Decentralized markets are a new and fantastic way of getting “off the grid” compared to traditional markets. The idea was to create a space where you don’t need to rely on the actions of politicians and global markets. Here, you were supposed to create a system that is utterly indifferent to the particular interests of certain countries or institutions.

How did it work? Well, it’s a bit of here and there. There are ways that the decentralized markets could distinguish themselves from the standard ones, but the impacts of things like the global pandemic or war were something that just had to impact those markets as well.

The other aspect of decentralization is, unfortunately, lack of oversight. The idea of creating competing markets was deregulation, not more control. But, as usual, some people are taking advantage of a good idea – hence the concept of cryptocurrency scams. In this article, we will go over how to identify crypto scammers, avoid a crypto scam, and stay safe in this space.

So, if you are afraid of becoming a victim of cryptocurrency fraud, you feel like those money scams are everywhere, and you’re afraid that they will take control of your bank account, we will tell you all about fraud prevention and safety. Let’s avoid the cryptocurrency scam and stay safe with those tips!

So, how do you avoid common cryptocurrency scams? Well, there are some rules to follow and things you need to know. There are plenty of dangerous methods like investment scheme, rug pull scams, there’s a giveaway scam, or even the Initial Coin Offering as a form of fraud. You can always go to the Internet Crime Complaint Center, but it’s always better to prevent yourself from unwise cryptocurrency transactions rather than be sorry and ask for help. Here are the best ways you can utilize to avoid cryptocurrency scams.

Research

The first, and probably the best, way to avoid crypto fraudsters is to check yourself before you break yourself. Education is vital when it comes to making sure that you are safe online. Scammers promise you multiple things, but it’s pretty easy to spot cryptocurrency scams compared to the real market opportunities. But there are a couple of things you need to do:

• Learn about crypto – the basic answers are often the most useful. You will not send cryptocurrency to some investment schemes if you know what you are doing and with whom you are doing it. Learning about the crypto space will help you in many ways, not only about the common scams in this space but also about all the potential opportunities you may be getting yourself into. Check out the r/cryptocurrency subreddit or  Axion Discord group  to stay in the loop. And, if you know nothing about crypto, try reading  Cryptocurrency for Dummies . 

• Analyze the situation –  blockchain technology is one of the most secure places to keep your money safe, but it’s not safe if you just send it to someone else without thinking. So, ensure you can safely analyze your investment before running to the law enforcement agency that won’t help you out a lot. Ask on the mentioned forums to recognize if it’s an opportunity or just a simple trick to steal money.

• Red flags – beware of the potential red flags you can see in your investment. All the schemes that guarantee high returns and significant profits with little to no investments – are probably crypto users trying to scam you. If the team is anonymous – there is no responsibility – it is probably a scam. If there is this feeling of pressure to make all the cryptocurrency payments as fast as possible – it's probably a scam. Usually, scammers will try to hide things or get angry if you ask about certain aspects of their business. So, keep your money in your crypto wallet if that occurs!

• Ask around! – plenty of fake websites and scammers are trying to make you invest in some shady crypto coins no one heard about. So – ask the community online whether or not those are the partners you should be sending cryptocurrency to. New Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) are always coming up in the crypto industry, and people will always try to take advantage of them. 

Secure Products

Another way to stay safe in the crypto space is to only use the secure products you know are from reputable sources. Those would mean only choosing wallets from the leading manufacturers, using reputable exchanges, and being safe regarding your private keys and seed phrases. Here’s what you need to know.

Digital Wallets

There are usually two types of crypto wallets. Hardware or software ones. The first comes in the form of a USB drive that you download your information onto, and the second is accessible online. They are also called hot and cold ones. The hot ones are connected to the internet, while the cold ones are offline, making them more secure. It’s necessary to use both of them and transfer some of your coins to offline storage occasionally, as it is essential when trading crypto.

• Digital Wallets – here, you should consider using one of the leading brands. We highly recommend checking  MetaMask  or  Coinbase , as those are two reputable sources that will keep your coins safe and sound.

• Hardware Wallets – Regarding hardware wallets, we recommend using  Ledger  or  Trezor . Those are two of the most popular hardware wallets on the market and will surely make buying cryptocurrency easier and safer.

Crypto Exchanges

On the other hand, we have the crypto exchanges. Those are the places where you usually buy cryptocurrency. Some have been accused of rather nasty things, like money laundering, so you need to find the one you feel is up to your standards.

The most important thing to check is the reputation of such an exchange. If something has been working for a long time, it’s probably safe to assume that it’s not a scam, not for everyday users. You can get your crypto assets there with no problems. The one thing to look for is the two-factor authentication method. With that, you will be a little more safer.

The exchanges we can recommend are eToro , Binance (although they have some shady past, it seems that they are on their way to redemption), and Coinbase ,

Phishing

Next, we have the phishing problem. And let us tell you – there is no more significant issue in scamming than this. The blockchain function keeps many scammers away from this part of the equation, so the only way they can access our money is by phishing out our data. In 2022 alone, over half billion dollars  were extorted using phishing schemes. And there are plenty of ways they do it – online dating apps, giveaway scams, and many others. Here’s what you need to know about the phishing scams.

• Verify the URL – one of the most common ways of scamming people out of their money is to create a URL similar to the one they are trying to connect with and transfer all the information to their database. So, to safely transfer your crypto, make sure that the URL address you were provided with is the same as the original one. Sometimes, it can be only one letter that’s changed, but it can lead you to a different place. 

• Two-Factor Authentication – another way of enabling crypto exchange or any other crypto-related website is always using the Two-Factor Authentication. With that, anyone who will try to use your data will need to have access to your phone as well or e-mail, and that’s pretty hard to get by if you’re careful. 

• Don’t share your information online – the biggest scam in the crypto world is the extortion of the data; people online will do everything they can to make you give them your information; they will give you some great opportunities, create a sense of security, maybe even flirt with you. Don’t ever share your data online with strangers, as it’s a road to getting scammed and losing money.

• Use protection – by which we mean – use security software with anti-phishing elements like  Cisco ; you can prevent a lot of attacks by simply not allowing people to gain access to your products with a security measure in place;

• Monitor your accounts – check your account regularly to see if any suspicious activity is happening. You can’t be too secure here, as you will often reap significant benefits from it. Sometimes, they can even take one cent from you at a time, for some weird reason – report it and present it to the authorities of the wallet or exchange.

“Golden Opportunities”

Another great way to avoid scams is to beware of Golden Opportunities. There are plenty of types of cryptocurrency that you can buy and scale. But there is one type that you should be extra careful about. Those are the ICOs – Initial Coin Offerings.

Initial coin offerings may seem pretty harmless at first glance. You may feel like it’s a good deal that you are looking at; people are gathering the money for their new and exciting project. Well, nothing new under the sun. There are plenty of snake oil salesmen worldwide who are telling you great things about products with no particular qualities.

The scheme is pretty simple. They gather investors, promise free coins or other digital assets, raise money, and disappear. Investors lose their money; the creators will never be seen again, only to return under a different alias with a specially created website just for this scam. How to avoid it? There are a couple of ways.

• Verify, Verify, Verify – as with all things here, we are recommending verifying everything that is happening to you. Plenty of fake cryptocurrencies are roaming around, so visit the social media we mentioned to ensure those are legitimate people with legitimate mandates.

• Legalities – ensure that the company you are trying to invest in follows all the legal requirements for creating a particular cryptocurrency. It may be something out of the traditional requirements or the rules and regulations of a specific blockchain. Whatever it is, ensuring that the correct route is created is critical to developing your very own cryptocurrency. Additionally, search for the whitepaper of this company, see a roadmap, and understand where it’s heading.

• Tokenomics – find out if there is some actual utility to the new token being offered to the public. Maybe the whole thing is not a scam, but it’s just a useless thing that has no bearing on the grand scheme. But, if there is no utility for the said token, it can also point to a lack of preparation and can be a red flag that can indicate it is a scam.

Secure Communication Methods

And finally, we have the secure communication methods. To avoid scams, you must communicate safely and without any weird intermediaries that may intercept your messages. You need to use encrypted channels of communication that are official and safe. 

In most cases, people in the community will use similar communication methods, so keeping everything in one place will be natural. If someone asks you to go to a completely different place to “tell you some secrets about the investment,” there can be problems with it, and your data may be compromised. Here’s how you can stay safe in this space:

• Encrypted Channels – There are some answers for you to choose from, and you should undoubtedly use them. Most people in the crypto space communicate with Signal or Telegram as the gold standard for encrypted communications. Those are safe, there is security all over the place, and if you are not going to leak your information on purpose, you should be good to go.

• Two-Factor Authentication – once again, we come back to the two-factor authentication issue. In all accounts used for crypto-related transactions, make sure that you confirm it on other devices every time you have to do something. They may hack your email but will probably not hack your email, phone, or Discord account in the same breath.

• NO PUBLIC WI-FI – we cannot stress this enough. No public Wi-Fi. Never. Ever. It’s the easiest way of getting yourself scammed of all your money. There were countless situations where free Wi-Fi just popped out of nowhere, and suddenly, the owner got more prosperous because they gained access to all of your information. This is one of the more common crypto scams, so stay safe and sound!

• Don’t Overshare – don’t get us wrong, sharing is caring, so we would be obliged if you’d put this article on your social media and give us a shout-out. But, sharing information about your wallet addresses on some fake apps to limit the transaction fees for your crypto transactions – well, then, you get yourself a scam. Be calm and collected about what you’re trying to accomplish, and give only the minimum required information to complete the transaction. 

So, now that we are all safe and sound, let’s talk about ways to safely acquire some coins! There are plenty of ways to accomplish that task, but there is no better, more secure, and more anonymous than Crypto Vouchers at RoyalCDKeys. With those, you can quickly get your coins with no issues, no flagging your account with crypto-related activity, only the quality product itself.

How does it work? Well, it simply adds the number of coins you want to buy as a gift card that you can redeem in your digital wallet. You can keep it or transfer those coins any time you like.

But why would I do that? – you may ask. Well, in this day and age, it seems to be that everything is getting more and more advanced; we are having less and less privacy. So, if you want to keep your investments anonymous for various reasons, getting a Crypto Voucher is the best way to do so. The operation on RoyalCDKeys will only be flagged as a gift card purchase, and in no way, shape, or form will it be connected to the crypto world. Let’s see how you can get your digital currency with no problems.

Getting a Crypto Gift Card Step-by-Step

• Create or log in to your RoyalCDKeys account; 

• Buy a Crypto Voucher for the coin of your choosing;

• Next, go to Cryptovoucher.io;

• Click “Redeem”;

• Enter the code you have just purchased;

• The number of coins you are gifted will be transferred to your cryptocurrency wallet or the gift recipient.

You must only remember to redeem this gift card within 180 days, as it will not be in use anymore after that. Just make sure that market timing is right.