CommunitySubmission-Author:WhoTookMyCrypto.com
2017wasaremarkableyearforthecryptocurrencyindustryastheirrapidincreaseinvaluationspropelledthemintomainstreammedia.Unsurprisingly,thisgarneredthemimmenseinterestfromboththegeneralpublicaswellascybercriminals.Therelativeanonymityofferedbycryptocurrencieshasmadethemafavouriteamongstcriminalswhooftenusethemtobypasstraditionalbankingsystemsandavoidfinancialsurveillancefromregulators.
Giventhatpeoplearespendingmoretimeontheirsmartphonesthandesktops,itisthusnotsurprisingthatcybercriminalshavealsoturnedtheirattentiontothem.Thefollowingdiscussionhighlightshowscammershavebeentargetingcryptocurrencyusersthroughtheirmobiledevices,alongwithafewstepsthatuserscantaketoprotectthemselves.
Fakecryptocurrencyapps
Fakecryptocurrencyexchangeapps
Themostwell-knownexampleofafakecryptocurrencyexchangeappisprobablytheoneofPoloniex.PriortothelaunchoftheirofficialmobiletradingappinJuly2018,GooglePlaywasalreadylistingseveralfakePoloniexexchangeapps,whichwereintentionallydesignedtobefunctional.ManyusersthatdownloadedthosefraudulentappshadtheirPoloniexlogincredentialscompromised,andtheircryptocurrencieswerestolen.SomeappsevenwentastepfurtherrequestingthelogincredentialsofusersGmailaccounts.Itisimportanttohighlightthatonlyaccountswithouttwo-factorauthentication(2FA)werecompromised.
CoinFLEX联创：愿意以OPNX相关权益换取Bitcoin.com以及BlockChain.com创始人还款并达成和解:4月5日消息，CoinFLEX 联创 Mark Lamb 在社交媒体上发文表示，希望与 Bitcoin.com 创始人 Roger Ver 以及 BlockChain.com 创始人兼首席执行官 Peter Smith 达成和解，以 OPNX 相关权益换取二者早日归还欠款。
Mark Lamb 表示，若 Bitcoin.com 创始人 Roger Ver 能如约向 CoinFLEX 支付应付的 8400 万美元款项（借款为 4700 万美元，最终赤字为 8400 万美元），Mark 愿意为 Roger 免去 2 年 OPNX 平台交易手续费。若 BlockChain.com 创始人 Peter Smith 能归还其欠 CoinFLEX 的 300 万枚 FLEX，Mark 愿意给予 Peter 获得 OPNX 股权的机会。[2023/4/5 13:46:41]
Thefollowingstepscanhelpprotectyouagainstsuchscams.
Checktheexchange’sofficialwebsitetoverifyiftheyindeedofferamobiletradingapp.Ifso,usethelinkprovidedontheirwebsite.Readthereviewsandratings.Fraudulentappsoftenhavemanybadreviewswithpeoplecomplainingaboutgettingscammed,somakesuretocheckthembeforeyoudownload.However,youshouldalsobescepticalofappsthatpresentperfectratingsandcomments.Anylegitimateapphasitsfairshareofnegativereviews.Checktheappdeveloperinformation.Lookforwhetheralegitimatecompany,emailaddress,andwebsiteareprovided.Youshouldalsoperformanonlinesearchontheinformationprovidedtoseeiftheyarereallyrelatedtotheofficialexchange.Checkthenumberofdownloads.Thedownloadcountshouldalsobeconsidered.Itisunlikelythatahighlypopularcryptocurrencyexchangewouldhaveasmallnumberofdownloads.Activate2FAonyouraccounts.Althoughnot100%secure,2FAismuchhardertobypassandcanmakeahugedifferenceinprotectingyourfunds,evenifyourlogincredentialsarephished.Fakecryptocurrencywalletapps
Blockpass和Crypto.com合作构建身份NFT系统:3月7日消息，Blockpass和加密货币交易所Crypto.com达成合作。Blockpass将在Chronos区块链上构建一个“识别NFT”系统，为Chronos生态带来对合规交易的支持。Cronos是与Crypto.org Chain并行运行的EVM兼容侧链。（Asia One）[2022/3/7 13:42:34]
Therearemanydifferenttypesoffakeapps.Onevariationseekstoobtainpersonalinformationfromuserssuchastheirwalletpasswordsandprivatekeys.
Insomecases,fakeappsprovidepreviouslygeneratedpublicaddressestousers.Sotheyassumefundsaretobedepositedintotheseaddresses.However,theydonotgainaccesstotheprivatekeysandthusdonothaveaccesstoanyfundsthataresenttothem.
SuchfakewalletshavebeencreatedforpopularcryptocurrenciessuchasEthereumandNeoand,unfortunately,manyuserslosttheirfunds.Herearesomepreventivestepsthatcanbetakentoavoidbecomingavictim:
Theprecautionshighlightedintheexchangeappsegmentaboveareequallyapplicable.However,anadditionalprecautionyoucantakewhendealingwithwalletappsistomakesurebrandnewaddressesaregeneratedwhenyoufirstopentheapp,andthatyouareinpossessionoftheprivatekeys(ormnemonicseeds).Alegitimatewalletappallowsyoutoexporttheprivatekeys,butitisalsoimportanttoensurethegenerationofnewkeypairsisnotcompromised.Soyoushoulduseareputablesoftware(preferablyopensource).Eveniftheappprovidesyouaprivatekey(orseed),youshouldverifywhetherthepublicaddressescanbederivedandaccessedfromthem.Forexample,someBitcoinwalletsallowuserstoimporttheirprivatekeysorseedstovisualizetheaddressesandaccessthefunds.Tominimizetherisksofkeysandseedsbeingcompromised,youmayperformthisonanair-gappedcomputer(disconnectedfromtheinternet).Cryptojackingapps
Crypto.comDeFi钱包集成VVSFinance Swap:12月15日消息，Crypto.comDeFi钱包集成VVS Finance Swap，成为第一个原生支持VVS Finance的加密钱包。用户可以通过Crypto.comDeFi钱包App内置的Swap功能直接无缝兑换及跨链转移Cronos生态Token。据悉，VVS Finance是Cronos上的去中心化交易平台。Crypto.comDeFi钱包是一种非托管钱包。而Cronos是第一个用于DeFi、NFT和元宇宙的Cosmos生态EVM链。[2021/12/15 7:41:36]
Cryptojackinghasbeenahotfavoriteamongstcybercriminalsduetothelowbarrierstoentryandlowoverheadsrequired.Furthermore,itoffersthemthepotentialforlong-termrecurringincome.DespitetheirlowerprocessingpowerwhencomparedtoPCs,mobiledevicesareincreasinglybecomingatargetofcryptojacking.
Apartfromweb-browsercryptojacking,cybercriminalsarealsodevelopingprogramsthatappeartobelegitimategaming,utilityoreducationalapps.However,manyoftheseappsaredesignedtosecretlyruncrypto-miningscriptsinthebackground.
Therearealsocryptojackingappsthatareadvertisedaslegitimatethird-partyminers,buttherewardsaredeliveredtotheappdeveloperinsteadoftheusers.
Tomakethingsworse,cybercriminalshavebecomeincreasinglysophisticated,deployinglightweightminingalgorithmstoavoiddetection.
Cryptojackingisincrediblyharmfultoyourmobiledevicesastheydegradeperformanceandaccelerateswearandtear.Evenworse,theycouldpotentiallyactasTrojanhorsesformorenefariousmalware.
eToro添加Aave，Yearn，Compound和Decentraland交易:平台eToro表示已在其平台上增加四项加密资产Aave、Compound、Decentraland和Yearn，以扩大向用户的服务范围。额外资产基于DeFi协议，这表明去中心化金融的增长有所增加。尽管最近加密货币市场出现下滑，但该平台仍在扩展。（invezz）[2021/5/25 22:40:07]
Thefollowingstepscanbetakentoguardagainstthem.
Onlydownloadappsfromofficialstores,suchasGooglePlay.Piratedappsarenotpre-scannedandaremorelikelytocontaincryptojackingscripts.Monitoryourphoneforexcessivebatterydrainingoroverheating.Oncedetected,terminateappsthatarecausingthis.Keepyourdeviceandappsupdatedsothatsecurityvulnerabilitiesgetpatched.Useawebbrowserthatguardsagainstcryptojackingorinstallreputablebrowserplug-ins,suchasMinerBlock,NoCoin,andAdblock.Ifpossible,installmobileantivirussoftwareandkeepitupdated.Freegiveawayandfakecrypto-minerapps
Theseareappsthatpretendtominecryptocurrenciesfortheirusersbutdon’tactuallydoanythingapartfromdisplayingads.Theyincentivizeuserstokeeptheappsopenbyreflectinganincreaseintheuser’srewardsovertime.Someappsevenincentivizeuserstoleave5-starratingsinordertogetrewards.Ofcourse,noneoftheseappswereactuallymining,andtheirusersneverreceivedanyrewards.
Toguardagainstthisscam,understandthatforthemajorityofcryptocurrencies,miningrequireshighlyspecializedhardware(ASICs),meaningitisnotfeasibletomineonamobiledevice.Whateveramountsyouminewouldbetrivialatbest.Stayawayfromanysuchapps.
Blockchain.com交易所上线DOGE:金色财经报道，据官方消息，Blockchain.com的交易所已上线DOGE。[2021/5/6 21:31:03]
ClipperappsSuchappsalterthecryptocurrencyaddressesyoucopyandreplacethemwiththoseoftheattacker.Thus,whileavictimmaycopythecorrectrecipientaddress,theonetheypastetoprocessthetransactionisreplacedbythoseoftheattacker.
Toavoidfallingvictimtosuchapps,herearesomeprecautionsyoucantakewhenprocessingtransactions.
Alwaysdoubleandtriplechecktheaddressyouarepastingintotherecipientfield.Blockchaintransactionsareirreversiblesoyoushouldalwaysbecareful.Itisbesttoverifytheentireaddressinsteadofjustportionsofit.Someappsareintelligentenoughtopasteaddressesthatlooksimilartoyourintendedaddress.SIMswappingInaSIMswappingscam,acybercriminalgainsaccesstothephonenumberofauser.TheydothisbyemployingsocialengineeringtechniquestotrickmobilephoneoperatorsintoissuinganewSIMcardtothem.Themostwell-knownSIMswappingscaminvolvedcryptocurrencyentrepreneurMichaelTerpin.HeallegedthatAT&Twasnegligentintheirhandlingofhismobilephonecredentialsresultinginhimlosingtokensvaluedatmorethan20millionUSdollars.
Oncecybercriminalshavegainedaccesstoyourphonenumber,theycanuseittobypassany2FAthatreliesonthat.Fromthere,theycanworktheirwayintoyourcryptocurrencywalletsandexchanges.
AnothermethodcybercriminalscanemployistomonitoryourSMScommunications.Flawsincommunicationsnetworkscanallowcriminalstointerceptyourmessageswhichcanincludethesecond-factorpinmessagedtoyou.
Whatmakesthisattackparticularlyconcerningisthatusersarenotrequiredtoundertakeanyaction,suchasdownloadingafakesoftwareorclickingamaliciouslink.
Topreventfallingpreytosuchscams,herearesomestepstoconsider.
DonotuseyourmobilephonenumberforSMS2FA.Instead,useappslikeGoogleAuthenticatororAuthytosecureyouraccounts.Cybercriminalsareunabletogainaccesstotheseappseveniftheypossessyourphonenumber.Alternatively,youmayusehardware2FAsuchasYubiKeyorGoogle'sTitanSecurityKey.Donotrevealpersonalidentifyinginformationonsocialmedia,suchasyourmobilephonenumber.Cybercriminalscanpickupsuchinformationandusethemtoimpersonateyouelsewhere.Youshouldneverannounceonsocialmediathatyouowncryptocurrenciesasthiswouldmakeyouatarget.Orifyouareinapositionwhereeveryonealreadyknowsyouownthem,thenavoiddisclosingpersonalinformationincludingtheexchangesorwalletsyouuse.Makearrangementswithyourmobilephoneproviderstoprotectyouraccount.Thiscouldmeanattachingapinorpasswordtoyouraccountanddictatingthatonlyuserswithknowledgeofthepincanmakechangestotheaccount.Alternatively,youcanrequiresuchchangestobemadeinpersonanddisallowthemoverthephone.WiFiCybercriminalsareconstantlyseekingentrypointsintomobiledevices,especiallytheonesofcryptocurrencyusers.OnesuchentrypointisthatofWiFiaccess.PublicWiFiisinsecureandusersshouldtakeprecautionsbeforeconnectingtothem.Ifnot,theyriskcybercriminalsgainingaccesstothedataontheirmobiledevices.TheseprecautionshavebeencoveredinthearticleonpublicWiFi.
ClosingthoughtsMobilephoneshavebecomeanessentialpartofourlives.Infact,theyaresointertwinedwithyourdigitalidentitythattheycanbecomeyourgreatestvulnerability.Cybercriminalsareawareofthisandwillcontinuetofindwaystoexploitthis.Securingyourmobiledevicesisnolongeroptional.Ithasbecomeanecessity.Staysafe.
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