Chapter 8
Fake direct messages (DMs), wallets, and giveaways
What you'll get from this chapter: Why no real celebrity, crypto exchange, or wallet company will message you with a giveaway, and the four rules that keep your wallet safe from fake ones.
In this chapter
- Words in this chapter
- Your steps
A celebrity, a (a company that buys, sells, and holds crypto for you), or a wallet company is not sending you a private message to give away cryptocurrency.
The pattern is old and still works: an account that looks verified, a “giveaway,” and a request to send a little crypto first, or to connect your wallet to a site (a page that claims to create new digital tokens for you). The real account is not doing this. Real support staff will never ask for your , the list of secret backup words that controls your wallet.
Download wallets and (small add-ons for Chrome and other browsers) only from the company’s official website. Fake sites and look-alike Chrome extensions are built to empty your wallet the moment you paste in your recovery phrase.
Some crypto scams do not pretend to be a company. They pretend to be an investment. The next chapter covers and junk coins.
Words in this chapter
- . The list of words, often twelve or twenty-four, that can recreate a cryptocurrency wallet. Anyone who has the words has the money. Never type them into a website.
- . Direct message. A private message sent inside a social media or chat app.
- . A company that buys, sells, and holds cryptocurrency for its customers. Your account there is protected by its sign-in and two-factor settings.
- . A website that offers to create ("mint") new tokens or digital collectibles for free. Many are in disguise.