Anyone can be scammed.
If you think you are somehow immune to being scammed, then in my opinion you are a prime target for being scammed.
No one is too big, too smart, or too safe-savvy to avoid being cheated, because it’s human to make mistakes and screw up.
That certainly seems to be the case with Bill Lew.
Bill Lou is the CEO and co-founder of Nest Wallet, a cryptocurrency wallet that boldly claims to “revolutionize wallet security.”
Lou learned that anyone can be scammed, and in his case it was a costly learning experience – up to 52 stETH (~$125,000).
in a series of tweetsLou described how he effectively handed over $125,000 worth of cryptocurrency to fraudsters because he mistakenly believed he was claiming an airdrop of new LFG (Less Fees and Gas) tokens.
Airdrops—a marketing and brand awareness tool used to promote cryptocurrency projects—offer cryptocurrencies or NFTs to influencers in the hope that they will encourage other investors. In recent years, scammers have often used social networks, spam, and hacked websites to drive traffic to unwary people, offering what amounts to “free money” and thereby directing traffic to malicious phishing websites. .
In Lou’s case, he was unfortunately directed by Google to a blog post about the LFG token airdrop, which contained a link to a scam version of the website where he hoped to receive rewards.
“This is the first time I’ve been scammed. I always read other people’s reports, but you never think it’s going to happen to you,” Lu said. “It seems like a simple message. It’s always someone else’s problem… I feel like an idiot.”
This blog post published on Medium has now been deleted.
The Nest Wallet CEO said he was not using his app at the time of the incident because he “installed a beta version and was fixing some bugs.”
Bill Lou is not the only person who has been defrauded by scammers taking advantage of the LFG airdrop. LFG’s official Twitter account warned that the company had discovered “multiple scam accounts” created on the platform that redirected cryptocurrency enthusiasts to scam websites.
Cryptocurrency scams appear to be becoming particularly common on Twitter, with scammers even managing to pay for ads to appear in users’ timelines.
Last year, phishing websites reportedly stole approximately $295 million worth of assets from wallets by tricking users into signing fraudulent cryptocurrency transactions.
With so many scams focused on squeezing cryptocurrency from the wallets of the unwary, it’s crucial that no one thinks they’re immune to being scammed. If you can’t verify that you’re on a legitimate website, don’t take any chances.
Additionally, if you plan to dabble in the dark waters of cryptocurrency, it would be wise to store your assets in a cold hardware wallet rather than entrusting your wealth to software that may be more easily drained by hackers.
Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this guest author article are those of the contributor and do not necessarily reflect the views of Tripwire.
