This has led to the rise of fake ICOs which, with some slick marketing and a little bit of hype, can convince people to buy a cryptocurrency that doesn't actually exist. Both were later shown to be multi-level marketing (MLM) scams. IFan was meant to be a social media platform for celebrities and Pincoin promised 40% monthly returns to investors. In April 2018, the Pincoin and iFan ICOs, run by the same Vietnam-based company, are believed to have cheated more than 30,000 investors out of a combined total of $660 million.

Don't trust unsolicited emails or phone calls.

So if you're ever contacted out of the blue by someone overseas promising you a share in a large sum of digital currency if you help them transfer funds out of their own country, use your common sense and recognize it for the scam it is. The tried-and-tested 'Nigerian prince' scam has also migrated into the world of cryptocurrency. This fictional tax man will try to convince you that you owe the IRS money and you'll be facing legal action if you don't transfer them a certain amount of Bitcoin as soon as possible. The classic example of this is an unsolicited phone call or email from someone claiming to be with the IRS.

These apps asked Poloniex users to enter their account credentials, thereby giving fraudsters a way to perform transactions on behalf of users and even lock victims out of their own accounts.Ĭryptos may be based on new technology, but there are still plenty of scammers using old tricks to con unwitting consumers. Two of the apps, 'Poloniex' and 'Poloniex Exchange,' were downloaded more than 5,500 times before they were removed from the store.

In 2017, crypto exchange Poloniex was the target of a sophisticated scam that saw at least three fraudulent Poloniex trading apps listed on the Google Play store. All international money transfer services.

Is playnow a scam