A cryptocurrency airdrop is a marketing stunt that’s used by many major crypto promoters to generate interest among potential buyers and lure them into future investment prospects.
It involves sending free coins or crypto tokens to those individuals who participate in an event set up by the company.
These airdrop events usually come with certain prerequisites to qualify for the giveaway.
Most often these companies ask for the attendees of the event to do small promotional activities such as putting out a tweet on their social media to qualify for the gift.
Other times these startups might only give the tokens to those individuals who already hold a certain amount of crypto tokens in their wallets.
These events are at times set up by fraudsters to extract valuable information from wallet holders who are unaware of such scams.
Here in this article, we will look at a few methods by which these fraudulent activities are committed and the best way to avoid falling prey to these fake setups.
Different Types of Airdrop Scams
Airdrop scams can be carried out in several various ways. Here are a few different ways in which they are often carried out.
Phishing
These kinds of scammers set up websites to mimic a legitimate airdrop and invite participants to reveal sensitive information either regarding their crypto wallets or otherwise.
Once they get access to the wallet address or even private keys to the wallet they will immediately act to drain the wallet or weaken it.
Through the promotion of malicious websites in crypto wallets
Scammers may offer you some NFT rewards or crypto tokens in a negligible amount to stroke your curiosity.
As soon as you click on the website that is attached to the lure you will be facing a serious data breach or loss of your assets.
Dusting Attack
A dusting attack refers to a kind of scam where the scammer sends relatively small amounts of coins to the wallets of the target. These coins which are sent in miniscule amounts are referred to as dust.
The then-sent coins are tracked down by the attacker in an attempt to reveal any details of the crypto wallet owner.
Warning signs to be noted while participating in an Airdrop
These are a few of the things that should be taken as red flags while participating in an airdrop event
Suspicious demands from airdropping company
Whenever a crypto airdrop event is initiated it is important to note that at times the conditions for getting the token would be to increase your stake in the coin by buying a few extra coins or to connect to any link that might be unsafe to visit.
Complying with these demands must be done so with utmost caution as these can almost always be a cause for loss of money or assets in the wallet.
Timing of the airdrop
Certain airdrops get scheduled right after a legitimate event. These airdrops are scheduled to lure people with the legitimacy of the previous event or might be targeted towards those who might have been misinformed about the real airdrop.
These scam events often resonate similarly to legitimate ones and will lure people who are not cautious enough to look at the exact details of their event.
How to Stay Safe
A few simple ways by which you can ensure the safety of your data and assets from such Airdrop Scams are as follows.
Maintaining privacy
Important details like wallet IDs, private keys, and other personal information must not be shared with anyone
Research Thoroughly
Make sure that you thoroughly research the project before you participate in any activity that is organized by them.
Setting up Burner Wallets
Setting up temporary wallets or Burner Wallets for solely accepting airdrops can help you reduce the chances of incurring high losses if there is a compromise in the account.
Staying Updated with Common Scams techniques
Every day new methods to scam people emerge in the market. You must take notice of these common Airdrop scams and update yourself with their ways to avoid getting scammed.
Avoid Phishing Link
Try to avoid clicking on links that appear in your wallet associated with any sort of unsolicited NFT or crypto deposit.
Use legitimate and popular crypto trading and exchange platforms
Try not to experiment with suspicious websites or exchange platforms. It is always better to use well-known platforms like Blockchain, Binance, Coinbase, KuCoin, etc instead of relying on unknown websites.
Conclusion
In this digital age, with more and more upcoming technological advancements it is important to stay updated with the ways and means by which we can get ahead.
Airdrops and cryptocurrencies are some of these new technological advancements that may not be easy to comprehend even for tech-savvy individuals.
We must stay cautious and even with regards to all the pieces of advice listed in the article that you can use to stay safe from danger we must use our common sense and gut instincts before acting on anything that seems too good to be true.
