If you’re in the crypto sphere on Twitter, then you’re probably aware of the multitude of fake crypto Twitter accounts that are spamming scam giveaways. Like an annoying mosquito, these tweets just keep on coming – so, how much of a problem is it really?
Almost all of the big honchos of crypto have had their accounts imitated – from crypto founders to crypto exchanges – and for some of the names, it’s hard to spot the difference between real and fake (i.e. @SatoshiLite – real – vs. @SatoshliLite – fake).
The fake accounts then start posting and replying to tweets that if you send them a small amount of crypto (ETH, LTC, etc.), they’ll send you back an even larger amount – which is, of course, a scam!
An example of a scam (don’t go to the link)
The positive replies to tweets like this, that the giveaway worked, reek of bot talk – so don’t fall for that either.
The spread of these scams has gotten so abundant that some people in the crypto world are going as far as changing their Twitter names. Ethereum’s co-founder Vitalik Buterin is now Vitalik “Not giving away ETH” Buterin (@VitalikButerin).
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Many legit accounts have tweeted warnings about the scams, such as Binance’s tweet below.
Alert!
Scammers are impersonating official Binance accounts and tweeting to ask for deposits to specific addresses in return for gifts.
You will lose your tokens if you do this!
Binance will never ask you to send coins directly to any address for any reason.
— Binance (@binance) February 12, 2018[2]
It’s difficult
