Lucrative Arbitrage MevBots? SCAM! Be Ware of Crypto Scammers Everywhere!
Honestly, my whiskers twitched when I heard about the big cheese in Web3. There’s this thing called a Bitcoin halving event and something about a big cat named Blackrock nodding yes to an ETF? Many analysts are meowing that Bitcoin might leap over the 150k+ yarn ball next year. And those little ‘pennystock’ altcoins? They could potentially scatter and bring back 10x+ cheese as more kitties come prowling, eyes glittering with greed. Purrfect storm for a treasure hunt, if you ask this curious cat!
My personality is more risk-averse. I don’t like ‘aping into’ worthless token investments just because many people speculate they would bring large returns—but sadly, this is proving to be the case in the crypto market scene.
One seemingly risk-free way could be to put in some time or staking some capital (as little as <5 minutes or a few dollars worth) to get free promotional airdropped tokens (a.k.a. Airdrop hunting/farming). But is it risk-free, really? Even for ones you don’t need to invest any capital, many sites ask you to connect your wallet to ensure you get rewarded, which seems fishy to me. In the world of crypto and blockchain, where it’s supposed to empower and protect the everyday man, there are actually more ways an average Joe could get majorly f&#*$ed if they’re not staying vigilant.
Look at what happened to me today, which is a common daily occurrence. I wanted some quality information on the security risks of airdrops and connecting my wallet everywhere for some free tokens. The first video that comes up is an actual YouTube sponsored Ad from a scammer about an arbitrage profit bot.
Just look how legitimate this Arbitrage Trading Bot (often called mevbot) video below looks. Tons of them are popping up on my feed already. One pre-roll Youtube ad I saw was a convincing deepfake clip of the CEO and Co-Founder of Coinbase asking you to send money in order for him to send you money (Nigerian prince, much?).
I’m impressed by how convincing everything is set up, and I’m seeing these types of videos pop up everywhere!
I can’t believe Youtube still doesn’t have a system to detect such scammers and are actually getting paid to promote their content.
Some common traps I found were: Clever dupe sites impersonating the real project or account. Any DM that sends me a link. Esp, when a famous X(twitter) or Instagram account follows and DMs you, closely check the handle as it’s 99.999% an impersonator with one letter changed. A fishy app with the same name as the project asking for my wallet keys, etc. etc.
Err, back to the main topic. So, are airdrops really safe? My research says, not really. Nothing in life is really free, and if you’re willing to chase token after token and connect your wallet freely, get ready to have that wallet drained unexpectedly.
So how do you participate in Airdrops where speed is key, but ensure you’re not getting scammed? The answer is, there’s no surefire scam-proof way. Here are some basic guidelines from Airdrops.io:
- Use hardware wallets like Trezor or Ledger to store your crypto!
- Never give your private key to anyone!
- Always use unique and strong passwords!
- Do not send ETH or BTC to any airdrop!
- Use virtual machines for custom wallets!
- Activate 2-factor-authentication whenever possible!
You can also use a ‘Burner Wallet’ just for airdrop purposes:
A “Cryptocurrency burner wallet” is like a temporary wallet you use for Bitcoin or other digital money when you’re not sure if something is safe. Think of it as a disposable wallet where you keep things like Airdrops (free tokens) and NFTs (unique digital items) before moving them to your main, safer wallet. You use this burner wallet because you don’t want to risk losing your money by connecting your main wallet to websites or places you don’t fully trust. The only money you keep in this temporary wallet is just enough to cover any fees for making transactions or handling digital contracts.
Why do you need a burner wallet?
When it comes to NFTs (unique digital items), lots of new ones are being created every day. However, many of these NFT projects don’t check their code to make sure it’s safe. This means a hacker could sneak in bad code that lets them get into your digital wallet while you’re getting an NFT. If that happens, they could steal all your digital items and money. Using a temporary “burner” wallet helps keep your main wallet and its contents safe from these risks.
As for digital tokens, a lot of people are rushing to take advantage of staking opportunities for high returns, there’s a catch. The place’s security isn’t checked, meaning it’s not guaranteed to be safe. So, if you use your main wallet where you keep all your investments to join in, you’re putting all your digital money at risk.
Finally, there are tools that could help you. (But always, DYOR: Do your own research for anything, and try googling “[New site/tool/coin] scam” before trying)
Wallet Guard and Pocket Universe are chrome extensions you can install to make sure you know what you’re getting into before connecting wallets. They work like digital safety checks. Before you connect your digital wallet to a new website or platform, these tools check the site for you. They look for any signs that the site might not be safe or could be trying to do something harmful, like steal your digital money or items. If they find something suspicious, they can warn you, so you know it might not be safe to connect your wallet. This way, you get an extra layer of protection.
