open attachments. Instead, go directly to the official website if you need to conduct business. A common tactic used in phishing emails is to disguise a hyperlink to make it appear legitimate, but if you hover over it, you'll see a different, fake URL. Always check the sender's email address to verify its authenticity. With fake web pop-ups, be cautious about the sites you're redirected to. For instance, a number-one search result could be a Google advertisement but turn out to be a phishing site for a fake Bitcoin wallet. To be on the safe side, don't click on sponsored ad pop-ups within search results and always type the official website address directly into your browser.