Bitcoin Scams

We constantly get messages and cries for help from people who have lost money or been scammed, because they trusted a stranger on the internet to trade for them.

STOP trusting people! Dont give a stranger money, and expect them to give it back. Its never going to happen.
I dont care if they show you pictures of people they have helped. People tell you lies to get your money. – @bitcoinzar

bitcoin trader scamIf you have been living under a rock, and dont know already, in general life and on the internet, people will lie to you in order to get your money. This should go without saying…if you trust random strangers on social media with your finances, you should expect to lose your money.

For some absurd reason, we need to keep telling people over and over not believe everything you see on social media. The amount of fake profiles, fake news, and fake adverts designed to target you is unbelievable.

Scammers target users are clueless about trading, cryptocurrency investing, and bitcoin. The scammers promise great returns for trusting them and their team with your finances. Do NOT do this. If you do, your money is gone forever.

How some of these scams work:

One of the most common scams targeting users is that of people claiming to be Account managers, or Agents contacting you from ‘bitcoin’, or from some kind of trading company company.

Lets get one thing straight….Bitcoin is not a company. There are no offices, no CEO, no staff, no agents, no account managers, no outlets. Nothing. Bitcoin exists only on the internet.

In bitcoin there are no account managers or agents, only scammers who tell you that they are account managers or agents.

  • Essentially these scammers will lie to you in order for you to send them money. They will tell you anything to get your to deposit your money. From sending you testimonials from ‘satisfied customers’, to fake pictures of profits that have been made. Do not believe them!
  • Once they have your money, they will continue to lie to you about how you are making great returns or profits on their platform, or with them trading and investing for you. They will even go so far as to send you pictures and reports to backup their story. They do this so that you keep on sending more money. In reality there is no such thing taking place, there is no trading or investing going on at all. Instead, when you send money, they are just keeping it for themselves. Why? Because they want you to send more money!
  • After you have been doing well, and you want to withdraw your so called ‘profits’ from them, that is when you will suddenly encounter fees or taxes in order to get your money. This is just another attempt to get even more money out of you! The more of these fees or taxes that you pay in order to get your profits, the more they will ask for. This will continue until you finally realize that there will NEVER come a time where they will pay money or your profits to you.

Anything that guarantees you a high return on your investment is a scam. Full stop.

How these scammers target you and get you to pay them.

Fake news on facebook

Fake news stories that lead to scam websites

These scams prey on people who are looking for a way to make money online or with little risk. Their goal is to get your money. They will lie about everything to get you to deposit money.

These scams use a variety of ways to catch users. The most common is the fake advert on social media, usually depicting a famous personality and a corresponding headline of how that person is into bitcoin or making tons of money. Locally we have seen these fake adverts depicting everyone from Naas Botha to Cyril Ramaphosa. Generally the user does not even notice that it says “SPONSORED” and they think its a real news story in their feed.

Another way users are introduced to this is from the fake profiles on social media that comment on posts with some sort of success story. They usually post something about how they have made a ton of money, or had great success with a ‘legit’ trader or platform, and if anyone wants more information, they should PM them or click a link.

Scammer comments on Facebook

Scammer comments on Facebook

The user then clicks the post to find out more, and they are directed to a fake website that looks very much like a news website, where there is a fake story. The only real part of the page that works at all is a sign up form, where the user can submit their name and telephone number for more information. Once you submit your details, you will get a call within 10 min from an ‘Agent’ or trader, who will assist you with ‘joining bitcoin’, or the trading company, and will provide you with instructions to deposit money.

Do not trust people with your money

The ultimate goal of any of these scammers is to get your money. They will show you testimonials, pictures, charts, whatever it takes, in order to get your money.

A real trader would never compromise their advantage and reduce their own profits, in order to help you, the competition gain more profit.

If they were such good traders, why do they need your money? These people could easily use their own money and make millions, and keep 100% of the profits for themselves if they were that good. But they dont. Because they are lying.

If they were THAT good at trading as they claim to be, why would they settle for a small commission for trading your funds, when they could be turning themselves into a millionaire with their own money? The reason is because their platform or system is a scam, and they are just trying to get your money.

You probably never get your money back

These scammers all use fake profiles on social media, with fake names. Once you send your money, dont expect to ever get it back.

You can try to involve the law, but you will quickly find the person you are dealing with does not really exist. Its all fake. You do not even know what country they are operating from, only where they told you they were based, which is probably a lie. At the end of the day, since these people do not force you to send your money, its hard to open a case against them when you dont really know who they are.

Just do everything yourself

If you would like to ‘invest’ in bitcoin, just buy some yourself on a local bitcoin exchange.

The ONLY way to invest in bitcoin is to buy it. Just like the way to invest in property is to buy it, or the way to invest in gold, is to buy it. So if you want to invest in bitcoin, just buy some yourself, do not trust anyone to do it for you.

If you can use Facebook or Gmail, you have the necessary skills to create an account on an exchange and buy bitcoin. When you buy bitcoin, you are trading Rand for bitcoin. Once you have bought bitcoin, you are now a trader, and have just made your first trade. Do not trust other people who want to do this for you.

You can learn about trusted places that we use to buy bitcoin in South Africa here: https://www.bitcoinzar.co.za/buy-bitcoin-in-south-africa/

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