I'm sure you've seen them, scammers on Telegram, Discord or pretty much any social media app, messaging anyone with a legitimate support request or complaint, often masquerading as known developers and personalities.
Most of these seem to belong to the same group, as their tactics and links remain constant across hundreds of attempts. There's a good chance that unlike the people calling you directly, those trying to reach you over chat are held against their will in places like Cambodia.
But how does the scheme actually work?
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Whoever is messaging you will try to confuse you with complicated jargon about why you may be having the problem you are having. Some answers appear to be AI-generated and even somewhat make sense! The goal is to overwhelm you and submit to your support representative.
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You will likely be directed to a phishing page like the one below. The scammer might say they have to "check the database" or "authorize the refund." For this you have to connect your wallet. Once you click on "connect" you are shown a long list of wallets and services. It doesn't really matter which one you click on.
- Once you click on any of the wallets, a window will open. You can click on "connect automatically," which will show you a fake progress bar and eventually error out. Tough luck, the system now needs your seed phrase!
- Once the seed phrase is out, the scammer will likely pressure you into entering more seed phrases. They might hold back on emptying your wallet right away if they see it doesn't hold a lot of funds. They might try to deflect the problem to another app you were using, e.g. literally any wallet or service.
⚠️Obligatory advice⚠️: Write your seed phrase on a piece of paper using a pencil. Fold it, seal it with some tape or a sticker and put it somewhere safe. You're almost guaranteed to never need it. Seed phrases are not meant to be entered anywhere, unless in case of a terrible disaster. A disaster so rare, the average Bitcoiner never experiences it. One idea: Store your seed phrase at least an 3h train/car ride away from you, so that you have enough time to think on the way over why it is that you need your seed phrase, because as I said above, you almost surely don't.