Avoid All Bitcoin Scams

The world of cryptocurrency makes our lives easy and the future of finance bright. It’s easy to own Bitcoin because it’s easy to create a wallet and send Bitcoin anywhere around the world. Bitcoin ATMs are also the most convenient way to buy Bitcoin, as well as sell Bitcoin. Unfortunately, some scammers take advantage of this great technology and scam you by using Bitcoin as a payment method. Scam artists are very crafty, bossy, and will try to pressure you into sending them Bitcoin. However, you can always outsmart them by following a simple rule. The number one, and in our opinion, the only rule to avoid all types of Bitcoin scams is to:

Never send Bitcoin to ANYONE you met online or contacted you by phone, text message, or email.

They will pretend to be your lover or best friend and ask for “help”. They will pretend to be a government agency, like the IRS and the Social Security Administration, your utility company, an employer, a hiring agent, an investor, a real estate agent, an Airbnb agent, an event/concert ticket broker, your local police department, an Initial Coin or Exchange Offering, a public defender, a pyramid scheme offer, an eBay seller, a Craigslist sellers, a car sales person, and the list of scams goes on. Recently, some scammers promise to send COVID-19 government checks after they receive a payment from you. Some may even send you fake or fraudulent checks, ask you deposit them, withdraw cash, and send Bitcoin. A few days later, the check bounces and the victim loses their money.

If you are a victim of a blackmailing scam, please visit this website on ways to avoid Bitcoin blackmailing scams.

Here’s a list of more things to consider:

  • No US Government agency or utility company will ever ask you for Bitcoin. So don’t let them intimidate you.

  • No US Government agency will offer you a grant or a loan and request Bitcoin from you.

  • It’s important to also keep in mind that most major online retailers do not accept Bitcoin as a payment, and the ones that do, accept Bitcoin through their secure websites, and not over the phone or email.

  • Scammers can fake any telephone number or email address they want.

  • Don’t rely on a caller ID or email address to determine the legitimacy of the story. So just because your caller ID shows the name of a company or local police department, or the email ends with .gov, does not mean it’s legitimate.

  • Never scan a Bitcoin wallet QR code that you don’t personally own at a Bitcoin ATM.

  • Contact us if you are one of our customers and think that you might be a victim of a Bitcoin scam.

Some of the most common scams, are relationship scams. The victim will believe that they are in a relationship with someone they never met or rarely met. Usually, that person is in another country and will ask the victim to help them with an urgent payment. They will ask the victim for Bitcoin to purchase an airplane ticket to come see them or to go back home, to purchase equipment for a business, to pay medical bills, and the list of crafty excuses goes on. These types of scams can go unnoticed for a while and cause the victim a lot of financial damage.

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