5 Variations Of The Discord Crypto Scam

Crypto Discord Scam: How It Works

The Discord crypto scam seems to be the number one fraudulent scheme in the digital world today. As Discord boasts over 150 million monthly users, the platform is also one of the most favorite spots for criminals to find their victims. In this article, we expose five types of crypto scams using Discord's brand. We'll also show you how to verify if a website is fake or not.

Let's dive in.

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1. Malicious Bot With Discord Crypto Offers

“One of the most notorious scams these days on Discord is related to bots promoting cryptocurrency,” says Stefan Ateljevic, avid gamer and founder of CryptoBlokes. He explains how these work.

“There have been thousands of bots popping up on various channels, particularly those related to gaming and metaverse communities such as MonkeyBall. Scammers are able to exploit vulnerabilities in the system to pose as admins and plant malicious links into the main chat.”

“This has happened frequently this year. Before the community is able to react to block them, several hundred people have already clicked the link.”

“Usually, these attacks are timed with the release of a crypto token or blockchain game that has a lot of hype. People sit on Discord hoping to catch the news before anyone else does and make a huge profit unless it's a scam. Recent scams target community members by creating links that point to an unofficial site that appears legitimate. However, they also include a way to connect your crypto-wallet. So those hoping to buy an NFT the second it was announced end up depositing their crypto into a scam wallet. This can cause you to lose a lot of money, never to be recovered.”

“The way to avoid Discord scams is to simply never open any links right away and always scan them with an antivirus or open them using an anonymous window,” says Ateljevic.

2. Free Discord Cryptocurrency Coins

“Another Discord scam is the promise of free cryptocurrency coins,” explains Therese Schachner, cybersecurity consultant at VPN Brains.

“Attackers send messages to targeted users describing attractive opportunities to redeem free crypto coins. However, when users click the links in these messages, they are asked to provide personal information. That includes images of photo IDs and/or cryptocurrency deposits in order to gain access to the coins.”

“Attackers then receive the cryptocurrency and use the documents and personal information for identity theft and other malicious purposes.” The Discord phishing is rampant when it comes to that.

“Luckily, there are a bunch of actions you can take to prevent yourself from being targeted by these scams. It is a great idea to steer clear from clicking on links you receive in Discord. Unless, of course, you're absolutely certain they are legitimate or from a trusted source. You may want to consider enabling multi-factor authentication for your account, which adds an extra step to the login process. It allows you to verify that you are indeed the owner of your account and makes it much harder for attackers to log in to your account.”, says Schachner.

3. Pump and Dump Approach

One of the more common scans seen on Discord comes in the form of “pump and dump” schemes. Jenna Granger, founder of Drop By My House, explains:

“This Discord crypto scam includes building a sizable online community, buying a cryptocurrency (i.e., buying in large amounts), and then dumping it as the price rises with victims left holding a rapidly depreciating asset. This means one person takes all of the profit while everyone else loses money.”

“It's a quick and easy scam that has been done for years. Unfortunately, it's become even easier to pull off on Discord due to how the community chat works.”

4. Crypto Discord Servers

The cryptocurrency niche is such a novelty that everyone now wants to make money on Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, Shiba, or any other coin. Success stories of early investors made those who are a bit behind the technology times to learn more about it. That's where fake ‘educational' crypto Discord servers come into the picture.

The perpetrators of this fraud lure people in by getting them to learn how to become a guru in this industry. As many hopeful people consume the fake promotional clips of successful investors showing off their cars or private planes, many fall victim without realizing they are in danger.

5. Fake Onboarding

One of our readers, Sheila Williams, sent us a message saying she received a suspicious email. “They told me that was chosen to try a new digital currency. The email purported to be from a new trading company and offered her some free currency for getting onboard. Alternatively, there are other bogus giveaways. If it's free, what is there to lose?

This is probably the easiest Discord crypto scam to fall for. It relies on gifting that makes people believe they have no investments to lose. The scammers make sure to portray the new digital currency in a very positive light. They show fake “As seen on” media logos on their website, claiming major broadcast channels constantly feature their platform.

How To See If A Website Is Trustworthy

If you consider investing in crypto, do it only with legitimate platforms like Binance, Coinbase,  Paxful or PayBis. However, if you feel a crypto website might be suspicious, feel free to verify it using our unique Scam Detector website validator below:

How To Report a Discord Scammer

Let your family and friends know about the Discord Crypto Scam by distributing this article on your social media platform. You can also officially report Discord scammers and any other suspicious activity to the Federal Trade Commission using the following link: Report To The FTC Here

How To Protect Yourself More

If you want to be the first to find out the most notorious scams on a regular basis, feel free to subscribe here to the Scam Detector newsletter. You'll receive periodic emails – no spam whatsoever.

Meanwhile, educate yourself with some other Discord fraud-related articles right under this paragraph, so that you know how to stay safe online. Last but not least, use the comments section below to expose other suspicious Discord channels and scammers.

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