In the fast-changing and dynamic cryptocurrency market, presales are a popular way to get in early on a promising investment. They also offer new crypto companies a chance to earn funding and build awareness of their product. However, the emerging crypto scene also draws scammers with sophisticated phishing techniques in their arsenal, who aim to defraud retail and enterprise investors.
Cryptocurrency phishing schemes usually consist of fraudsters mimicking reputable coins or fabricating new ones. These scammers can go so far as to create bogus websites, social media profiles, and email campaigns, with the goal of obtaining sensitive company and financial data. Phishing schemes can also result in an investor sending funds to a scammer instead of a legitimate source.
Verify all communications
Before your company starts investing in new and exciting crypto presales, such as the ones identified by Kane Pepi, it is crucial that you confirm the authenticity of all presale-related communications. To do this effectively, you must first investigate the origins of any messages or offers that you’ve received. If you are being contacted by a legitimate source, they should be contacting you via easily verifiable official channels, i.e. a company email address with a matching domain name. Make sure you verify email addresses, website URLs, and social media accounts, and try to avoid doing business with companies or projects that do not have verified accounts. You should be particularly careful about out-of-the-blue, unsolicited messages with offers that appear just a bit too good to be true, as this is a key feature of phishing schemes.
Implement strong security measures
You need to implement robust security measures to protect your company’s assets and information when engaging in cryptocurrency presales. Consider enabling multi-factor authentication on any accounts used for cryptocurrency transactions, as this adds an extra layer of security in the event that your login details are compromised. Companies with larger holdings or investments should consider investing in hardware wallets, which store cryptocurrency assets offline and are thus much more difficult to compromise.
Educate your employees
Employee education is another key strategy to help protect your company from phishing scams. You should ensure employees are provided with frequent training sessions that can teach them how to spot the key hallmarks of a phishing attack, as well as recommended safety practices and protocols. In particular, staff should be trained to be wary of any company or project offering huge financial returns, or otherwise putting them under time pressure and forcing them to act quickly. Companies should foster a culture in which employees feel comfortable reporting suspicious communications and seeking guidance when they are unsure.
Perform due diligence
Before engaging in any cryptocurrency presale, you must conduct thorough due diligence. It is essential to investigate the project or coin thoroughly, i.e. by looking for red signals like “team members” on a project with no verifiable online presence. You should investigate any alleged relationships or collaborations stated by a crypto project by contacting the named partners and collaborators directly. You should also look to see if the company or project has been professionally audited by a third party, which can provide extra assurance about the legitimacy of the presale cryptocurrency offering.
