3 risk factors to remember when working with cryptocurrencies
Online services – especially those that aggregate digital money assets – attract many scammers. What should one keep in mind to avoid them?
Source: Pixabay" alt="
Source: Pixabay
" />Fishing
The most widespread type of scams is when scammers substitute a real website with its identical copy. It’s called “fishing” and allows intruders to get access to an individual’s account after he or she inserts personal information to the fake website mistaking it for a real one.
To make sure you don’t fall victim to such technique, be attentive to a domain’s name: Often some characters are substituted with a similar number (for instance, ‘I’ instead of ‘1’, ‘h’ instead of ‘n’). Also the domain should have an SSL-certificate: the website address should start with https, not http.
To avoid landing on a wrong website, save the correct one in the bookmarks and always use it for entering it.
Pay attention to emails from the service and links provided in the text of the email. By the way, more advanced services do not sent any emails at all to minimize the chances for scammers.
Viruses
Sending out viruses is another popular fraud technique allowing the attackers to get access to a laptop with all the information on it. All passwords also get into the hands of scammers.
To protect a computer from such an attack, don’t open links in emails from unknown senders, don’t upload files from strange websites and use an antivirus.
Ideally, get a separate laptop for working with cryptocurrencies. Create and save all reserve copies (back-ups) in a safe place.
Platform’s security
Pay attention to the security of the platform where your crypto wallet is located. The structure of the website should ensure that it will be impossible to get access to the wallet for a random online user. All systems should have an extra capacity and be able to constantly create back-ups.
Assess the resource itself: It should work without interruptions and errors.
Study the feedback. If you see many similar reviews pointing to the same problem, be careful – this might mean that there is a real problem.
Get more information on how the service ensures the security of its clients. If it doesn’t have at least a two-factor authentication system, better to abstain from using it.
Test the way the support team works. If you have any problems in the future, you’ll need to have a reliable communication with the support team.
Be attentive and careful and then your work with cryptocurrencies will be long and profitable.
