Scams, identity theft and cybercrimes threaten everyone.
Every year people lose billions of dollars to scams, identity theft and cybercrime. No one is immune to these dangers. Young and old alike are victims and if you think you are too smart to become a victim, you are wrong. According to the National Association of Securities Dealers wealthy, financially literate and astute people are actually more likely to become victims of financial scams.
The key to protecting yourself from scams cybercrime and identity theft is education and that is where Scamicide.com comes in. Here at Scamicide.com you will learn how to recognize scams, cyber security threats and risks of identity theft as well as how to avoid them. Here at Scamicide.com we also alert you each and every day to the latest developments in scams, cyber security and identity theft and tell you what you need to do to protect yourself. It is a dangerous world out there, but Scamicide.com can help you make it safer.
Scam of the day – April 22, 2026 – Cryptocurrency Scams Surging
The recent released FBI annual Internet Crime Report for 2025 highlights that cryptocurrency scams were responsible for half of all cybercrime losses last year with losses topping $11 billion. There are a variety of scams that utilize cryptocurrencies as a hook including:
- Scammers contacting their victims through social media or text messages offering high or guaranteed profits through fake cryptocurrency investments and trading platforms.
- Pig butchering scams where scammers perpetrate romance scams in which after taking time to build trust and emotional attachment on the part of their victims they urge their victim to invest in their fake cryptocurrencies and trading platforms.
- Scammers pose as support agents for legitimate cryptocurrency platforms telling their victims that their cryptocurrency wallets have been compromised and they need to share their cryptocurrency keys or recovery phrases in order to protect their funds.
- Free cryptocurrencies being given away by celebrities as shown in social media videos.
TIPS
Always be wary of any promises of guaranteed profits or profits that appear to good to be true. Also, you can check out whether a particular cryptocurrency platform is registered with the SEC at https://www.sec.gov/edgar. You can also check out the legitimacy of cryptocurrency platforms at CoinMarketCap – https://coinmarketcap.com or Coin Gecko https://www.coingecko.com. The apps used in the pig butchering scam may appear to be legitimate, but they are not found on official app platforms such as Google Play or the Apple App Store. In this case while the compromised app has been removed from the Apple App Store, it still presently can be found on the Google Play store Do your homework before investing in cryptocurrencies and only do business with well established cryptocurrency exchanges. Never invest merely because of the recommendation of someone you may have met online.
Your digital wallet is where the key that allows you to access your cryptocurrency account is found. If your key falls into the hands of a hacker, you can easily lose all of your cryptocurrency account so it is of paramount importance to secure your digital wallet. Digital wallets can either be hot wallets or cold wallets. Hot wallets are connected to the Internet which makes them more susceptible to being hacked which is why a cold wallet which is not connected to the Internet, but rather is is kept in a portable hard drive is your best bet.
When doing cryptocurrency transactions online, use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to provide encryption for your communications which will make the transactions more secure and refrain from using public WIFI for cryptocurrency transactions. Use a strong, complex password for your account and consider using a password manager or store your password on a portable hard drive that you keep in a secure spot.
Use dual factor authentication for your account for additional security, however, it is important to note that many cryptocurrency thefts have occurred when hackers were able to defeat dual factor authentication through SIM swapping whereby they contact the cell phone service provider of their victim, answer a security question and manage to get the cell phone service provider to switch the phone number of the victim to a phone controlled by the criminal thus defeating the dual factor authentication.
The best thing you can do to protect your SIM card from being swapped is to set up a PIN or password to be used for access to your mobile service provider account. This will help prevent a criminal from calling your carrier posing as you and convincing your mobile carrier to swap your SIM card to the criminal’s phone merely by providing personal identifying information or answering a security question.
Finally, I strongly urge anyone considering investing in cryptocurrencies as well as any investment to research the investment thoroughly before investing. No one should ever invest in anything they do not fully understand.
If you are not a subscriber to Scamicide.com and would like to receive free daily emails with the Scam of the day, all you need to do is sign up for free using this link. https://scamicide.com/scam-of-the-day/
RECENT BOOKS BY STEVE
