How To Avoid Trading Bot Scams
Each technological innovation offers a balance.
On one side of the scale you have interesting new technologies with exciting and often lucrative opportunities, while on the other side, you create new avenues for scammers to try and exploit you.
Knowing which side you’re dealing with comes from experience and being able to identify classic scammer signals.
This guide will help prepare you for the worst, by arming you with some of the best security practices when it comes to trading memecoins.
What Are Trading Bot Scams?
Crypto trading bot scams are frustrating and malicious schemes that aim to exploit investors’ trust, leverage their technological enthusiasm, and ultimately steal their cryptocurrency through co-ordinated manipulation.
Their goal is to drain the cryptocurrency wallets of their victims, siphon off the funds, and wash the coins as quickly as they can before being detected.
How Do Trading Bot Scams Work?
There’s a high level of complexity used within the most cunning crypto trading bot scams. They often leverage different advanced manipulation and deception techniques to steal from victims.
Knowing that you might be up against some smart bad guys, here are some approaches that they might try, which often work, and which you need to be on high alert for:
False Promises: At face value, everything appears incredibly legitimate. Real professional profiles, real professional websites, and real professional promises. Unfortunately, it’s a façade, and the “guaranteed” high returns that their crypto trading bots might be offering are nothing more than an unprofessional fairytale.
Social Engineering: Almost every elaborate trading bot scam will involve networks of fake materials - especially testimonials and social proofs of success. These are intended to validate their methods, but really, they’re a tool for manipulation.
Fake Metrics: Unfortunately, it’s incredibly easy to create fake trading histories, photoshopped profit screenshots, and imaginary account balances. The enticing trading bot profits lure people in, giving scammers the chance to steal investments.
Referrals: Some scammers have got so brazenly confident that they convince unsuspecting victims to actually go out and recruit additional victims, all without knowing it! These pyramid-shaped structures can end up scamming people for billions and making you an enemy of the world - just look at Ruja Ignatova!
Let’s move on.
Most Common Trading Bots Scams
While we can tell you what crypto trading bot scams might look like, it’s better to give you some real examples.
In BONKbot’s case, scammers will try to replicate our channels to trick people into thinking they are us.
These are the laziest trading bot scammers, as they lack the ingenuity to even create their own funnels and schemes.
Here is our real bot:
Here are a bunch of imitation accounts designed to scam our community:
iEarn Bot is another example of a scandalous scam.
The “company” guaranteed continuous income to users, especially those with zero experience, that was “generated automatically through high-frequency models” (this is how bots work).
Unfortunately, a BBC investigation found that thousands of investors were misled and the company’s founder and strategic partners - those listed on the website at least - had never heard of the project.
The scam resulted in investors being unable to withdraw their funds, including those who had paid an extra 30% fee for withdrawals.
Mirror Trading International is another high profile scam trading bot example, one that automated forex trades - or at least promised to.
Users simply had to deposit $100 or more of BTC and “sit back and relax” to enjoy daily growth. Sadly, all was not as it should be after taking in over $589m in donations from over 470,000 deposits, people were unable to withdraw their funds.
The CEO, Johann Steynberg vanished, and was later caught in Brazil and jailed. Unfortunately, only 1,281 BTC were ever reportedly recovered.
Now, as promised, we’ll help prepare you to avoid the bad bots and their evil overlords.
Tips for Avoiding Trading Bot Scams
WARNING: Your private key is everything. It is the most SACRED and important piece of information you have in crypto.
NEVER share it with ANYONE under ANY circumstances. That’s rule number one.
DON’T break it.
The moment you break it, you invite scammers to DRAIN your WALLET!! Ahem, let’s continue.
Here are your practical safeguards, things that can really stop scammers from targeting you or accessing your wallet:
Start Small: You can test crypto trading bots with minimal investments before you commit large amounts. This approach will help you to verify the legitimacy without risking any substantial capital.
Be Skeptical, Always: “Free” bots with “Guaranteed” returns are red flags. When it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Secure Exchanges: You can do further research into a bot to learn if it’s legit, if it has robust security infrastructure, if it has a comprehensive audit trail, or if it is compliant with regulations.
2FA: Two-Factor Authentication has proven to be a strong barrier against unauthorized access to your account, reducing break risks from scammers.
Established Providers: Stick to reputable trading bots, like BONKbot, which has a huge user base, proven track record, and transparent operations.
DYOR: Do Your Own Research and investigate platform backgrounds, compliance reports and audits, the associated team, and look for independent reviews.
Track Account Activity: You can see what your trading bot is doing and look for suspicious patterns.
Be vigilant, you never know who is trying to steal your keys (and your cheese).
Stay Safe Out There!
While exciting, the crypto world can be treacherous, and your financial security hinges on how well you protect your private key.
BONKbot offers an island of legitimacy but there are always going to be sharks circling in these waters. A pessimistic or cautious outlook can often be your best defense.
Stay informed, skeptical, and crucially, secure.