Social engineering and cryptocurrency

Like any form of fraud, social engineering can be used to elicit money from people. But what is it?

Social engineering is where someone tricks you into doing something you wouldn’t have done had you known the truth. Scammers are increasingly trying to trick people into investing money in dodgy cryptocurrency scams. An example published in the Guardian saw the victim transfer over £20,000 of crypto to the scammer after meeting them on a dating app.

So you need to be on guard!

How do scammers use social engineering to steal crypto?

Examples of scams we typically see:

The fraudster presents a great cryptocurrency investment opportunity to you. They convince you that in order to invest, you need to send money to an investment crypto ‘wallet’ they’ve set up for you in your own name. The fraudster has access to this wallet, and once you’ve sent the money they transfer it to their own wallet and your ‘investment’ disappears.

Everything above, but you maintain total control over your own cryptocurrency wallet and the fraudster convinces you to send it to their own wallet to be invested. And again, your ‘investment’ disappears.

The fraudster again presents a great cryptocurrency investment opportunity to you, but this time it involves an online platform that you’ve never heard of. The platform is a convincing fake, and while it appears your cryptocurrency is performing very well, the whole thing is a scam. When you attempt to withdraw your winnings, you’re asked for a payment in order to release your money. This is just another way to elicit yet more money from you.

How can I protect myself from social engineering cryptocurrency scams?

You should protect yourself by:

1. Never giving anyone access to your cryptocurrency wallet.

2. Thoroughly researching companies before sending them any money or cryptocurrency, particularly online trading websites!

3. Ignoring any out-of-the-blue requests to help you invest in cryptocurrency. What are they getting out of it?

I’ve lost money to a cryptocurrency scam. Can Refundee help?

You can try to reclaim the money you’ve lost by complaining directly to the banks involved yourself. We’ve created a guide for you here.

Alternatively, if you’d like Refundee to manage your claim for you as an FCA-regulated claims management company, you can fill in our Claim Form for a no-commitment free consultation. If you decide you’d like to go it alone, we’re happy to give you tips!