The world of cryptocurrencies does not stop growing and more and more people are encouraged to invest in Bitcoin and other digital currencies.
Cryptocurrencies can generate huge profits, but there are also projects that are nothing more than crypto scams
However, its popularity also leads to an increase in trickery and attempts to trick and scam unsuspecting users.
The audacity and ingenuity of swindlers they are very striking, that is why it is important to know their techniques so as not to fall into the trap. In this list you will be able to detect some of the most widespread techniques in 2022 to generate cryptocurrency scams, which have ended up generating millions of dollars in losses for those who have fallen for them.
-Increasing the price of the Celsius token artificially
Celsius was a platform dedicated to cryptocurrency loan. However, its developers were sued by former managers for using user funds to inflate the price of the token. According to analysts, Celsius would be a classic ponzi scheme scam, where investors’ money is used to pay dividends to attract new investors.
These types of scams have a ceiling, since when there are no new interested investors, withdrawals begin to stop and payment problems arise. Celsius’s liquidity was affected by the general downturn in the crypto market and it ended up being a huge scam.
-The Ukraine aid scam using cryptocurrencies
When the war between Ukraine and Russia began, the Ukrainian government decided accept crypto donations. A noble action that they would reward through an Airdrop, the free delivery of tokens or NFTs for those who made donations via Ethereum. However, opportunists began to appear who deposited small amounts of money, to sign up for the possibility of obtaining Airdrop. That is, people who sought to take advantage of the misfortune of a country at war and the suffering of its citizens.
The Ukrainian government, perceiving this situation, withdrew the reward and the fraud allegations appeared. The truth is that in the world of crypto scams this is known as “Rug Pull” (remove the carpet). A company promises rewards for investing in the project and pulls out early. Technically Ukraine did a Rug Pull, but for good reason as there were people trying to take advantage of the delicate political situation.
-Axie Infinity and a $615 million hack
Sky Mavis’s play-to-earn game has been a huge hit for a few months, but has soon started to lose popularity and its tokens have plummeted. Still, it is a video game with millions of dollars invested by players from all over the world.
In March of this year, a group of hackers discovered a weak point in Ronin, the Ethereum-based blockchain that Axie Infinity runs on, and stole around $625 million.
When did the developers discover it? When a group of players wanted to withdraw their funds. Since then, the company has raised $125 million to pay off the debt, but at this rate, it will take several years to repay all the lost money.