Before I go into the next lesson I've learned, let me share a bit.
This morning I woke up around 3:30 am. My mind was PLAGUED with anxiety. I kept hearing this incessant Voice saying that I needed to change passwords, needed to transfer some Hive out of my account, needed to update my printed file, etc. All security crypto stuff. For twenty minutes, I kept trying to shut the voices up and go BACK to sleep. I kept thinking "I'll do it as soon as I wake up!"
And I hadn't.
I didn't care. I wanted to sleep, and I certainly wasn't going to wake up and do it NOW.
or so I thought.
I finally opened my eyes, grabbed my phone, and started going through the many DMs in discord awaiting me. I opened a DM from my friend Sofs Su first.
She had been hacked. She sat there in disbelief, seeing that money go from her wallet to another. All of it. All of her hard-earned crypto that she was planning to powerup. Gone.
She had only been on the platform for about a month. She is one of the people that I met through the Uptrennd platform, and invited her to join me on new platforms after that platform died. She is an incredible writer, great engager, beautiful photographer, and a gentle soul. She makes every platform brighter with her presence.
We tracked where the money went to. (Always follow the money) and this particular user had been doing this to people since 2018. He/she works with (or has an alt account) where they drop comments telling people to come vote for their witness. Newbies get a LOT of spam comments, and they don't realize what phishing sites/messages look like. Sofs learned the hard way when she entered her active key into a popup. Within a short amount of time - the transaction occurred, leaving her with nothing.
As you know from my previous posts, this doesn't just happen with newbies. This happens with oldbies (like me) that should know better, but just get complacent. One mistake and it's all gone.
So part 1 of this lesson is check sites carefully.
Make SURE that you are on the right site with the EXACT spelling of a word. When you are using your higher powered keys (like active key) make CERTAIN that you are initiating that transaction from a site that you trust and know well.
Never ever use your master key to post! - DO NOT LOG IN WITH OR SAVE YOUR MASTER KEY/ PASSWORD/ OWNER KEY. Keep it offline and safe. Do NOT save it in autofillers!
Part 2 of this lesson is IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, RUN!
This is a huge problem. Thieves are just looking to take advantage of every possible opportunity. They do not care that they hurt you. They do not care that you have loss. They think it's your own fault and that you deserved it.
When you sense that someone is trying to lure you in with an offer that sounds too good to be true - just run. Run away and tell others of anything suspicious.
Part 3 of this lesson is SHARE THEIR NAMES ON BLAST AND HELP OTHERS.
I immediately went to our discord and notified "everyone". Yep - super annoying to get that everyone notification - but when it's important, I'll do it in a second.
I know how it feels to lose everything that you've worked so hard to build. Doesn't matter if it's earnings from a day, a week, a year - its YOURS, and no one else has the right to it. You feel so sick after it's happened. Usually, the ONLY thing you get to do - is help others.
Photo by Mitchell Orr on Unsplash
Image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay
Posted originally using LeoFinance Beta but shared on Blurt because I believe that good content is not platform-specific! :)
What you discuss in Part about the spelling is so true, yet it is so subtle that it slips through easily.
I was following (actually still am) a very successful bitcoin trader on Youtube. I love watching his analyses. Then I also found his profile on Instagram and decided to follow him.
A couple of days later, I received a message telling me that he wanted to send me a message. I accepted and a conversation started. I was a bit surprised and it made me cautious... Why would this guy suddenly want to have a discussion with me?
He then offered to share a trading strategy with me and wanted to know whether I would be interested...
Of course, I would be interested...if it was really him...so I said yes, but I also wanted to know why he would be willing to share this with me.
He had this wonderful story about he had made so much money and now wanted to give back to the community... (more suspicious...)
He wanted to know if I had a blockchain account to which I replied yes. He then asked me for my login details so that he could just set up the system for me. As soon as he was done, he would let me know and I must immediately change my password and all login detail.
I started laughing and asked him who he really was. He then started getting irritated and told me to stop wasting time.
I started looking and searching to see if I could find something...and then I found it. It was just in the spelling of the name. It was so subtle you don't pick it up at first glance.
I just blocked him and reported him to Instagram. he tried several times after that to make contact with me, every time just adding a number or making a subtle change in spelling. I just kept blocking and reporting him until it eventually stopped...
So yes, fortunately, I got suspicious. But if I was someone who blindly trusts people, not being aware of all the scams and hacking out there...wow, it could have been so easy...
Thank you for sharing this information with us. I just hope everybody realizes how important it is to pay attention to what you are saying here!
this happens SOOOOOO OFTEN!!!!!!!
I had a friend that was scammed for a FULL YEAR, Jaco!! She SO wanted to believe that this guy was real. He didn't get into the money part until later (which is SO slick) at first he just made her think that he loved how much she followed him and always wanted to make her feel special.
When she showed me his messages - there were the tell-tale signs that this guy was NOT the guy. You could see the way he spoke isn't the way an American would speak. but she wasn't American either! so she wasn't picking up on it
Later - sure enough MONTHS later after she REALLY TRULY believed that this superstar was like - reaching out to her and befriending her... he started asking for money
I was so devastated for her. I mean - they know how to do this. they lure you in with all the things you want to hear - its so evil.
im so glad that you figured it out before it got worse!!!!!!!! good for you adn thanks for sharing your story!!
That's absolutely disgusting! I don't have words to describe what I think of these characters.
I could still laugh at this idiot who tried to drag me in, but only because I saw it for what it was in time.
The first thing that should make you suspicious, is why would such a person (I'm now referring to the real person), just suddenly reach out to you and lead you by the hand?
You haven't reached out to him. You didn't respond to an offer he has publicly made... But suddenly, here he is, reaching out to you. Out of thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands of followers...out of the blue, this person suddenly wants to have a friendly conversation with you... Be CAREFUL!
Are they convincing? You bet they are! I was also hesitant to just be rude to this guy in the beginning...because it all was SO REAL. But I was suspicious because it just was too good to be true... And then when he started asking for passwords and login details, I knew what I was dealing with.
When men get robbed or hacked or whatever, it is bad enough. It drives you up the walls. But I HATE it even worse when women and children get taken advantage of...and yes, maybe with your friend it wasn't a physical face-to-face thing, but still...he abused her trust, her willingness to learn...even if she was (and I say with all due respect, I don't mean it in a bad sense)...but even if she was a bit gullible, I feel that was out of innocence. She didn't know better, and he abused it!
I just hope more people will read this article of yours and be warned. Be alert. If people lack experience and start getting these kinds of invitations, they should rather discuss it with someone...with someone like yourself, or someone else they know has more experience but don't just follow anybody blindly. At least get a second opinion.
Thanks again for sharing this information!
I can't agree more - and she wasn't the only one! he was portraying himself as this celebrity to so many women who were just really wanting that to be true
I ended up sending him a DM - to the real guy- and told him look, You don't know me from Adam - but there is a guy who is parading around being you - and hurting people. so I think you should kinda - write something on your posts or SOMETHING to warn women... etc
he ended up coming up with something like that a few weeks later.
sad that his name got dragged around by impostors - but... this is the world we live in
and yes - those people are such creeps!