WEBVTT - 5 things you need to know about avoiding cryptocurrency scams | EP 10 0:00:05.519 --> 0:00:09.660 Hello. The meteoric rise of cryptocurrencies means many fortunes have 0:00:09.660 --> 0:00:12.420 been made, but money's been lost too. And not just 0:00:12.420 --> 0:00:16.079 because cryptocurrencies are so volatile. I'm Jonathan Pierce from the 0:00:16.079 --> 0:00:19.140 Money Mine team and today we're tackling the five things 0:00:19.140 --> 0:00:23.250 you need to know to avoid cryptocurrency scams. The number 0:00:23.250 --> 0:00:25.709 of scams has gone up as fraudsters cash in on 0:00:25.710 --> 0:00:29.280 the hype over cryptocurrency. In just two years from 2018 0:00:29.280 --> 0:00:34.080 to 2020, Singapore investors have lost around 29 million dollars 0:00:34.080 --> 0:00:38.400 to fraud and cheating in cryptocurrency investments. So what are 0:00:38.400 --> 0:00:41.820 the warning signs of a cryptocurrency scam and how can 0:00:41.820 --> 0:00:45.300 investors protect themselves? Today we have with us home to 0:00:45.300 --> 0:00:49.769 you from crypto exchange. Tokenized Exchange also a crypto investor 0:00:49.770 --> 0:00:51.960 who wishes to be known as the school she lost 0:00:51.960 --> 0:00:55.260 almost all her life savings in a crypto investment scheme. 0:00:55.470 --> 0:00:57.660 Thank you both for being here and welcome to the show. 0:00:57.840 --> 0:00:59.040 Thank you for having us. 0:00:59.240 --> 0:01:01.740 John. All right. Let's start with you. What are some 0:01:01.740 --> 0:01:05.040 methods scammers are using to cheat investors? 0:01:05.130 --> 0:01:09.390 Yeah, the common scam is is that are imposter to 0:01:09.390 --> 0:01:13.550 pretend they are either the buyers or seller of cryptocurrency. 0:01:13.770 --> 0:01:17.009 Many will pretend as a buyer because from there they 0:01:17.010 --> 0:01:20.190 can get a cryptocurrency from the genuine seller and an 0:01:20.190 --> 0:01:23.880 outsider can those people? But there's a short seller or 0:01:24.330 --> 0:01:28.260 some merchandise seller and who then transfer the signals to 0:01:28.260 --> 0:01:32.580 the genuine crypto sell and get a cryptos. It's very 0:01:32.580 --> 0:01:36.209 common and common trend that we can see the seller to. 0:01:36.480 --> 0:01:38.819 Another would be something like what I was part of, 0:01:38.819 --> 0:01:39.740 which was talk. 0:01:39.770 --> 0:01:40.500 Talk would 0:01:40.500 --> 0:01:44.760 give you a percentage every day when you stick your 0:01:44.760 --> 0:01:46.740 money with them or you stick your crypto 0:01:46.740 --> 0:01:47.880 with them as you are 0:01:47.880 --> 0:01:51.270 sticking your crypto with them, they will give you bank 0:01:51.270 --> 0:01:55.590 a very small percentage, like 0.4 percent or something like 0:01:55.590 --> 0:01:56.130 that every 0:01:56.130 --> 0:01:57.120 day and 0:01:57.120 --> 0:02:00.060 you just accumulate the crypto, also known 0:02:00.060 --> 0:02:01.620 as. And they said 0:02:01.620 --> 0:02:02.070 that talk 0:02:02.160 --> 0:02:03.880 is worth 0.05 0:02:03.880 --> 0:02:04.980 U.S. dollars or 0:02:04.980 --> 0:02:06.570 USD. So at 0:02:06.570 --> 0:02:09.450 the end of it, we were able to withdraw our 0:02:09.810 --> 0:02:11.490 coins and we were able to 0:02:11.490 --> 0:02:13.410 also very easily 0:02:13.440 --> 0:02:16.650 switch it to other currencies. But unknown to us, we 0:02:16.650 --> 0:02:18.120 actually are 0:02:18.120 --> 0:02:22.200 unable to cash out the crypto because it didn't 0:02:22.200 --> 0:02:23.610 exist. I found out that 0:02:23.610 --> 0:02:26.430 it didn't exist only later on because I was able 0:02:26.430 --> 0:02:29.700 to cash out and withdraw my crypto several times over 0:02:29.700 --> 0:02:30.209 the year. 0:02:30.360 --> 0:02:33.270 And it was this year New Chinese New Year that 0:02:33.270 --> 0:02:36.900 we were unable to withdraw any of our crypto assets 0:02:36.900 --> 0:02:41.040 in there or any crypto that has been converted from coins. 0:02:41.280 --> 0:02:43.920 On hindsight, would you describe it like a Ponzi scheme? 0:02:44.160 --> 0:02:47.820 I wouldn't say is exactly a Ponzi scheme because a 0:02:47.820 --> 0:02:51.330 Ponzi scheme has to have like several layers. We were 0:02:51.330 --> 0:02:54.630 our own layers, so to speak. When they told our 0:02:54.630 --> 0:02:55.320 leaders 0:02:55.320 --> 0:02:56.670 to recruit us, 0:02:56.669 --> 0:02:57.600 our leaders actually 0:02:57.600 --> 0:02:59.130 told us instead of recruiting 0:02:59.130 --> 0:03:02.220 friends, we could put ourselves and our own 0:03:02.220 --> 0:03:03.660 accounts. We can put 0:03:03.660 --> 0:03:04.260 minimum 0:03:04.260 --> 0:03:05.490 in each up to 0:03:05.490 --> 0:03:10.410 seven levels down. We actually will get back more percentage 0:03:10.410 --> 0:03:13.290 every day than if we were to put a very 0:03:13.290 --> 0:03:16.410 big amount in just one account. So they told us 0:03:16.410 --> 0:03:21.060 how to split our money into tiny little portions and 0:03:21.060 --> 0:03:22.889 put them in altogether. 0:03:22.889 --> 0:03:23.160 I think 0:03:23.160 --> 0:03:24.419 49 accounts. 0:03:24.750 --> 0:03:25.620 But it was a 0:03:25.620 --> 0:03:27.030 little different for me because 0:03:27.030 --> 0:03:27.690 I was 0:03:27.690 --> 0:03:30.139 a little skeptical in the beginning, so I started off 0:03:30.150 --> 0:03:32.700 with one account. So from the first 0:03:32.700 --> 0:03:33.750 line, I meet 0:03:33.750 --> 0:03:38.010 enough to buy another minimum account. And then when I 0:03:38.010 --> 0:03:41.220 meet enough again, I'll buy another minimum account. I wouldn't 0:03:41.220 --> 0:03:44.760 see my entire life savings was there, but it was 0:03:44.760 --> 0:03:45.869 a huge amount. 0:03:45.900 --> 0:03:47.130 The opportunity 0:03:47.130 --> 0:03:49.140 cost was actually worse than the 0:03:49.140 --> 0:03:51.420 amount itself. Yeah, definitely. OK. 0:03:51.780 --> 0:03:54.540 Let's bring you back into the conversation. No scams are 0:03:54.550 --> 0:03:57.660 not a new thing. What is different about crypto scams? 0:03:58.110 --> 0:04:01.170 The fundamental of the scam is still pretty much the same, 0:04:01.320 --> 0:04:04.530 and I try to do a little investor using the great, 0:04:04.800 --> 0:04:08.010 you know, they don't believe there is no business model 0:04:08.010 --> 0:04:12.630 behind the object is to either store their customer precious 0:04:12.630 --> 0:04:14.380 monies in terms of prey 0:04:14.820 --> 0:04:17.160 earlier in school. You also spoke about the use of 0:04:17.160 --> 0:04:20.490 legitimate websites, even bank websites. Maybe. How did they get 0:04:20.490 --> 0:04:22.919 around this and how can we tell the real ones 0:04:22.920 --> 0:04:23.789 from the fake ones 0:04:23.970 --> 0:04:24.450 they use 0:04:24.450 --> 0:04:26.540 what we call phishing P-H 0:04:26.779 --> 0:04:27.150 as 0:04:27.480 --> 0:04:28.950 AMG? They don't 0:04:28.950 --> 0:04:32.670 have the same website, obviously, but they have website addresses 0:04:32.670 --> 0:04:33.300 that are very 0:04:33.300 --> 0:04:34.469 similar. Their logo 0:04:34.470 --> 0:04:35.820 will look very similar, but 0:04:35.820 --> 0:04:37.349 not quite, and it 0:04:37.350 --> 0:04:41.969 would also have all the features and the same description 0:04:41.970 --> 0:04:42.240 and 0:04:42.240 --> 0:04:44.130 details, but it's actually a 0:04:44.130 --> 0:04:46.560 phishing site. So to be able to decipher 0:04:46.560 --> 0:04:48.029 those type, you have to 0:04:48.029 --> 0:04:49.590 be around long enough and 0:04:49.589 --> 0:04:51.659 you need to double check reviews 0:04:51.660 --> 0:04:55.080 on the app because usually the real sites and real 0:04:55.080 --> 0:04:59.220 applications will have a lot more reviews. Fake ones usually 0:04:59.220 --> 0:05:01.229 don't have much reviews, or if there 0:05:01.230 --> 0:05:02.700 are reviews, then it 0:05:02.700 --> 0:05:04.839 would be saying that. They are fake. 0:05:05.860 --> 0:05:08.680 Yeah. Maybe like it is. I think the purpose for 0:05:08.740 --> 0:05:12.310 this kind of scam surfacing is the scammer or the 0:05:12.310 --> 0:05:15.820 hacker behind the scenes one the user to enter the TV, 0:05:15.820 --> 0:05:18.789 a real password. This is not just happening in the 0:05:18.790 --> 0:05:22.210 crypto industry. I think Banes has faced this tremendous time 0:05:22.210 --> 0:05:25.839 to show that they are over the website address, almost 0:05:25.839 --> 0:05:29.560 as similar to banks by imposters, right? So they get 0:05:29.560 --> 0:05:31.900 your password after that and try to lock in and 0:05:31.900 --> 0:05:34.510 hide your account. So if those users will be then 0:05:34.510 --> 0:05:38.440 use multi-factor authentication, the account can get compromised 0:05:38.440 --> 0:05:40.060 as well, not just their 0:05:40.060 --> 0:05:41.020 account being 0:05:41.020 --> 0:05:42.700 compromised. They actually 0:05:42.700 --> 0:05:43.330 have all the 0:05:43.330 --> 0:05:44.919 wallets set up, so people 0:05:44.920 --> 0:05:46.930 will put in the money into the 0:05:46.930 --> 0:05:47.320 wallet. 0:05:47.500 --> 0:05:50.140 So a lot of them are like new users who 0:05:50.140 --> 0:05:51.109 don't know better. 0:05:51.730 --> 0:05:54.310 So how can a social media account in terms of 0:05:54.370 --> 0:05:56.980 looking at reviews and also trying to assess which ones 0:05:56.980 --> 0:05:57.780 are the real ones? 0:05:58.220 --> 0:06:01.479 Facebook or even any other social media, you can do 0:06:01.480 --> 0:06:04.090 a verification and you get a boutique. And the good 0:06:04.089 --> 0:06:07.279 thing is that the beauty is the ID, so only 0:06:07.310 --> 0:06:10.270 trust those bits where there is a move. That's one 0:06:10.480 --> 0:06:13.420 in which I read the page on identity. 0:06:13.870 --> 0:06:16.120 OK, so let's be careful before we have to be 0:06:16.120 --> 0:06:19.280 careful of sites that are using phishing to get your details. 0:06:19.450 --> 0:06:22.570 They look very similar to the actual sites, but just 0:06:22.570 --> 0:06:25.839 something may be a bit off looking for reviews also 0:06:25.839 --> 0:06:28.029 help checking it out on social media what people are 0:06:28.029 --> 0:06:30.070 talking about, so that would be another thing to take 0:06:30.070 --> 0:06:33.160 note of. The next thing, I guess, would be how 0:06:33.160 --> 0:06:35.469 do you spot the scam? So you knew what you 0:06:35.470 --> 0:06:38.080 were saying when something sounds too good to be true? 0:06:38.110 --> 0:06:40.450 Should investors be hearing warning bells? 0:06:40.900 --> 0:06:43.690 Yeah, but the real challenge of the travel industry is 0:06:43.690 --> 0:06:46.779 that they are all platform. I know they require really 0:06:46.779 --> 0:06:49.180 a lot of what we call it the you do 0:06:49.180 --> 0:06:53.510 your own research. The researchers need a lot validations and 0:06:53.510 --> 0:06:56.950 tuning capital sizing right only put the money. That loss 0:06:57.060 --> 0:07:00.480 is very crucial. And another thing is also that for tokenized, 0:07:00.550 --> 0:07:03.100 you go to a licensing process if you have a 0:07:03.100 --> 0:07:06.640 third base and that then simple photo licensing process to 0:07:06.640 --> 0:07:10.000 really give retail investor confidence and on the base of 0:07:10.000 --> 0:07:10.940 acceptability 0:07:11.410 --> 0:07:14.080 talk didn't have any of those red flags. They had 0:07:14.080 --> 0:07:17.290 a proper governance. They had a proper board of directors, 0:07:17.290 --> 0:07:18.220 the directors 0:07:18.220 --> 0:07:19.390 that were very well 0:07:19.390 --> 0:07:20.860 known in the crypto 0:07:20.860 --> 0:07:22.270 industry. They had 0:07:22.270 --> 0:07:23.860 people who were giving talks 0:07:23.860 --> 0:07:25.390 every week, and now they 0:07:25.390 --> 0:07:28.630 still say that they are not a scam. It's just 0:07:28.630 --> 0:07:31.630 that someone ran away with all the money and he 0:07:31.630 --> 0:07:34.450 was not authorized to treat. I think the best 0:07:34.450 --> 0:07:35.740 thing is to tell 0:07:35.740 --> 0:07:37.810 newbies not to trust any 0:07:37.810 --> 0:07:38.950 platforms, go to 0:07:38.950 --> 0:07:39.340 trust, to 0:07:39.340 --> 0:07:40.570 exchanges a lot of 0:07:40.570 --> 0:07:41.200 exchanges 0:07:41.200 --> 0:07:42.640 right now. You are able 0:07:42.640 --> 0:07:45.070 to use your seeing pass to sign up. That is 0:07:45.070 --> 0:07:48.430 a sure sign that it's definitely not a scam site. 0:07:48.700 --> 0:07:51.010 In addition to this MySQL, I assume you are still 0:07:51.010 --> 0:07:54.190 investing in this. What safeguarding measures are you taking now 0:07:54.190 --> 0:07:55.750 to protect your crypto investments? 0:07:56.110 --> 0:07:59.890 I'm treating myself, and I managed to treat and get 0:07:59.890 --> 0:08:03.880 back whatever I lost in part, which was very fortunate because, 0:08:03.880 --> 0:08:05.260 as I mentioned, it was a bull 0:08:05.260 --> 0:08:06.730 run and they said they were trying 0:08:06.730 --> 0:08:09.880 to shut a bull run, which is impossible. So the 0:08:09.880 --> 0:08:12.760 bull run was very lucky because we've tricky. I meet 0:08:12.760 --> 0:08:16.150 back the 30k that I lost. So yeah, that was 0:08:16.210 --> 0:08:17.470 a super lucky thing. 0:08:17.710 --> 0:08:19.270 So right now, I'm just more 0:08:19.270 --> 0:08:23.860 careful and I wouldn't be investing in other people's platforms 0:08:23.860 --> 0:08:26.590 because I think my own trading get better returns 0:08:26.860 --> 0:08:28.670 to you on the other side. What are some of 0:08:28.690 --> 0:08:31.540 safeguards that you guys have in place to help 0:08:31.810 --> 0:08:35.670 for tokenized one of the fall license arrangement? Ensure we 0:08:35.679 --> 0:08:39.140 put all of regulations at a Singapore. You're saying that 0:08:39.190 --> 0:08:43.510 final face to optimal license under a mask governance? This 0:08:43.510 --> 0:08:46.809 are the measure that we want to give our users confidence. 0:08:46.900 --> 0:08:49.630 What do you guys do in terms of surveillance? Maybe 0:08:49.630 --> 0:08:51.610 tell me about the hot and cold wallets as well. 0:08:51.700 --> 0:08:54.340 Oh yeah, sure. Most of the attention we have to 0:08:54.340 --> 0:08:58.390 wallet structure in place, we have all small threshold in 0:08:58.390 --> 0:09:02.780 how fair is for operation purposes so that clients can 0:09:02.780 --> 0:09:05.770 withdraw their funds in real time. Then majority of the 0:09:05.770 --> 0:09:08.830 crypto we put in the core, which is a so-called 0:09:08.920 --> 0:09:13.520 custody where all the disconnect from the internet is just 0:09:13.780 --> 0:09:15.640 a safe environment for me. 0:09:15.640 --> 0:09:18.280 I don't really have a cold wallet, but what I 0:09:18.280 --> 0:09:21.790 do is that I buy. Then I sell and then 0:09:21.790 --> 0:09:27.219 I withdraw into Singapore dollars straight away. It's not as convenient, 0:09:27.220 --> 0:09:30.700 but well, I get my money out of the exchanges 0:09:30.700 --> 0:09:31.840 very frequently. 0:09:32.170 --> 0:09:34.210 Well, that's interesting. So in other words, you're in and 0:09:34.210 --> 0:09:36.550 out a lot faster than you were before. That's a 0:09:36.550 --> 0:09:37.240 new change. 0:09:37.330 --> 0:09:40.600 Yes, I sell as soon as I make money in, 0:09:40.600 --> 0:09:42.940 I buy again when it drops. So is the buy 0:09:42.940 --> 0:09:43.750 low sell high. 0:09:43.900 --> 0:09:46.330 All right, so let's recap a bit. First of all, 0:09:46.330 --> 0:09:49.179 we have to look out for suspicious websites that are 0:09:49.179 --> 0:09:52.569 using phishing. I've also heard about fake initial coin offerings. 0:09:53.150 --> 0:09:55.360 You have to check our claims on social media, look 0:09:55.360 --> 0:09:59.410 for reviews. Other warning signs could also be in terms 0:09:59.440 --> 0:10:02.410 of your own research. Right? That's what you were talking about. 0:10:02.800 --> 0:10:05.260 And also, maybe it's good to. Go with the exchanges 0:10:05.260 --> 0:10:08.679 that are more famous, that come more recommended, and of course, 0:10:08.710 --> 0:10:10.720 those are linked to the thing path in Singapore is 0:10:10.720 --> 0:10:14.530 a legitimate site going forward, though. Where would you get 0:10:14.530 --> 0:10:17.140 your research now, this school? Which sites do you go 0:10:17.140 --> 0:10:19.479 to to find out whether this is a good trip 0:10:19.480 --> 0:10:19.970 to Iran? 0:10:20.260 --> 0:10:24.460 I go to CoinGecko and I go to Germany. They 0:10:24.460 --> 0:10:26.200 have all the latest crypto news. 0:10:26.470 --> 0:10:30.280 I also check out other websites about cryptocurrency 0:10:30.340 --> 0:10:32.770 as Cointelegraph as well. I do a lot of reading 0:10:32.770 --> 0:10:35.350 and a lot of research. So any claims that I'm 0:10:35.350 --> 0:10:38.320 interested in? Well, I'm actually interested in like three of 0:10:38.320 --> 0:10:40.429 the coins at the moment. So I read up about 0:10:40.429 --> 0:10:43.060 all the 30 coins. What are the latest developments? 0:10:43.090 --> 0:10:44.200 I try to keep abreast 0:10:44.200 --> 0:10:46.900 of all the latest developments and there are many and 0:10:46.900 --> 0:10:48.520 they are happening almost every day 0:10:48.760 --> 0:10:51.070 to you. What is your advice for investors? Where can 0:10:51.070 --> 0:10:52.390 they get the right information? 0:10:52.720 --> 0:10:56.080 I really agree with full schedule and even tokenized. We 0:10:56.080 --> 0:11:00.760 also have large divisions in our Telegram and Facebook, so 0:11:01.120 --> 0:11:04.330 I'll try to help our users and community to enhance 0:11:04.330 --> 0:11:06.910 our knowledge in this space and keep them up to date. 0:11:07.120 --> 0:11:10.270 Yeah, for cryptocurrency, knowledge is really power, so I'll have 0:11:10.270 --> 0:11:12.940 to read more, do more research, do your own due 0:11:12.940 --> 0:11:14.109 diligence as well. 0:11:14.410 --> 0:11:15.040 So that's why I 0:11:15.040 --> 0:11:16.480 learned from this scam that I was 0:11:16.480 --> 0:11:18.189 involved in. So very glad 0:11:18.190 --> 0:11:20.859 it happened early when I didn't have that much money 0:11:20.860 --> 0:11:21.280 to lose. 0:11:21.760 --> 0:11:23.440 I think on that note, that's a good place for 0:11:23.440 --> 0:11:25.660 us to leave it. So the lessons to learn here 0:11:25.660 --> 0:11:28.420 research as much as you can. Knowledge is power. If 0:11:28.420 --> 0:11:31.720 you say use technology to call wallets to store your investments, 0:11:32.170 --> 0:11:36.040 look out for warning signs. Phishing sites check the claims 0:11:36.040 --> 0:11:38.770 of the social media to as much looking at reviews 0:11:38.770 --> 0:11:42.040 and things like that. Beware of Ponzi schemes and others, 0:11:42.220 --> 0:11:44.620 and especially be wary of offers that are too good 0:11:44.620 --> 0:11:47.440 to be true. All right, so for everyone listening, I 0:11:47.440 --> 0:11:49.569 hope you picked up a tip or two to join 0:11:49.570 --> 0:11:51.970 us again next time. And thank you so much, visco 0:11:51.970 --> 0:11:53.589 and to you for joining us today. Thank you 0:11:53.590 --> 0:11:55.030 very much. Goodbye. 0:11:55.150 --> 0:11:55.810 Bye bye.