Whether it’s through social media hacks or luring victims to bogus websites, scammers are working to convince people to enter the world of cryptocurrency where they can steal and disappear. without leaving a trace. News5 shows us how it goes and what local consumer advocates want us all to keep in mind.
One of the most frustrating situations you can find yourself in is knowing that your social media accounts have been hacked and someone is using your name and likeness to try and get your friends and family to click. links or to fall into the trap of scams. One of the areas where scammers are looking to get paid right now is in cryptocurrency.
Mary Peplin, 22, has been trying and trying to get her Instagram account back for over two weeks now, but hackers are making it difficult.
“They acted so fast, they changed your email, they changed your password, then they turned on 2-step verification. There’s absolutely no way in,” Peplin said.
Using her profile, scammers began posting messages with the aim of tricking her followers into believing that she could help them make money with cryptocurrency.
“So now my face and profile are now pretty much used to run a money app and a bitcoin scam to ruin other people’s lives,” Peplin said.
A 2021 report from NortonLifeLock, in partnership with The Harris Poll, shows that one in four Americans (25%) have detected unauthorized access to an account or device in the past year.
In many cases now, scammers are working to trick people into investing in a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, allowing them to steal money while leaving victims in most cases without any option to get it back. .
By the time the calls arrive at Adah Rodriguez’s office at the Better Business Bureau in Southern Colorado, it is often too late.
“Absolutely, cryptocurrency is really dangerous due to the lack of regulation,” Rodriguez said.
Fraudsters have hit people hard in southern Colorado this year.
“When you’re going to make an investment you’re not going to invest, you usually know $ 50. It’s usually thousands of dollars, or double digits, right? So we’ve seen consumers lose by of $ 10,000, ”Rodriguez said.
She suggests people do everything possible to secure social media accounts and check websites before interacting with them.
These steps are an important starting point for improving the security of social media accounts:
– strong password
– two-factor authentication
– Request connection confirmations sent to your e-mail address.
“I think scammers use social media for just about all types of scams and people continue to be victims, so scammers keep using them. So as much as you can protect your social media, the better. ‘is, ”Rodriguez said.
As Peplin continues to try to get back to her social media accounts, she says that unfortunately people she knows have already paid the scammers who contacted them using her account.
So how do hackers get to your account in the first place? Well, if you are using the same email and password for multiple accounts on the web and you have been involved in a data breach, it is possible that your information has been bought and sold on the dark web. So you might want to change your passwords just to be safe.
Consumer protection experts also warn that we should always take steps to be extra careful when dealing with cryptocurrency.
