5 min readWhy do People Fall for Crypto Scams?

It is a well-known fact that the cryptocurrency scene is overloaded with scams that take advantage of unaware and naive people. This article will talk about why people end up getting scammed and what they can do to avoid repeating the same mistakes in the future. If you’ve been scammed, or know someone that has been scammed this article will give you some insight and advice.

People get scammed and it is normal. Disregard any feelings of guilt or that you “should have been smarter”. It’s an experience connected with loss, so it is painful, but you should make the best of it and learn a lesson. Some people simply want to take advantage of you, your desires, goals, ambitions and do not actually care about fulfilling their part of the bargain. The most important thing to understand is that it can happen to anybody, and the last thing you should do is blame yourself for falling for the scam. Personally, I’ve been scammed twice and both times I needed something important and fast, which is a perfect recipe for scammers.

There is often a sense of urgency

Human beings are driven by emotion. This is the reason why scams actually work. Most often, scammers are successful when they position themselves as problem solvers, people that know how to deal with a specific, urgent, and important problem you may have.

They will claim they know the solution and can make the problem disappear fast and easy, but you have to act fast. Depending on your stress levels, this can be a seen as a gift from the gods, “finally, a solution has appeared after searching for so long”. You tell yourself “My problems will soon be over.” before sending that transaction. Especially with cryptocurrency, this is a non-refundable payment. There is no charge-back. See, scammers thrive on urgency, just like any other business trying to get people to buy their products or services. The exact same model is used in legitimate sales, with the customer receiving a product or service (and a money-back guarantee) at the end of the experience.

The solution is not to stress about problems and avoiding to fall under the influence of supposedly fast and easy solutions. Keep solving the issue step-by-step, and implement the rest of the solutions below to figure out if you are dealing with a scammer or legitimate provider.

Ask more questions

Most scammers are looking for easy prey, so it is your responsibility to avoid becoming a victim. The easiest way to do this is to ask a lot of questions about whatever they are offering. They should be willing to tell you more about their process without any problems. Great people will also provide proof of authenticity, either by referring you to another individual or company or by giving you access to the product and service beforehand, so you can test it out yourself.

Asking more questions can only create positive benefits towards identifying a person as a scammer or not. There is no completely effective method because some scammers are ready for your questions. They have taken measures to prepare answers and create any documents that you may request.

Perform due-diligence

Check, check, check. There are thousands of scammers that are pretending to be somebody they are not. Most often somebody recognizable that people can get excited about. Like we said before, these people rely on emotions such as excitement, anger, frustration, stress to get you to do things which you wouldn’t do otherwise.

People are emotional beings, and we use logic to justify our actions. Don’t create the story that gets you involved in a scam. Make your priority to check the validity of this person’s statements first before you even start considering if the offer is for you. Avoid the rash decisions that end up costing you money.

The best way to achieve diligence is to request something that demonstrates they own the media channel, they provide the product, service, or can actually solve the problem. Have them make a private video on their YouTube channel and share it with you. Have them show you pieces of previous work, and reach out to the publications. Have them connect you with other people that have used their services. Have them join you on a Skype call. None of this is 100%, but it increases the challenge of the sale, and this has a tendency to demotivate people’s intention to scam.

This may lead them to lose interest and to look at you as a difficult person to scam. The point is to keep calm and rational because they get you on emotions. If you see somebody urging you to do things “right now!” that’s a giant red flag, and it’s your responsibility to see it.

There are no guaranteed profits

Accept the fact that you have to create value for others and impact people’s lives if you want to be rich. There is no overnight prosperity unless you win the lottery. Even that does not make you rich, because the rich have more assets than liabilities (thanks Robert Kiyosaki), and it has nothing to do with the amount of money you have on hand. It has everything to do with cash flow.

Banish this idea that you can get rich overnight, and accept reality. Now you are immune to scam attempts that rely on the idea that people believe in such unrealistic concepts. Not all money making content, strategy, and promises are fake, but the ones that guarantee are literally dishonest. Nobody can guarantee you that you will make money, but they can promise to give you your money back if you are not satisfied with the product or service.

Conclusion

People make decisions based on emotions. If you do not let problems overwhelm you, scammers will have a very hard time getting you convinced to fall for their games. This means keeping calm and realistic is essential to your efforts in avoiding scams.

Cryptocurrency has been a very lucrative business model for people looking to take advantage of others. The majority of new users do not truly understand the technology, and most of them do not want to gain this understanding. Don’t be like that. Open your mind to learning more, and understanding more. By listening carefully, asking the right questions, demanding proof, eliminating urgency, and performing due diligence, you can often get to the bottom of things.

Featured Image via BigStock.