Many have waited for the advent of the Merge. A great achievement for Vitalik Buterin and all the Ethereum team. Among traders, we are waiting for the resumption of activities. For the scammersThe Merge represents an opportunity for “ snatch some cryptos from their holders “.
4 types of scams that can be associated with Merge
Yesterday, Cointelegraph returned to the warning of Steve Bassi, the CEO of PolySwarm, against the scams associated with the Merge of Ethereum.
For him, novices in crypto trading may be confronted with the following scams.
Fake hard forks and airdrops that aren’t hard forks
As the Merge is not unanimous with the crypto community, some have decided to create EthereumPow. This hard fork will allow them to continue to mine ether, and as a corollary to maintain their sources of income.
In such a context, the scammers may attempt to offer a fake hard fork of Ethereum. And they can go so far as to use the technique of ” phishing in order to encourage them to collect fake tokens like ETH2.
Bassi’s explanations:
” The ETH Merger will be a good pretext for these scammers to impersonate well-known projects, with economic value, and promising airdrops. […] These airdrops will likely redirect users to a phishing site where they can be scammed out of their ETH, private keys, and/or attempts to sign artisanal transactions. »
Fake upgrades
Long before Ethereum migrated into the Proof-of-Stake, the developers of the eponymous blockchain advised ETH holders to do nothing over a period of time. Even major crypto exchanges like Binance and Coinbase preferred to put transactions on hold before, during and after The Merge.
Even if we are several hours after the Ethereum Merger, caution is in order. If any service or project initiator asks you to perform a questionable operation, do not do it. If it prompts you to sign fraudulent transactions or part with your private keys for Merge-related reasons, don’t always do it.
” We will likely see scammers trying to trick users into signing fraudulent transactions and/or leaking private keys based on a false pretense that the user must do something to migrate the chains. “, had noticed the boss of PolySwarm.
Shady staking pools
We all know that the Merge marks the break of Ethereum with the Proof-of-Workand its migration into the Proof-of-Stake. Thus, the ” staking will become a very popular word among ether traders.
Unfortunately, the scammers will benefit from the popularity of staking to hit better.
Moreover, the condition imposed by Ethereum to become a standalone validator complicates things for investors. They are asked to stake 32 ETH before contributing, which is over $50,000. To be able to participate, they must form a staking pool and subsequently get rid of control of their ETH.
However, in the eyes of ill-intentioned people, this represents an opportunity.
Mr. Bassi warned:
” Staking is a fairly new concept for most of the crypto community and unless you have 32 ETH lying around, you are going to have to join one of the staking pools to earn a return from your ETH. »
” This risk [de rug pull] exists today with DeFi platforms/pools and tokens, but the Fusion will give scammers a new character universe to work with. “, he argued.
Scammers using Vitalik Buterin’s fake Twitter accounts
Ethereum icon Vitalik Butterin recently made a revelation that there are thousands of fake accounts linked to his name on Instagram. But how come he doesn’t know about the fake Twitter accounts bearing his name?
A few days ago, JoelDerPro highlighted a questionable publication from these scammers on the blue bird social network.
” This time in English: Don’t fall for this fake Vitalik scam. Unfortunately, it’s even verified on Twitter! »
You saw vitalik.eth – @AliMGedi and no vitalik.eth – @VitalikButerin. Nuance! One is unverified, and the other really belongs to Ethereum’s co-founder, points out Techaint.
PeckShieldAlert also reported similar campaigns, just before the Merge:
” The Ethereum merger is expected to take place within 4 hours. Beware of ongoing scam campaigns capitalizing on Fusion. PeckShiel detected a batch of phishing sites targeting Fusion. »
In addition, Vitalik Buterin is not one to offer gifts to his followers. Nevertheless, this man has his heart on his sleeve and does not skimp on the SHIBs in his possession. Didn’t he donate part of his assets to fight against Covid-19 in India in 2021?
In short, the Merge was a success. And that is a fact. But scammers will not lack ideas to take advantage of this event. Experienced traders might not be vulnerable to such attacks. The novices, on the contrary, remain defenseless. So, vigilance and beware of give! And beware of giveaway to 100,000 ETH!
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