#空投防骗手册 With the popularity of the crypto market, airdrops have become an important means of promoting many new projects, but they have also spawned many scams. Scammers disguise themselves as "official airdrop activities" to obtain users' wallet information, private keys, and even directly steal funds. In order to prevent everyone from falling into the trap, today I will share some common fraud warning signs, anti-fraud strategies, and safe operating habits when participating in airdrops. I hope everyone can protect the safety of their assets! 🔒
1. Common warning signs of fraud
These signs may not be obvious, but if you notice any of them, be on the lookout!
• Requesting fees or charges: If an airdrop asks you to pay any fees or charges first (such as transferring a small amount of ETH, USDT, etc.), it is almost certainly a scam. A real airdrop will not ask you to pay any fees first.
• Eager to ask you to provide your private key or mnemonic phrase: Any project that asks you to provide your wallet private key or mnemonic phrase is 100% a scam! This information is the "lifeline" of your wallet. Once leaked, your funds may be stolen.
• No official website or social media: If the airdrop project does not have a clear official website or social media links, or the official website is poorly designed and not updated, then be careful. Real projects will have a strong social media presence.
• Promises of high returns: If an airdrop project promises you a reward far exceeding the market (e.g. “1000% return”), be sure to doubt its authenticity. A real airdrop will not make such unrealistic promises.
• Unreasonable participation threshold: Some scams require you to complete extremely complex or unreasonable tasks (such as forwarding 100 messages, inviting a large number of friends, etc.). Such airdrops are usually not worth participating in.
• Fuzzy project background and team: If the white paper of the project is not clear, and the team members have no public information or are completely anonymous, this is also a warning sign. The team of a formal project usually provides detailed background and public information.
2. Anti-fraud strategies: How to avoid being deceived
These strategies can help you better identify and prevent airdrop scams:
• Verify official information: Before participating in an airdrop, be sure to verify the information through the project’s official channels (such as the official website, Twitter, Telegram). If you learned about the airdrop through other platforms or unknown links, it is best to think twice before acting.
• Check the smart contract address: Do not click on unfamiliar links easily, make sure you are visiting the official address. Confirm the contract address of the token. You can query it through Token Tracker (such as Etherscan) to ensure that the airdrop token is indeed from a trusted smart contract.
• Keep your private key and mnemonic phrase private: Never reveal your private key or mnemonic phrase to anyone. A legitimate airdrop will never ask you to provide this information. If someone asks you to provide this, leave without hesitation.
• Only participate in reputable airdrops: Prioritize projects that have a certain community base or partner endorsement. Check the project’s GitHub and Telegram groups to see if there are active developers and discussions, and also see if the project has been reported by well-known media.
• Don’t transfer money blindly: Under no circumstances should you transfer or provide funds to an unfamiliar address through an airdrop link. A formal airdrop will never ask you to pay first.
3. Safe operating habits when participating in airdrops
In addition to anti-fraud strategies, developing some safe operating habits can also effectively avoid airdrop scams:
• Use a dedicated wallet: To ensure security, you can use a dedicated wallet for airdrop activities to avoid exposing your main wallet. Hardware wallets are the safest choice, and try to avoid saving private keys on your phone or computer.
• Enable two-factor authentication: Turn on two-factor authentication (such as Google Authenticator or hardware signature) for your wallet to add an extra layer of protection.
• Check your wallet regularly: Check your wallet’s transaction records regularly to ensure that there are no abnormal operations. For any transaction that you did not initiate, stop it immediately and check for possible loopholes.
• Pay attention to the end time of the airdrop event: Many airdrop events have clear deadlines to avoid missing them. At the same time, pay attention to where the official airdrop will eventually be distributed to, and make sure your address is correct.
4. A recent airdrop scam case
Recently, there was a typical scam: a "virtual reality" project launched an airdrop event on Twitter, claiming that as long as you retweet and fill out a form, you can get a large number of token rewards. After the participants submitted their wallet addresses through the form, they found that the ETH in their wallets had been transferred away. After tracking, it was found that the airdrop website was actually a phishing website that stole the user's address information and private key through a fake form.
Through this case, we can see that you need to be particularly vigilant about any airdrop activity that requires you to fill in sensitive information, especially when you don’t see any background or partners of the project, you should be more vigilant!
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Summarize:
Although airdrops are a benefit in the crypto world, they are also accompanied by many risks. The key to preventing fraud is to stay calm and participate prudently, especially when there are "abnormal" signals in airdrop activities, you must be extra careful. By developing safe operating habits and judgment criteria, we can avoid falling into scams while enjoying the benefits of airdrops. I hope that everyone can get real rewards smoothly when participating in airdrops, instead of becoming a victim of "airdrop scams"! 🛡️💼
If you have better anti-fraud experience or want to share airdrop information, please leave a message to communicate! 👀#空投防骗手册 $BNB