Cryptocurrency Airdrop Scams: How to Spot Them and Avoid Being a Victim

Published in

The Dark Side

4 min readNov 4, 2021

If you’re in the crypto business, an airdrop refers to a publicity campaign involving the distribution of virtual currency, then you’ve heard of it. For free or in exchange for a tiny service, including retweeting a company post, minor quantities of the unique virtual currency are given to the wallets of active people of the blockchain community.

What is an Airdrop in Cryptocurrency?

For blockchain-based startups, an airdrop is a type of promotion that helps fund a virtual currency project’s initial development. Its goal is to raise knowledge about crypto and increase the number of individuals trading in it once it is listed on a marketplace as an ICO.

For the most part, airdrops are advertised on the firm’s site and crypto forums. The coins/tokens are only distributed to existing crypto wallet holders, mainly Bitcoin or Ethereum, who have requested them.

There may be a minimum number of crypto coins in a recipient’s wallet before being eligible for the gift. It’s also possible that they’ll be required to post about the money on a social network, connect with another project participant, or write a blog entry.

Investing in a cryptocurrency is never a requirement of a suitable crypto airdrop. Its sole purpose is to promote itself. On the other hand, small quantities of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are sent to unwitting receivers in a dusting scam. Unauthorized deposits into a crypto wallet should never be accepted.

The Reasons Why Crypto Enthusiasts Adore Airdrops

The fact that most cryptocurrency lovers, especially those with modest to no crypto holdings, enjoy airdrops merely because they consider them to be free money is one of the reasons why they are so popular. Furthermore, these free riches may rise significantly or surge unexpectedly in some situations, resulting in enormous gains with no initial investment.

Airdrops are typically more beneficial to the issuing corporation in the short term, but beneficiaries of the complimentary coins may frequently be in for a surprise later on. It’s a win-win situation for everyone. Here are three excellent examples of airdrops that were successful.

Cryptocurrency Airdrops: Benefits and Drawbacks

An airdrop is a strategy to differentiate a cryptocurrency firm from the rest in the face of fierce competition. In addition to listing services for startups and alert services for customers, some crypto airdrop businesses offer a range of services for fine-tuning airdrops. There are excellent and terrible companies in every industry.

According to Michael J. Casey, an advisor of MIT’s blockchain research effort, marketing is vital for a cryptocurrency’s success. If money isn’t generally accepted, it has no value. And that’s only possible if everyone puts in some extra effort to promote the widespread use of the technology.

On the other hand, others in the sector have issued dire warnings about the dangers of cryptocurrency airdrops. Crypto airdrops, for instance, can be a pump-and-dump strategy. To put it another way, cryptocurrency investors may be inflating the value of their holdings to make a fast buck.

The lure of free cash can send people into a clicking frenzy, and some airdrops are frauds designed to acquire your personal information.

Airdrop Scam: How to Avoid Being a Victim

1. To avoid falling victim to an airdrop scam, put your faith in but double-check your sources, which means that before enrolling for an airdrop, you should be doing your research and verify its legitimacy.

2. If you’re asked for the private key during an airdrop, it’s not a genuine offer. Only the wallet owner should have access to private keys. Your wallet can be accessed by anyone who has your private key. That is not what we desire.

3. Depending on the airdrop, you may be required to provide personal information like your email address. For legitimate airdrops, you’ll have to submit personal information, and that’s where things become complicated.

Final Thoughts

Airdrops are a relatively harmless marketing ploy designed as a win-win for both new projects & their early backers. While they may appear insignificant at first, these tokens have the potential to be quite valuable to crypto newcomers and enthusiasts eager to get in on the ground floor of exciting new initiatives without having to spend any money.

Airdropping possibilities can be found at famous educational sites such as AirDrop King and AirDrop Village, but beware of scams.