Conclusion, Mini-Glossary, and References

Published by Franziska on

Conclusion

Cryptocurrencies are becoming increasingly popular and are no longer just a gaming niche for special enthusiasts. Along with this increase in value comes a host of ever-changing and new scams. Unfortunately, the unregulated and private nature of the market makes it ideal for criminals trying to take money out of investors’ pockets. Most scams occur when new investors lack the necessary experience.

Mini-Glossary

  • Airdrops – free coins or tokens.
  • Double Spend – a transaction through which the same money can be spent multiple times by the same person.
  • Fear of missing out or FOMO for short – the fear of missing out on something. Often, with the promise of high returns, potential sellers are simultaneously made to fear missing out on big profits.
  • Layering – stolen goods are gradually divided into smaller and smaller amounts in order to cover traces or “launder” the money.
  • Scammer – a person who cheats
  • Scamming – this generally refers to scams that criminals use to steal money from people.
  • Token – A Smart Contract that assigns a “voucher” to a user. Tokens can represent different rights like the right to use a service (utility tokens), participate on the value of a service (security tokens), means of exchange, etc.

References

[1] Pump & Dump https://arxiv.org/abs/1811.10109

[2] Malware: https://www.welivesecurity.com/deutsch/2018/02/28/kryptowaehrungen-fake-apps-android/

[3] Cryptocurrency.crime Report: https://ciphertrace.com/2020-year-end-cryptocurrency-crime-and-anti-money-laundering-report/

[4] Snowbal system: https://blog.hslu.ch/economiccrime/files/2021/04/Saskia-Gerber-Lowsky_web.pdf

[5] OneCoin: https://www.capital.de/geld-versicherungen/der-onecoin-betrug-da-war-nichts?article_onepage=true und https://de.slideshare.net/OneCoin1/the-story-of-onecoin

[6] Ponzi https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/news/cftc-files-lawsuit-against-control-finance-for-147-million-fraud/

[7] Ponzi compared to snowball system https://academy.binance.com/de/articles/pyramid-and-ponzi-schemes

[8] QuadrigaCX https://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/web/quadrigacx-untersuchung-foerdert-betrug-und-absurdes-zutage-a-1274207.html

[9] EY Reports about QuadrigaCX https://documentcentre.ey.com/#/detail-engmt?eid=342

[10] Coinroom https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/news/coinroom-exchange-disappeared-overnight-with-customers-funds/

[11] Bitsane https://www.btc-echo.de/news/bitsane-bitcoin-boerse-verschwindet-mit-nutzer-geldern-74401/

[12] 51-percent-attack https://blog.coinbase.com/ethereum-classic-etc-is-currently-being-51-attacked-33be13ce32de

[13] Honeypots https://hackernoon.com/hacking-the-hackers-honeypots-on-ethereum-network-5baa35a13577

[14] Honeypot example https://www.reddit.com/r/ethdev/comments/7x5rwr/tricked_by_a_honeypot_contract_or_beaten_by/

[15] Africrypt https://www.heise.de/news/Krypto-Plattform-Africrypt-Betreiber-verschwinden-mit-69-000-Bitcoins-6116744.html

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