Top 7 Forex and Crypto Scam Methods [Scam Alert]

Scams on Forex market and cryptocurrencies are a real plague of recent years. How do scammers extort money from unsuspecting investors? There are many methods and new ones are still being developed, and the people behind these practices are often devoid of any conscience. In this article you will learn what tricks scammers use to get the last penny from their victims.

What is Forex scam?

Scams literally translated from English "fraud". Scam Forex is nothing more than a method of extorting money and/or personal data under the guise of a Forex broker, i.e. offering investment services on the currency market. Services related to the stock market are also increasingly used, ETF, precious metals, cryptocurrencies, as well as capital management (asset management).

Scammers are sometimes individuals, but very often they are an organized group that creates a multi-person call center aimed at maximizing the use of "potential" as soon as possible. "Length of life" scam usually does not exceed a few months. After it was revealed that given "subject" engages in illegal activities, its effectiveness decreases as a result of negative opinions appearing on the Internet and official warnings from regulators (more on this later in the article). Very often, the so-called rebranding (creation of a new name and website) and company X is replaced by two others - Y and Z - which are run by the same people, as if after cutting off the head of the hydra.

Forex and cryptocurrency scams

As we mentioned at the beginning, there are many methods of fraud, and the business itself is so lucrative that more are still being invented. However, you can list a few of the most popular ways that, despite the passage of years, still prove to be effective. But let's start with how scammers find their victims.

Contact with an unwitting investor usually takes place through:

• phone,
• e-mail,
• social media and messengers (Whatsapp, Discord, Telegram, Skype).

Scammers rely on the fact that by making 1000 phone calls, sending 10 e-mails or messages, they statistically know that using the art of manipulation, a few or a dozen people will surely succeed "catch". Therefore, do not be surprised if you receive even a dozen calls from various scams in a short time.

Telephone contact

A foreign number is calling, which presents us with an interesting proposal for cooperation and investment. However, the question arises - where did the scammer find our phone number? As a rule, scammers buy databases that contain numbers, and often also name and e-mail, which definitely increases the chance of success on the part of scammers. If someone has our number and knows our name, then they probably know us and everything is OK, right? Nothing could be more wrong.

E-mail contact

This seems to be the least effective method of the present time, but that does not mean that it has no chance of success. With all the advertising spam that lands in our inbox every day, the chance of clicking on a fraudulent link is low – but it is still there. Scammers very often tempt us with catchy email titles or impersonate popular companies that we may know or even have an account with. Stealing databases with e-mails, collecting them through advertisements and simple shopping pages (landing pages), as well as trading e-mail addresses - it is as a result of these activities that fraudsters most often get our e-mails.

Social media and communicators

If a stranger talks to you, tempting you with a unique opportunity to earn money, then know that something is up. There is no stock exchange free lunches. If someone promises you sure and easy profits from Forex or Crypto trading, then you are probably dealing with a scam. Very often we receive messages from strangers who are wolves in sheep's clothing and only seemingly want to establish a friendly relationship with us, and their real purpose is completely different. Watch out for messages from strangers, especially beautiful women (more on that in a moment).

Scam Forex - the most common methods

Let's get to the essence of this article, which is a list of the most popular methods used by scammers to convince us to start "Investment".

#1. For the classic

The scam that happens most often is a normal offer to open an investment account with very favorable trading conditions. Additional help in trading is often offered, a low entry threshold for incentives, bonuses, promotions, assurance of low risk, etc. The base is a quickly created new broker brand with a simple website to which we receive a link to register. As a rule, fraudsters gain not only the funds we have deposited, but also the entire set of our personal data. Of course, there is no payout. When you try to withdraw funds, the service usually gets aggressive, convinces you to stay or simply cuts off contact, and the money is lost.

#2. For a clone

Attack of the Clones is not only the title of one of the parts of the famous Star Wars saga, but also a type of scam that is regularly repeated in "investment world". To increase their chances of success, fraudsters often copy the websites of legally operating companies, use fragments of their names, addresses, telephone numbers or personal data of employees. At first glance, an inexperienced investor, even checking information about the company online, may get the impression that he is dealing with a legally operating entity. But the devil is in the details and sometimes only the details (which can be seen at first glance) can tell us that we are dealing with a fraud.

#3. On the regulator

"Polish Financial Supervision Authority" may also turn out to be a fraud. Of course, this is a situation where an alleged KNF employee contacts us to help avoid losing funds, e.g. under the pretext of receiving information from our bank about an attempt to extort funds from our bank or investment account. In the next stage, an attempt is made to extort sensitive data that would allow you to enter our account and withdraw funds from it.

#4. For an Asian

A beautiful Asian girl sent you a message on Instagram? This could be the beginning of a great friendship… or another scam. A seemingly friendly relationship, which can last for weeks, turns into boasting about profits from the stock market, with the help of the titular Asian uncle working in an international hedge fund. Without persuading, sending suspicious links, but with the presentation of screenshots from lucrative stock exchange transactions. It's true that we've never seen the girl, but it's worth asking: "can I also invest like this?". Scammers are waiting for this question. You can probably guess the rest...

Details of such a procedure with the description of the story of one of our readers we introduced in this article.

#5. To withdraw profits from the account

Forgotten bitcoins on a crypto wallet like PLN 50 in old jeans? It's happened to many. Over the years, traders are able to register with various companies, deposit small amounts of money there as a test of the service, and then forget about them. This scenario is played by some scammers looking for their victims. In short: you receive a call from company X reminding you that there is an amount in your old account that you can withdraw. However, in order to do so, you must provide your details as well "unlock" deposit/withdrawal process by making a new deposit.

We present the recording of such a conversation between the scammer and the Forex Club at the end of this article.

Fun Fact: at the time of writing this article, we received a call from a scammer "to withdraw profits from Binance account".

Due to many user complaints Binance cryptocurrency exchanges with whom they contacted "counterfeit workers", an official website has been created where we can check the authenticity of a given contact - LINK.

#6. On capital manager, investment signals, automatic trading

Fraudsters often come across people who would like to multiply their savings, who especially lose in times of inflation, but do not have the time, knowledge or skills to do so. Then scammers come up with a proposal to help in investments. All you have to do is create an account and deposit funds, and the rest will be taken care of "experienced broker". It can also help us in concluding transactions on our own by sending investment sureties.

Another scenario is the proposal to use an automated strategy (robot, EA), which has great results. All you have to do is transfer the cryptocurrencies to the appropriate wallet, and the rest will be taken care of "algorithm".

#7. Using AnyDesk software

AnyDesk is an application used to transfer access to our computer via remote desktop. This means that a person from the other end of the world can operate on our computer with our permission. Practically, it can be used for any of the above scam schemes, however, the use of AnyDesk by scammers is so popular that it is worth highlighting it. If your estate agents asks you to install this type of application, it practically does you can be sure that you are dealing with a scammer. Don't do that under any circumstances.

Fraudsters are patient andthey squeeze money out of the victims to the end

There are express scams where, after 1-2 phone calls, an unaware investor is convinced to start investing and after a few days/weeks the case turns out to be obvious. The invested funds simply disappear, and often the fault is put on "failed investments". However, there is no shortage of more sophisticated methods, which in their scenario assume that a potential victim who deposited a small amount of capital first records regular profits. This often provides an incentive for the investor to deposit more capital. Sometimes it is only after a few weeks or even months that we sober up when we want to withdraw part of the profits earned and encounter problems. Start refusal, stalling, aggression but not only.

There are known cases that everything takes place in an extremely nice atmosphere and the only condition to be able to receive the payment of profits is ... tax on profits/dividends. However, we must do it with an additional transfer before the funds are withdrawn from our investment account. This is, of course, another lie that has only one purpose - squeeze the last transfer from the caught victim. After transferring the indicated tax amount, we return to the scheme from the previous paragraph, and finally the contact is broken off.

Funds recovery companies

The growing number of victims of Forex and Crypto scammers meant that companies specializing in recovering funds began to appear on the market. Sounds like a miraculous lifebuoy? Be careful!!! It's happening more and more often they are also scammers. After providing a set of data and an advance payment to start activities, it turns out that ... you have been deceived again. Sounds comical? The victims of these "companies" it's not funny...

If "collection company" offers you help "small fee", then first of all carefully scan its opinions on the web and ask for all the details. Find out how long the company has been on the market, what activities it undertakes and be sure to read the cooperation agreement. Recovering funds from clever and experienced criminals is not an easy task and it is not always possible. However, not entirely ethically operating debt collection companies often use the so-called. sham activities (e.g. they prepare ineffective letters and e-mails that have no chance of success) and lure their clients with the specter of success only to collect (and completely legally) a commission for steps taken.

How to recover funds from a dishonest broker?

Reporting the case to the police or the Polish Financial Supervision Authority are steps that are always worth taking, however, realistically, these are actions that are aimed more at publicizing and ending the activity of a given fraudster than recovering funds.

However, there are companies that over the years have developed appropriate contacts (e.g. cooperation with banks, payment intermediaries, cryptocurrency exchanges) and their know-how (e.g. analysis of blockchain transfers) and specialize in recovering funds from this type of scams. However, no one can guarantee the final result, and the chances of success of such an operation often depend on many factors. More about recovering funds from scammers you will learn from this article.

Don't fall for scammers!

How is it possible that tens of thousands of people around the world have already been deceived, and yet this practice continues? There are two reasons:

1. low level of financial education;
2. human greed and desire to earn easy money.

Everyone has to fight the second point on their own, but in the case of education, every conscious investor can help. Therefore, make your families and friends aware, warn against possible threats. Unfortunately, financial regulators usually act too slowly (which is also related to the whole procedure that must be carried out) and place entities on the warning lists with a long delay - usually as a result of tens / hundreds of individual notifications from injured investors. That is why your knowledge and spreading it among others is the most effective weapon in the fight against fraudsters.

How not to be fooled?

• Do not believe in easy profits in the stock market. There is no risk-free investment, and the less you know about a particular market, the more likely you are to lose money.
• Check warning lists. On the pages of Forex Club regularly we publish information about official announcements regulators from around the world who warn of new scams. Check if your "broker" is there.
• Always check who contacts you. Verify e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, personal data of employees.
• If you have doubts, then you have no doubts. In other words: it's better to lose an opportunity than money. Don't be tempted by a brilliant offer or the best trading conditions if you don't fully believe in them.
• No legitimate company offers investment advice or asks you to install apps like AnyDesk.
• Check online reviews, verify brokers. Check what other investors write about a given company, go to the regulator's website and check whether the selected broker is actually in its register.

Recording of a Forex Club conversation with a scammer z "blockchain companies"