Scammed or Hacked: 83% of Crypto Investors

[rby]

The study identified the top fraud methods affecting crypto investors: Social media impersonation – 34.02%, Exchange/platform hacks – 21.30% and Phishing attacks – 18.64%. The study also highlighted that scammers are increasingly using fake accounts and phishing websites to target investors.

Although this research result may not be 100% accurate, I still do not have any reason to doubt it. We all do not need to be told that scam is really on the increase and scammers/hackers are becoming really sophisticated. If scam/hacking wasn't lucrative, maybe the number of scammers would have reduced significantly, but unfortunately, people are falling victim every now and then.

Right now, everyone on the internet is a suspect unless proven otherwise. Alot is really happening that is why we must always keep ourselves updated

[Jating]

The study identified the top fraud methods affecting crypto investors: Social media impersonation – 34.02%, Exchange/platform hacks – 21.30% and Phishing attacks – 18.64%. The study also highlighted that scammers are increasingly using fake accounts and phishing websites to target investors.

Although this research result may not be 100% accurate, I still do not have any reason to doubt it. We all do not need to be told that scam is really on the increase and scammers/hackers are becoming really sophisticated. If scam/hacking wasn't lucrative, maybe the number of scammers would have reduced significantly, but unfortunately, people are falling victim every now and then.

Right now, everyone on the internet is a suspect unless proven otherwise. Alot is really happening that is why we must always keep ourselves updated

Yes, I know it should really be our responsibility, but with hackers sophisticated attacks, it's really hard to really get away from this cyber criminals. I mean there could be times that we do our DYOR, but at some point when we let our guards down, that could be the time that we will be the victims. So it's really hard to maintain that and most of this kind of attacks are beyond our control. We can only hope that our security knowledge is enough and the practices that we do is secured so that we will not be the next victims in the space that we live in.

[Zed0X]

The scammers have also mastered the 'art' of impersonation in the real world but it's easier to do with the online apps that allows users to create without proper identity verification. This is probably why the blue marks or whatever marker they have is also a thing for people doing their business on social media.

[joniboini]

Based on their data, it looks like the number of participants is around 2000 users or so. So basically, around 1600 of them have fallen for a scam or hack in one way or another. I'm not sure if a user can be included in a cex/dex hack case at the same time, because the number of those cases is quite high. The finding that CEX suffers significantly higher losses is not surprising either. Another interesting finding is that a popular project is highly attractive phishing target, where one of them can be impersonated by as many as 8 times in various platforms. CMIIW.

[bitterguy28]

The scammers have also mastered the 'art' of impersonation in the real world but it's easier to do with the online apps that allows users to create without proper identity verification. This is probably why the blue marks or whatever marker they have is also a thing for people doing their business on social media.

it is a lot more difficult to fake anything if it involves real life it is not like we can shape shift but on the internet you are just a pixel on the screen and you can be anonymous or you can make a totally fake identity no one will know for sure if your profile picture and your name are your real ones

this is why people can be fooled but over time the scams are getting smarter and smarter and there always are new ways to fool people evolving every day

[LogitechMouse]

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I am not anymore surprised of the result of this study but coming from a victim myself of phishing it is still uncomfortable to think about it...how the cryptocurrency industry has become the vacation paradise of scammers and hackers punching the wallets of the people and platforms. We can now conclude that scamming, hacking is now a 24/7 enterprise and with amazing great rewards waiting for successful intrusion there is a big incentive to do everything they can victimizing us. This is true right now and am sure will still even be truer in the coming years as these people are steps ahead of the available security technologies at placed and used.

Knowing how gullible investors can be especially in an asset where you can make money in just a few days, scammers will try everything to attract them until they will scam them.

There's nothing to do about it because like what I said in the past, the only time that they will know which are scams and which are not is when they experience it first hand. I'm not saying that all because I, myself hasn't scammed, hacked, or became a victim of phishing sites, but most newbies are gullible, and can easily get attracted by these scammers.

This is why I always say that if you're a newbie, watch educational videos especially those that will teach you which projects are scams and which are not. Scammers are everywhere, and having knowledge will help you A LOT!!!. That's what I did when I'm still a newbie, and until now, I will say that it's my best decision when it comes to investment.

[albon]

This is a very common thing in the crypto world and most people fall victim to phishing here and if you do your research you will find that a lot of people fall victim to scamming in crypto every day. Currently, the cryptocurrency industry has become a haven for scammers and hackers, and is punching the wallets of people and platforms. People are falling victim to scams through different trends, so it is important to always be aware of where we are entering. In addition, the use of technology is continuously increasing so in the future people will use new technologies to conduct hacking and scamming activities.

[yhiaali3]

"83% of cryptocurrency investors have fallen victim to fraud or hacking?" This is truly horrific; it's a very large number!!! What's even worse is that 34.02% of these cases involve social media impersonation.

Unfortunately, this space has become incredibly rife with scammers. I suspect the main reason for all this chaos is that everyone is looking for an opportunity to profit from this new space, and everyone has a preconceived notion that they can get rich quick. Therefore, scammers are exploiting this opportunity and easily deceiving these dreamers.

[Z-tight]

Scammers use different social engineering techniques to scam their victims, but so many people make themselves an easy target, either through greed or just a lack of research. There are many crypto investors who have not been hacked, so it is very possible to keep your funds safe.

[God Of Thunder]

I find it's weird this study include "Exchange/platform hacks – 21.30%", since on some cases it's partially fault of exchange/platform chosen by investor. But even excluding that, the percentage is still high at 61.7%.

Sometimes the exchange takes the blame, and the user's balance remains the same. The recent Bybit hack did not affect any users' balances. They promised the users funds will remain the same. I am one of the Bybit users, and I have not faced anything. But if the exchange collapse after the hack, then the uses are fucked up. Luckily the Bybit hack was something they can afford and their business is still up and running. A small exchange would collapse after this large hack.

[Gposas]

Scammers use different social engineering techniques to scam their victims, but so many people make themselves an easy target, either through greed or just a lack of research. There are many crypto investors who have not been hacked, so it is very possible to keep your funds safe.

I agree with you, but it is certain that these investors must have fallen for one scam or the other before being so grounded. One thing I observed with scams, you can only advice people and feel safe when you haven't been a victim but trust me when those scammers comes your way most times, you'll be so carried away and fall for their scams.

I just feel that before you could really know how to avoid and identify when you want to be scammed, one must have gotten the experience.

[Forsyth Jones]

It's funny that if people who invest in crypto just did the basics, which is to safeguard their assets in self-custodial wallets and hardware wallets, about 98% of the problems and scam attempts would be avoided. On Telegram, it's very common to receive spam from scam attempts, but a minimum of knowledge about self-custody is enough and everything could be easily avoided.

Users must understand that the seed phrase is something personal and non-transferable, just don't give it to anyone when asked by scammers.

Meanwhile, the Lazarus group, which Bybit was a victim of, uses most of the funds to finance dictatorships such as North Korea, occupying the third place as the largest holder of bitcoin among nations.

[Z-tight]

I just feel that before you could really know how to avoid and identify when you want to be scammed, one must have gotten the experience.

You are not the first person i have heard say this, however i completely disagree with you and also everyone who thinks this way, if you have this mindset, you already make yourself vulnerable to scams. I have never been scammed, but i know very well how to avoid scammers.

[Forsyth Jones]

There is a new type of social engineering attack happening. It involves a fake captcha that tricks the victim into running a wget command to download malware, which is probably a virus that hijacks the clipboard when the victim copies an bitcoin address. An address that is almost identical to the attacker's address is pasted in, or worse, malware, such as spyware.

What caught my attention was the method used, which is the captcha, which is very common on many sites. A layperson can easily fall for this type of sophisticated scam.

The attack method was discovered by malwarebytes: https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/2025/03/fake-captcha-websites-hijack-your-clipboard-to-install-information-stealers

[Gposas]

I just feel that before you could really know how to avoid and identify when you want to be scammed, one must have gotten the experience.

You are not the first person i have heard say this, however i completely disagree with you and also everyone who thinks this way, if you have this mindset, you already make yourself vulnerable to scams. I have never been scammed, but i know very well how to avoid scammers.

You may be right @Z-tight, everyone has a different mindset towards things like this. I also was like you, I believed I know every tactics of these scammers and I even try to pass my little knowledge to others when it comes to avoiding scammers until the unfaithful day I was scammed.

I ain't trying to say you are going to be scammed one day, but just keep up with your security measures it's of a great benefit.