January 29, 2020, | AtoZ Markets – Facebook’s proposed cryptocurrency Libra has rubbed the world’s regulatory agencies in a negative way. Now, crypto scammers have seen the potential of the coin and decided to launch a fake Libra ICO on Twitter targetting the unwary.
Fraudsters launch fake libra ICO on Twitter
The latest crypto scam to hit Facebook’s highly anticipated project involved a fake ICO for Libra. Online scammers ran the operation on Twitter. They created a fake account @CoinLibraToken on the platform and offered the coin to people via a fake initial coin offering.
While Libra doesn’t have a monetary value right now because it hasn’t launched yet, the fraudsters claim that investing 0.1 ETH would yield 300 million in tokens, while sending a whole Ethereum block would make the sender entitled to 30 billion. Here’s how the knockoff looks like:
Moreover, as the screenshot shows, the scammers added an Ethereum address where potential victims could send their funds. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the currency in June 2019. Though it is slated for a 2020 launch, there is a lot of regulatory uncertainty over the coin’s legal status.
ICO not affiliated with Facebook
According to Cryptoslate, a blockchain news website, the account had about 12,000 followers, and 40% of them were fake. The wallet address that the fraudsters shared on their Twitter posts had only incoming transactions but in very small figures. Moreover, the promotional materials on the Twitter account were full of typos and mistakes, making its credibility questionable, to say the least.
How to avoid crypto scam?
Since its inception, the crypto space has had to deal with many cases of fraud. Despite increasing security and KYC/AML rules the crypto space still gets rocked from time to time by fraudulent activities. However, what do you need to look out for to avoid being a victim?
Red flags: The first step to being safe in the crypto space is not to get GREEDY. Do not get distracted by promises of immense riches. These kinds of platforms are known to dish out to unsuspecting individuals. Take a deep breath, step back and try to assess the situation from different perspectives. Most times you will find clear loopholes in their modus operandi.
Look Before you Leap: True, investing in crypto is exhilarating, it is however not the answer to all your financial woes. The industry is still in its budding stage and there is a lot to learn. A huge vacuum exists between the supply and demand for crypto trading advisors With this in mind, scammers are filling in this gap, concurrently making away with hard-earned funds.
How do you tell a fake ICO from a genuine one? Let us know in the comments section below.