Have you been being contacted with messages or links that encourage that you invest your money in crypto but you’re unsure if the individual or site is genuine? We’ve put together a short guide to help you determine if the company or website you’re about to transfer money to is genuine.
How did you find the investment opportunities?
- Did you get the chance to win from comments on posts on social media or the profiles you follow?
- Did the opportunity get promoted through a social media page popular for chatting about making money?
- You were contacted directly by someone purporting that they are an “investor” or “broker” employed by the website?
- Have you been told by someone that they’ll put money into your account if you pay them money?
- Does the website or person who you contact promise to deliver greater than the norm with minimal effort and input?
- If you’ve met with investors, has he or she asked you to switch your communication to WhatsApp or a different messaging service?
- Did the investor provide the investor with an QR-code that you can use to make payments?
- Did the person who invested in you ask you to make use of CashApp or an ATM that accepts Bitcoin to transfer the crypto, instead of asking that you pay them via an electronic transfer to a bank?
If you’re able to answer yes to any of these questions, you’re to be at risk of being a victim of fraud. If the offer appears too appealing and too good to be true, it probably probably is. But, if you still are not sure if the opportunity is legitimate or not, read our step-by-step guide on how to spot some of the red flags that are common and help verify the authenticity of the site or investment opportunity.
Step 1: Website Logo
Fake websites usually have logos with low resolution and imagery which appears blurry or altered when compared with images that are used on authentic company websites.
Step 2: Physical Address
Verify whether the company address on the site is legitimate and does not lead to another company. A quick search of the address on the site of the company Google can assist in determining if the address is genuine. In most cases, when the address of a fake business is searched for on Google and the results are returned, it could result in residential properties fields, residential homes, or the headquarters of another company which has no connection with the fake website.
The perpetrators of fraud often establish multiple websites and use the identical company address. If searching for the address leads to different “investment websites” or different companies all with the same address, it’s an indication that they are fake websites.
Step 3: The Returns
False websites often give an unrealistically high rate of return on investment in their advertised investment plans. Offering huge and consistent returns isn’t possible and is a typical indication of fraud. The packages that are offered usually make use of “catchy” level of service such as Gold and Elite.
Step 4: The Founding Team
The most fraudulent websites usually use images from stock in their “Team” as well as “About” webpages to help make the owners and their website appear more legit. To determine this, use Google’s reverse image search, or TinEye to find out if the images are being used in other places. Stock images can also be used as feedback by “clients” that have positive reviews. Additionally, unlike legitimate companies fraudulent websites will typically not include an “careers” page with vacant positions or the company policies and culture.
Step 5: Website Design
Broken Links
A lot of fraudulent websites have links or buttons for social media that aren’t working or redirect you back to the top of the page. Genuine companies won’t list hyperlinks that don’t work particularly when they are related to social media sites or legal documents.
Poor Grammar and Spelling
Certain websites have obvious grammar mistakes or mistakes which a legitimate exchange site should not do, even if the possibility of translation.
Filler Text
Many of these fake websites are made quickly using templates that are readily available and aren’t finished by leaving out the template text as filler like “Lorem Ipsum” or any other unrelated text that’s clearly copied.
Same Copy, Layout, and Format
Scam websites use the same layout, copy and layout as other scam websites to facilitate duplicate. The act of copying paragraphs of text from these pages and then pasting them into the search engine will often result in multiple websites that have different names, but they are identical.
Some scam websites remain operating for short periods of time. However the websites could be advertised by fraudsters. Always check the URL in detail to verify if the website is operational or is operational.
Terms of Service or Privacy Policy
Terms of Service pages and privacy policies are often copied from fraudulent websites, and even legitimate ones. Most often, these pages contain mistakes where scammers did not alter the company details in the copy and leave out any reference to the real site you are visiting.
Step 6: Company Registration
If you see it, make sure to verify the registration details for the company. Many sites that are scams will have fraudulent or altered company registration data which can be checked with their registered or FINRA numbers. They could reveal discrepancies in the company name or registration company numbers, and other information that may suggest suspicious activities.
What’s Next?
Although this guide is intended for individuals to determine the validity of an investment opportunity, we implore employees of cash-to-cryptocurrency companies to use this guide as well to protect their customers. We encourage you to use the Scam report tool if you’re interested in reporting an investment fraud or other nefarious actor. If you’re interested in more details on fraudulent investment scams contact The Cryptocurrency Compliance Cooperative.
