One of the big hurdles in cryptosphere is that of scammers. Many people think that they are well versed in cryptos and will not fall for scams – but guess what, anyone of us can fall pray to scams if we are not vigilant all the time.

It’s always better to be careful than be sorry, so please read the article till the end and always keep these things in mind while using OsmWallet and/or any crypto wallet for that matter:

1. Twitter / Telegram / Discord imposters: Criminals usually impersonate wallet provider or its team member(with same profile picture, similar handle, same bio etc) and trick you into submitting your secret key. They usually offer to help/support you. Alert signal: if someone DMs you first and claims to be from the team and talks about secret key.

Wallet providers usually do not DM you first. If someone is asking you to submit your “secret key” so that they can help you – It’s a scam. Do not fall for it.

2. Fake wallet: Malicious actors download the opensource software, modify it to send the newly generated account keys to a remote server they operate, compile the modified source code and upload it to the chrome web store. Next step is to trick the users into installing this altered software, and then easily steal users funds – as they have users secret keys logged into their servers.

3. Phishing sites:

i. A scammer can mimic the original sites design and also have a domain name which resembles the wallet providers site, and then have links to download fake wallet(#2).
ii. Professionally built site which claims to send you back double the XRP you send them. In many cases they also show transaction details of participants, which is fake too.
iii. There are sites which promise free airdrop and ask you to claim it by entering your secret key in a form. These are scam sites. These scammers are encashing the greed factor here. Users get behind free stuffs, scammers get behind users funds. Don’t fall for it. There is no need to share secret key to get any kind of airdrop.

4. YouTube Live: We have seen a lot of YouTube livestream videos from verified accounts that stream fake videos and claim to return double the XRP you send them. These YouTube channels are usually hacked YouTube accounts. Basically they hijack some popular accounts, change their name and upload videos with fake news(ex: Ripple wins the case against SEC). They claim to be celebrating the victory and want to contribute back to the community. These are all fake videos. Never send your XRP. Nobody is going to 2x and send it back to you.

5. Compromised Account Keys: If you generate secret key from a site or tool run by a scammer, he/she might have saved those secret key too. The scammer will be waiting for you to import it into OsmWallet or any other wallet and once you transfer funds, they might just withdraw the funds.

Do not generate account keys using an unknown 3rd party site or tool. Always make sure to generate it from legit/known sources. Either use your own tools/libraries or generate it on Xumm or on OsmWallet directly.

Online Advertisement As A Tool To Scam

Scammers try to improve their game by using different tools for their advantage. For example, online advertisement. Some scammers use advertising platforms to drive traffic to their website, so that they can make you install fake wallets or keyloggers or make you submit your secret key.

So ads, search engine results and social media posts are not a reliable way to identify real versus phishing sites. Take this opportunity right now to bookmark osmwallet.io as your exclusive source for all things related to OsmWallet. Similarly, bookmark all the sites which are crucial in protecting your funds and critical informations.

5 Ways To Protect Yourself

As scammers get smarter by finding creative ways to fake their identity, harder it is to identify that they are trying to scam you. But following couple of simple things would help you safeguard yourself from most of the attacks:

1. NEVER EVER share your secret keys and wallet password with ANYONE for ANY REASON.
2. Always lock your computer screen when not in use.
3. Always logout of the wallet application after use.
4. Do not share your personal computer with outsiders. It takes just few minutes to hijack your computer.
5. Do not open email attachments from people you don’t trust. Do not click on links which are sent by people you don’t trust. Do not install software from torrent sites or from sites which you’ve no idea about. Porn sites could even install malware into your computer which intern can steal your private data from your computer.

Common ways people fall for scams

Google Forms claiming to be from wallets support department, an impersonating Twitter account, impersonating Telegram account, impersonating discord account, fake Facebook group or channel etc. But if YOU don’t share your “secret key” with anyone, these tactics of criminals will fail.

Scam Bots

Scammers build or buy bots to do their job. Ex: replying with phishing sites link to Tweets with keyword OsmWallet in it.

There are similar bots on Telegram, discord too. These scam bots are all over the place. Reporting it becomes almost impossible sometimes. So it’s always better to educate people about them. And also help each other by sharing articles and educational materials.

It’s wiser to be cautious and careful than to be hasty or rash and so do something you may later regret.

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