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Anatomy of a cryptocurrency scam

practicalsecurity.substack.com

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Re: Anatomy of a cryptocurrency scam

#11

Post by nradov »

Algemarin wrote: post #4

This scam is successful because it is predicated on the same appeal that ventures like lotteries, sweepstakes, slot machines, or giveaways have (albeit accentuated with a seemingly guaranteed win, that these other ventures don't have): the belief that you can just luck into a giant treasure chest of money by expanding minimal effort. Broadly, this is a modern version of what's known as an advance-fee fraud, which has…

The difference is that while lotteries and casinos are out to take your money they're at least honest about it. If you win they'll pay out in real money. They're not rug pull scams.

Re: Anatomy of a cryptocurrency scam

#12

Post by Algemarin »

the_snooze wrote: post #8
Algemarin wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think it is an interesting idea that scammers intentionally make typos and absurdities, just to weed out discerning people in favor of easier victims This is an apocryphal anecdote or theory that gets passed around, but I'm not sure how true it actually is, and certainly not universally true. In that, I think scammers are way more likely to just make typos than to setup an elaborate low-level target filter. Regar…

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/publication/why-do-...

This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about, taken to an extreme. A lot of theorizing about ROC curves and optimal operating point formulae, and absolutely no empirical, qualitative evidence (such as any interviews with actual scammers).

For example, there is no actual sample data provided to substantiate even the premise, let alone the conclusion of this claim:

> In choosing a wording to dissuade all but the likeliest prospects the scammer reveals a great sensitivity to false positives.

Re: Anatomy of a cryptocurrency scam

#13

Post by Algemarin »

nradov wrote: post #11
Algemarin wrote: post #4

This scam is successful because it is predicated on the same appeal that ventures like lotteries, sweepstakes, slot machines, or giveaways have (albeit accentuated with a seemingly guaranteed win, that these other ventures don't have): the belief that you can just luck into a giant treasure chest of money by expanding minimal effort. Broadly, this is a modern version of what's known as an advance-fee fraud, which has…

The difference is that while lotteries and casinos are out to take your money they're at least honest about it. If you win they'll pay out in real money. They're not rug pull scams.

The dishonesty lies in obfuscating the actual odds of winning, making the honesty about the payout a moot point as it's not particularly applicable for most entrants.

Re: Anatomy of a cryptocurrency scam

#14

Post by nradov »

alwa wrote: post #10
yieldcrv wrote: post #2

lots of scams are able to continue by getting the victim to do things they wouldn't report to the police, or even to their relatives out of embarrassment although I think it is an interesting idea that scammers intentionally make typos and absurdities, just to weed out discerning people in favor of easier victims, I think there is a larger market for meticulous more legitimate looking scams as well this one fits some…

Although sometimes, rarely, the victim confesses their embarrassing actions as a warning to others in a well-written firsthand perspective in a national newsmagazine [0] [0] https://www.thecut.com/article/amazon-scam-call-ftc-arrest-w...

I doubt the veracity of that story. No real evidence, and it reads like a creative writing exercise. Did the editors even fact check it?

Re: Anatomy of a cryptocurrency scam

#15

Post by nradov »

Algemarin wrote: post #13
nradov wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The difference is that while lotteries and casinos are out to take your money they're at least honest about it. If you win they'll pay out in real money. They're not rug pull scams.

The dishonesty lies in obfuscating the actual odds of winning, making the honesty about the payout a moot point as it's not particularly applicable for most entrants.

Where is the obfuscation? Most lotteries post the odds right on the main game page. What more do you want?

https://www.calottery.com/draw-games/superlotto-plus#section...

Re: Anatomy of a cryptocurrency scam

#16

Post by pessimizer »

omneity wrote: post #7
TheDudeMan wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the standard solution to this type of phish? This problem did not exist in the ASCII world, of course. Unicode is useful, but what is the best way to prevent this malicious use of it?

This problem extends beyond character encoding. The average joe (and not so average alike) seems to have a hard time to distinguish official channels from non-official scammy ones, even more so when the official channel doesn't exist on a given platform ("we don't offer support via Telegram" kind of situations). Cue in some greed as well and you got a perfect recipe for disaster. The root issue is the lack of skeptic…

It's not about average Joes, it's about large numbers. If the scam works on 1/100 people in the US, that's 4 million people. If you're automating pitching it to 500 people a day, that's 5 wins a day. If your average haul is $500, that's $2500 a day. That's $900K a year.

Re: Anatomy of a cryptocurrency scam

#17

Post by Algemarin »

nradov wrote: post #15
Algemarin wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The dishonesty lies in obfuscating the actual odds of winning, making the honesty about the payout a moot point as it's not particularly applicable for most entrants.

Where is the obfuscation? Most lotteries post the odds right on the main game page. What more do you want? https://www.calottery.com/draw-games/superlotto-plus#section...

> What more do you want?

For it to be clear how unrealistic the odds are. They're not exactly broadcasting "you're 40 times more likely to be struck by lightning than to win the jackpot", instead their site screams "Millions Could Be Yours!". That is the dishonesty and obfuscation. Millions _could_ be yours, but they are very unlikely to be yours, in fact realistically approaching zero. While advance fee scams say "millions will definitely be yours", with the odds being absolutely zero. But neither are meaningful odds.

Though regardless, my original point wasn't about odds but about the lure and the appeal of both of these things: the potential for getting a lot of money for doing virtually nothing (other than spending a bit of money up front).

Re: Anatomy of a cryptocurrency scam

#19

Post by grotorea »

isawczuk wrote: post #9

If it was not a scam, you are ok to steal someone's savings. Maybe those type of scams are instant karma?

"You can't cheat an honest man"

But there are plenty of cryptocurrency scams that don't require that. Just some place that looks like an exchange but is actually a money hole.

Re: Anatomy of a cryptocurrency scam

#20

Post by bediger4000 »

Algemarin wrote: post #12
the_snooze wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/publication/why-do-...

This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about, taken to an extreme. A lot of theorizing about ROC curves and optimal operating point formulae, and absolutely no empirical, qualitative evidence (such as any interviews with actual scammers). For example, there is no actual sample data provided to substantiate even the premise, let alone the conclusion of this claim: > In choosing a wording to dissuade all but t…

Thanks for being more eloquent about critiquing that paper than I could be. But that leaves the observation about grammar and spelling in spams and scams unexplained. How should we explain scams terrible presentation?
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