This article is to help bring awareness to some of the digital currency-related scams you may come across. Digital currency transactions are irreversible, if you send digital currency to someone there is no way to undo the payment. In this way, sending digital currency is similar to handing cash to a stranger in public, then walking away.
With this in mind, it’s important to have an idea of who you are dealing with prior to sending funds to anybody.
Warning: There is no way for us to help you recover lost funds.
Tips
- Never give support staff (or anyone else for that matter) remote access to your machine
- Never give out your login password or two-factor authentication (2FA) codes or secret key, this is not something we would ever ask for, or expect you to provide.
- Never allow a friend to tell you how to answer questions we ask. If somebody is doing this, it is a sign you are about to lose money.
- Do not send money to people you only know online. Online "friendships" are actually anonymous relationships. There is no way to know if the person you are communicating with is actually who they say they are. If you have never met the other individual in-person, (online does not count as in-person) do not send them money.
- Double check that the support channel you are using is legitimate prior to sending funds.
- Search for publicly verifiable reviews or articles involving the recipient.
- Copy/paste links you receive in email rather than clicking on them. Often times an attacker will have a hidden link or redirect even though it shows as ‘https://CoinZoom.com’
- Watch for grammatical errors in email or on websites. Scammers rarely take the time to proofread properly.
- Watch out for emails saying an individual has sent you money, when in fact the links in the message will open a payment window. If you aren’t careful it’s easy to send money from your account.
- CoinZoom will never ask you for your password.
- Be careful when opening any attachments included in an email as they could be malicious.
- You should also be careful of emails from people you know. Their email may have been compromised and could contain malicious content.
- Always keep your computer’s operating system up to date.
- Do regular scans using antivirus software. Scammers will often use malware to directly target individuals.
- Let us know if you notice anything unusual so we can take appropriate action.
Warning Signs
- Emails that appear to be from CoinZoom but are in fact slightly different in spelling. Example: support@CoimZoom.com, support@ColnZoom.com, etc. Notice the slight difference in the names, CoinZoom with a lowercase ‘ L ‘ in place of the ‘ i ’. CoinZoom spelled with an ‘ M ‘.
- Cloned websites that look identical to the CoinZoom website. Look at the website address. Our only official websites have a domain of coinzoom.com (eg: www.coinzoom.com, trade.coinzoom.com). Any other website address is not owned by CoinZoom.
- Services or websites promising unusually high returns or other unrealistic investment opportunities. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.
- Phishing sites can come in many forms, refer to the following article for more on this topic: Reporting Phishing Sites
Other Notes
In some cases, scammers will even have an active support channel for a brief time before they close off contact and disappear with all the funds they can get. As a general precaution, limit your contact with new or relatively unknown people or organizations until further research.
Warning: Some people develop friendships online, but never meet the individual in person. Over time the "friend" may ask for financial or account information. Never share it with them. This happens in Romance Scams (see below) and millions of dollars are lost each year in these schemes.
Related Articles
Tips to Enhance Security for Your CoinZoom Account
How Can I Make My Account More Secure?
Video: Fraud and scam tactics (FBI)
Retiree and Romance Scams (FBI)
Cryptocurrency Investment Scams (FTC)
Internet safety: Guide to keep your information safe online (AllConnect)
People are losing more money to scammers than ever before (Associated Press)