The art of

outsmarting
crypto scammers
www.bitstamp.net
“Me? A scam victim?
No way!”

Shockingly, a whopping $5.9 billion* was lost to crypto scams in 2022...

...and as these figures are often underreported, the real total could be even higher.
This makes it essential to stay informed about the risk of scams and take measures to
safeguard your assets – even if you think it could never happen to you.

*Chainalysis, The 2023 Crypto Crime Report

It can be difficult to spot a scam. Scammers often pretend to be someone else: like a person you know, or an organization you trust.
Our quiz will help you identify if you have been targeted by scammers. Answering the questions below, give yourself 1 point for every
Yes. The higher your score, the greater the chance that your crypto (and even other valuables) could be at risk.

Has a stranger ever asked you to open a crypto trading

account or crypto wallet? Yes No

Has a stranger ever encouraged you to buy crypto using

Yes No
your own account?

Have you ever been asked to send crypto to a stranger? Yes No

Has a crypto exchange or wallet provider ever asked you to share

Yes No
sensitive info, such as your password or private key?

Have you ever been offered a job or an investment opportunity that

Yes No
seems too good to be true?

Have you ever started a relationship with someone you never Yes No
met in person?

Have you ever been told you’ve won a prize and been asked Yes No
for either money or personal info to claim it?
Even though the likelihood of being defrauded by
a crypto scammer is low, you should be careful
in all your crypto activities. We’ve put together
some basic safety tips to help you identify if you
are being targeted.

Tips on how to protect yourself from crypto scammers

• Always be careful if a stranger approaches
you online. Don’t click on any links in their
emails or enter any personal information on
websites you’re not familiar with.
• Be cautious if someone suddenly takes an
interest in your personal or professional
life: they may have ulterior motives. And
remember, things that appear to be free
often aren’t.
• If you open a crypto trading account or a
crypto wallet, never share your login details
or seed phrase with anyone.
• You, and no one else, should be in charge
of your investment decisions. Don’t follow
someone else’s advice without doing your
own research when it comes to investing
your assets in an unfamiliar venture.
• Only transfer money, whether crypto or cash,
to people or organizations that you trust
completely. Check with them directly (not
by email or text) that you have the correct
details before transferring. In crypto, you’re
unlikely to get your money back after a
successfully completed transaction.
The crypto cons:
A lineup of scams to avoid
Romance Scam
Loneliness can lead the most rational person to
do irrational things, such as giving crypto to a
“loved one” whom they’ve never even met.
Romance scams have been around for ages.
Typically, they start with a seemingly harmless
online encounter. This new person seems to be
your perfect match—and before long, you’re
discussing plans for a shared future.
While it’s hard to resist the urge to help a loved one in distress, never send money or cryptocurrency to
someone you don’t know or haven’t met in person.
Over time, you learn to trust your new “partner” Once you make the transfer, your new partner
—despite never having met face-to-face. vanishes without a trace, leaving you with
Then one day, there’s an emergency. Maybe a nothing but a broken heart and an empty wallet.
family member is in trouble, or your partner
has a sudden big expense or even an amazing
investment opportunity. Whatever the reason,
they often ask for a large amount of crypto to
be transferred to them—because they urgently
need your help and bank transfers “take too
long”.
Recruitment Scam
A scammer may pretend to be a recruiter and
approach you with an interesting job offer. As part
of their “onboarding process” they may ask you to
send them some crypto to pay for your training. If
this is a crypto-specific job, they may also ask you
to share your screen to show that you know your
way around a crypto exchange.
Be particularly careful of recruiters who claim to
be from a crypto exchange and ask that you open
an account as part of the recruitment process.
Serious recruiters will never ask you to share your
account information or login credentials and, most
importantly, will never ask for payment as part of
their recruitment process.

If you’ve shared crypto exchange login credentials with anyone you don’t know personally, reset your password immediately,
enable two-factor authentication (2FA) and inform your exchange (if you use Bitstamp, email support@bitstamp.net). Some crypto
exchanges will notify you of suspicious logins. At Bitstamp, this email will include a “Freeze” button, which will instantly (but
temporarily) disable your login, withdrawals, trading and credit card purchases.
Investment Scam Giveaway Scam

An investment scam is similar to a recruitment
scam, but where the scammer plays the role of
an investment manager. They typically claim to
have made successful crypto investments and are
setting up a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that
will make you more money. They may also claim to
be willing to share insider knowledge.
However, you’ll need to pay an upfront fee to start
working with them, either for you to gain access
to their group (Telegram, Discord, or other), or for
a few hours of consulting work. Once you’ve paid
that fee, the scammer disappears, along with your
assets.
A giveaway scam tries to lure you in with a
giveaway or a prize. You may receive an email
or a message on social media informing you
that you’re the lucky winner of either crypto
or NFTs. To receive it, all you have to do is
make a payment from your crypto wallet as
a verification step. It’s not uncommon for
scammers to use trusted brand names to create
an illusion of legitimacy.
But a legitimate giveaway is unlikely to ask you
for any payment. And if you haven’t entered any
giveaways, it’s unlikely to be legitimate.

For both investment and giveaway scams, scammers entice their victims with an offer that’s too good to be true. By capitalizing on our fear
of missing out (FOMO), they make it hard to walk away from the chance to make a lot of money or to get an attractive prize. Remember
that crypto transactions are irreversible - so before making any transfers, be sure you completely trust the other party.
Crypto Fraudsters

Crypto fraudsters normally capitalize on peoples’ FOMO as well as the complexity and allure of crypto.
Here are three examples:

Rug pull Honeypot Fake crypto exchange

Fraudsters build up hype on social media
platforms to promote their tokens and
attract as many retail investors as possible.
Their aim is to pump up the price of the
token, sell all their tokens for a big profit, and
disappear, leaving investors with a worthless
asset.
The fraudsters start by reaching out to crypto
users on social media platforms, looking
for help moving a large amount of crypto
to another wallet or even cashing it out. In
exchange for your help with fees, they offer
you a reward. Once you’ve deposited crypto
to cover their transfer fees, a bot sweeps your
tokens into another wallet, and you lose your
crypto.
Fraudsters create ads or websites for an
exchange selling crypto at a price that’s
lower than the market rate. Once you’ve
created an account, you may be tempted to
invest increasing amounts, often with the
assurance of an extraordinary return on your
investment. When you try to withdraw your
funds, you find you’re unable to do so, or that
the exchange has disappeared entirely.

Staying safe: crypto made clearer

You can familiarize yourself with how crypto works through trusted resources like the Bitstamp Learn Center: you’ll find it at www.bitstamp.net/learn.
It’s full of straightforward articles, videos and how-to guides that will help you get up to speed on all things crypto. And when you invest funds, you
should always use an exchange that’s rated highly for security, transparency and compliance.
Scammers often exploit the digital and The more people that are aware of possible
borderless nature of online transactions to crypto scams, the safer everyone will be, as
evade law enforcement, and many scams we can work together to avoid becoming
make it very difficult or even impossible to targets.
retrieve your funds once you realize you’ve
been defrauded. This is why it is important to spread the
word and encourage others to stay vigilant.
To avoid losing out, only make transactions Please share this handbook with your
with exchanges and people you trust friends and family.
completely. If you suspect you’ve been
the victim of a crypto scam, notify local
law enforcement as soon as possible and
immediately contact your crypto exchange
support team to have your account frozen.
How Bitstamp keeps
customers safe

Over 5 million customers recognize Bitstamp as

a safe, reliable and regulated crypto exchange.
We encourage our customers to make educated
choices when deciding who to trade with, whether
they’re seasoned pros or just getting started. It’s
important to choose a secure, regulated trading
partner to help protect you against criminal activity.
Remember, we will never ask you for remote access
to your device or to share your screen. Never share
your personal information, login credentials or doc-
uments with anyone — even if they claim to be a
Bitstamp employee or a third-party vendor.

Part of what makes us the #1-rated centralized Visit Bitstamp.net to register your account now.
crypto exchange* is that we prioritize protecting
you and your assets. We perform strict KYC (Know
Your Customer) and AML (Anti-Money Laundering)
checks to protect you and keep scammers away
from our exchange. Your crypto is always yours—
we keep it separate from our own assets, so it’s al-
ways available for you to fully withdraw your own
funds. We also encourage all our customers to ac-
tivate two-factor authentication (2FA) to protect
their accounts and funds. If you think you’ve been
the victim of a scam, report it immediately to sup-
port@bitstamp.net or call us on +44 20 3868 9628
(UK), +1 800 712 5702 (US) or +352 20 88 10 96
(other countries).
* As rated by the CCData Exchange Benchmark April 2023, the industry standard for ranking risk in the digital asset exchange sector.
 www.bitstamp.net

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