How To Stay Safe In Web3
Feeling unsure about web3? Here are some tips for playing it safe.
How To Stay Safe In Web3 is often not as simple as one might hope…
Web3, much like any other industry, is riddled with its fair share of scammy behavior. But Web3 its self is anything but a scam. In fact it’s merely a natural evolution of the internet.
One of the biggest problems we have in web3 is that we (the crypto community at large) have unfortunately created a system that incentivizes low quality projects and scams, while creating barriers for the real builders. In this article we discuss some things to look out for, some common mistakes, and we go over a list of things you can do to play it safe in Web3.
If you have been around the Crypto/NFT space for even a short period of time, its likely you have seen at least one scam. $7.7 billion in crypto was stolen by scammers last year. Hopefully you have avoided falling victim to any of them.
Below are some common scams and behaviors to avoid:
If there is pressure or a short time interval where you need to make a decision with crypto, NFTs or anything in web3... The chances are it’s a scam.
If anyone asks you to send them crypto and they will send you a multiple back Example: ( send me 1 ETH I will send you back 2ETH), its a scam. Nobody is giving away free crypto unless its an airdrop for something specific, which leads me to the next common scam.
Phishing is the fraudulent practice of sending emails purporting to be from reputable companies in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.
While its played out a bit different in the Crypto/NFT space its essentially the same thing. One way this is done is through RFID Skimming (card not present fraud).
Basically a criminal can hide a scanner e.g. inside a glove or a bag, and then place it close to the victim and wirelessly steal the victim's payment card information. With the wirelessly obtained payment card information, the criminal can use it to make fraudulent purchases online. another way scammers weasel your info from you is when fraudulent actors will airdrop a token with a smart contract that allows the sender to take over the recipients wallet causing them to lose their assets.
Long story short…
Never engage with anonymous tokens in your wallet!
Some Solutions:
To prevent phishing attempts on your crypto debit cards by devices that draw information from your card using bluetooth technology a simple yet effective solution is RFID Wallets.
A study done by Nord vpn, while exploring the question “Does RFID blocking actually work?” Concluded: RFID blocking materials can effectively prevent the scanning function on a card or passport, and the range of products that boast this feature is steadily growing. Everything from wallets to waterproof fanny packs now support RFID blocking capabilities
Identifying the Crypto Wallet (not to be confused with the RFID wallet) and analyzing it is critical for a web3 investor. Otherwise, you risk throwing money into a scam. Familiarizing yourself with Etherscan is your best chance at this. Here is an article by Binance that does a great job at explaining What Etherscan is and how to use it.
Always Do Your Own Research (DYOR)
This is a term often used in the web3 space regarding fomo (fear of missing out) which tends to cause novice investors to make a hasty decision based on a narrow time frame or threat of a missed opportunity. I am here to tell you from experience, while there are missed opportunities, there are trillions of opportunities every day. Take your time to make sure the team is sound, check to make sure the accounts are old enough and have community engagement, and never send crypto to anyone unless you are ready to never see it again.
If you reach a point to where you feel lost, there are many groups out there who provide services to assist individuals as well as businesses with onboarding into web3.
While we of course would first recommend Meta-Builders as we do all of these things listed below and we have carefully curated our community based on merit and their for trust our community more than anyone else, here is an alternative list of organizations and influencers that we have built trust with over the years that we would recommend looking into for guidance on various aspects of the web3 space.
Metaverse MetaGame , Moloch Digital , Bolt
Crypto Consultants Bitcoin Consultants World Wide
NFT Gaming Crypto Stache
Music 3.0 Metajax , Third Planet Studios
Web3 Publishing PageDAO
We wish you all the success available to you and encourage you to subscribe to Meta-Builder Media to stay up to date on all things Web3.
Sources: Nord VPN Article