Scammers are trying to trick bitcoin users in multiple ways. Not too long ago, various malicious advertisements were popping up all over different search engines. But it looks like scammers are using a new tactic, by promoting ads on Reddit. Thankfully, the ad got removed, as they tried to impersonate the TREZOR online shop.
Fake Bitcoin Ads Are Everywhere
For novice users who have never had a hands-on experience with Bitcoin, the landscape is looking somewhat scary right now. With all these malicious advertisements, scam websites, and unknown entities, it becomes much harder to find a legitimate platform. Things are only getting worse over time, it seems, as these malicious ads are showing up everywhere one looks.
Paid advertisements are a double-edged sword, as no one is 100% certain a legitimate business is being proposed. In most cases, this is not a big problem, but in the Bitcoin world, things are very different. The number of fake websites continues to grow, and criminals are switching up their tactics whenever they can.
To put this into perspective, a new type of malicious advertisement was visible on the /r/Bitcoin subreddit not too long ago. Although the advertisement looked to be a genuine TREZOR shop one, users were redirected to a cloned version of the site. Any order placed through this “company” would ultimately result in funds being stolen.
Thankfully, the moderators were warned about this fake TREZOR advertisement, and it was taken down rather quickly. This goes to show a more thorough vetting process will be needed in the future, though. While this is not an attempt to blame the moderators, this story goes to show being vigilant is an absolute necessity in the Bitcoin world.
It is worrisome to see these criminals target just about any Bitcoin-related service they can. After going after exchanges and web wallets, they now seem to be focusing on services selling hardware wallet solutions. There is no telling what will be next, though, and we can only hope no more users lose funds in the process.
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