Detecting and Avoiding Crypto Scams

On a personal note, it is sad to see so many scammers in the cryptocurrency space.   Recently an app calling itself the “Quantify App” promised guaranteed financial gains.   There were multiple YouTube videos touting “this smart way to invest in cryptocurrency”.   Users started out with large gains with their balances, which led to a word-of-mouth expansion.  Suddenly all this fizzled when users started getting errors when trying to withdraw their funds.   Due to the similar name and since the “Quantify” App had no customer service, many came to our Telegram group demanding their funds.   Repeatedly, I had to explain that we had no association with this “Quantify App”.  

Below is a quick set of rules to apply if you think something maybe is a scam.  If the majority of the following checklist is true, then the site or app you are review is probably a scam.   For example, the “Quantify” App would hit 9 of these 12 checkmarks.

• A promise that is too good to be true with a “Guarantee”.
• Using a similar name as a valid company or a common name. This reduces the ability to research the scam as searches will not show the scam site.
• No team page, or leadership associated with the project. Normally a team is proud of their product, scammers seek amenity so they can perform multiple scams and avoid prosecution.
• The quality of the YouTube videos are far superior than the corresponding website. Scammers are using the majority of their funds to promote.  
• The product has been around less than 6 months. Goal of the scammer is to make the customer believe they have been around for a long time.  
• The website only allows cryptocurrency payments.
• Suspiciously strong referral program that promises huge returns, think Ponzi scheme.
• “Not your keys, not your Bitcoin” term fully applies. There are limits on your ability to withdraw funds.
• This company is not legally registered in a country with a legal financial framework approved by the international community.
• You have received a phishing email asking for passwords, cryptocurrency keys, or other personal information about yourself.
• Responding to social media posts with “That user is just a hater” instead of addressing the issue raised. Scammer know is best to shame somebody that raises a question (just use the “hater card”), since answering the question posted will expose them.
• No customer service associated with the site.

Remember the goal of a scammer is to collect a maximum amount of money and cutout without facing legal consequences.

If you still are not sure, try a scam detection website.   The following site https://www.scamadviser.com/ is recommended.    You can load in any website URL and they will perform an analysis of that site and give it a score rating from 1 (likely scam) to 100 (appears legit and safe).

Remember there are no investments that can guarantee you a high income and returns without risk.   If this were true, the scammers would be doing this themselves without the need to take money from others.  

People work hard to achieve financial comforts and independence; they do not always have time to perform proper research.   Often these scammers will feed into a person’s dreams and turn it into a nightmare plagued by financial loss and shame.   Nobody wants to admit that they fell prey to a scam, it decreases their self-worth and makes it less likely they will invest in a legitimate method to add capital returns.

Quantify Crypto provides real time technical signals and analysis to support your trading decisions. We have the fastest live price feed of all cryptocurrency informational platform. Our proprietary trend algorithm calculates the predicted direction of future price moves. It is specifically tailored for the cryptocurrency market. Our state-of-the-art displays are designed to provide maximum amount of significant data on a single screen.

None of this is meant to be financial advice and I do not have any financial expertise. Although I worked at the New York Stock Exchange for over 23 years, it was as a developer supporting computer systems, not as a stock trader.

Full discloser: I do own Bitcoin and other Altcoins.

Quantify Crypto Signals Link   https://quantifycrypto.com/signals