With cryptocurrencies becoming more and more popular, online scammers are finding new ways to steal money from unsuspecting people who think their money is safe. Anyone can buy, sell, and trade cryptocurrencies through an exchange or blockchain. Platforms suchasBinance, Coinbase, Kraken, and Bitfinex will match up buyers and sellers to make it easier to exchange cryptocurrencies, along with providing tools used to monitor prices and trades, much like the stock exchange and other trading platforms.
Unfortunately, there are plenty of scammers out there who are using fake exchange platforms to rob people of their hard-earned money, such as "frozen wallet" scams!
New Tech, New Scams
Many people who have used these exchanges and other trading platforms are unwittingly becoming victims of scams. Quite often, scammers use social media to engage with people, and then convince them that they can genuinely trade, when they are in fact giving their money to the scammers.
These scammers know what they are doing, and they can make some offers seem very real and very profitable. These are not necessarily new scams, but they have been adapted to make cryptocurrencies traders become their prey. They offer loads of incentives to entice people to use their "platforms", even paying their victims small amounts in order to make them believe that the platforms are genuine and then offering special incentives, such as becoming VIP members by investing large amounts. Once they do this, they find that their investments are suddenly frozen or stuck in this platform, and they can't withdraw any funds.
One Victim's Story
A client who wishes to remain anonymous fell prey to one of these scams. His money became "stuck" in one of these trading platforms. Not only did this happen, but the scammers used his information try and scam him even further!
The client said he was having a nice day relaxing on his back deck when his phone rang. The call was from an unknown number, and when the client answered the phone, the person who was calling asked for him by name, and said that they knew he had money that was stuck in a trading platform. Then, he made the client an offer.
The caller told him that he could "release" the funds that were stuck so the client could access them. All he had to do was pay around 10% of the amount in his digital wallet, and the funds would be released.
Fortunately, he was suspicious and refused the offer. He then learned that there are several methods the scammers use to get more money from their victims. In my case, the client was offered the release of funds for a small fee.
Don't Fall Victim to Frozen Funds Scams!
These days, it is important to be extremely vigilant when it comes to investments, cryptocurrencies, etc. Even the most intelligent people can fall victim to frozen funds scams and other scams. It is important to learn about the scams, and understand how a legitimate Blockchain/Exchange works.
First and foremost, they will never contact you by telephone. The first contact will be done through the Exchange platform's chat, then via email. You will never be asked to pay a fee to release frozen funds. In fact, this isn't even a real thing. "Frozen wallet" or "money stuck" does not happen when you have passwords to your trading account. Finally, your crypto account is completely anonymous. This means that only you can be connected to your crypto wallet. If a scammer is saying there is a crypto wallet in your name, know that they do not actually have this information.
In Summary
If you have been the victim of a "frozen wallet" scam, you may be able to recover the funds that were stolen from you. Online Justice has plenty of experience helping people who have been scammed, and they may be able to help you as well. All is not lost.