Instagram “Get rich with bitcoin” scams you need to stay away from

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Instagram is for scrolling photos of celebs and pets, not for making a fortune off suspicious claims by the “acclaimed” rich strangers. However, people end up with some strangers who turn out to be quite peculiar in their ways and have a pathway built for them towards untold riches.

They entice you with the riches of a millionaire that too in just a matter of time. But they are simply bitcoin scams that are groomed too nicely for a scam; a scam that has the ability to slowly drain your bank account.

Scammers “promise” money, and that too, a wild amount of it. It may sound like “make $10,000 dollars from just $1,000 guaranteed,” and what is there to be hesitant about… except absolutely everything?

What does an Instagram bitcoin scam look like?

It can start with a stranger reaching out to you with an enticing deal and lead to a string of messages that try to convince you that it is the real deal and the stack of digital currency is yours to make unlimited profits off.

At times, people end up falling for something like a guaranteed return of $10,000 since it seems quite a deal. But it is quite generous, isn’t it? Almost too much. And these cast-iron agreement deals are all set to loot you of all your money.

But what you need to do is not engage with such unsolicited contacts in the first place and even if you do, ask for a guarantee. Once you respond to any of their contact points, they become insistently pushy and all set to entice some novice trader with the likes of a gigantic bitcoin victory.

Do not give the insides of your payment or bank portals either; it gives away a lot about yourself. This is a tactic to distract people from asking for details like logins, similar to the “please turn off your antivirus to install the xyz.exe file you got from ABC” technique.

The most common Instagram bitcoin scams

There are numerous people promising to get rich quickly with Bitcoin schemes on Instagram. There is a whole market for such schemes. In addition, people on Facebook are no less when it comes to grieving the loss of their account to the various types of scams out there.

Big wins quickly

Exaggerated promises of big returns on small investments that too quickly are a big no-go. And so is pressure to transfer funds immediately. If a person you know starts talking about how they are getting rich with the help of a “Bitcoin mentor,” it is a common scam related to compromised accounts.

I’ll invest for you

When someone asks you to buy digital currency and send it to some other wallet to invest in, it is a scam. It is pretty likely you will end up with nothing at all.

Hostage promos

The numerous videos that claim to have gained success through Bitcoin are actually creepy hostage videos. The victims of scams are made to film promos to lure in more people.

Changing details

If you are being asked to change your login details or email address to something they have given you, you will be locked out of your own account, and it will be used to spam others.

Taxes to access profit

Once you deposit the $1000 for $15,000 returns, there is a possibility that you actually make that “profit.” But is it tangible? Since to withdraw those bucks, the scammer will ask you for a $15,000 tax to release the stolen funds. And you end up losing your $1,000.

How to fight bitcoin scams?

If you are approached with a get rich missive, report it and block the sender. Instagram allows you to report the account by selecting the “…” next to the Follow button, choosing Report – report account – posting account that should not be on Instagram – scam or fraud.

The rule of thumb is if the scam appears too good to be true, it very likely is. Since if someone really had the secret to becoming rich, they wouldn’t share it with random people on Instagram. The only people becoming rich with these schemes are the scammers pulling the strings.

Here are some easy fixes to steer clear of phishing scams:

Set up a multi-factor authentication
Use a password manager to generate unique login details for different accounts
Keep your private if possible

Anyone can get scammed if their guard is down. Be vigilant and skeptical when you are asked for your personal details; scammers prey on trust.

In conclusion

The random cyber-attacks lock people out of Instagram, change their passwords, and post testimonials of fake profits by investing in Bitcoin for them. What makes this scam stand out and absurd is that hackers have also forced users to send vlogs of themselves, assuring their followers that it is a ‘real’ investment; a supposed digital hostage situation.

Compromising social media accounts to scam people is a ubiquitous ploy, and now hackers are getting creative in their ways to loot people. However, the base tactic is still gaining access to people’s accounts to promote their scams so that a person’s followers or friends would be convinced to click on something since they trust that person.