Protect Yourself from Scams

At our company, we go to great lengths to keep our clients’ information safe. Lately, we have noticed a surge in fake SpectroCoin scam websites. Thus, today we would like to present some practical precautions that you can take in order to avoid common scams and frauds.

How to identify a scam, phishing websites, and fraud?

Email scams

When it comes to scams, you can usually notice patterns: emails saying that you have won the lottery or that a person in distress needs money urgently. These emails usually come from people you do not know or pretend to come from a friend or a service you actually use, like SpectroCoin.

Scam, however, is an avoidable issue and you can protect yourself from such situations. When it comes to emails, always check the identity of the sender.  Even though the sender’s name is, for example, SpectroCoin, review the actual email address as it can tell a different story (i. e. the sender’s name – SpectroCoin; email – [email protected]).

Scammers especially tend to use generic email domains such as @gmail.com rather than custom ones like SpectroCoin’s – @spectrocoin.com. The reason behind these phishing attempts is to obtain your personal information in order to gain access to your accounts and assets.

Some signs of an email sent by a fraudster are:

• The email is sent by a different address than the one the company uses to communicate with you.
• You receive an urgent request to immediately provide information or funds, otherwise, your account may be closed.
• You did not expect an email from the company that appears to have sent it.

Phishing websites

Phishing websites are created with the same layout and information as the legitimate one, with the aim to steal personal data and assets. Just like fake email addresses, they usually have a different name than the official website.

Sometimes the difference in the name of the website can be a single letter as phishing websites are trying to be as indistinguishable from the original website as possible. Other times, the difference lies in the domain extension (.com; .net; .org etc).

Customers should be aware that scammers sometimes pay to advertise phishing websites so that such websites would appear first in Google, Bing, and other popular search engines, as most people click on the first search result that appears. Thus, it is extremely important to pay attention to the URL when you are visiting a website.

Fake social media profiles

Nowadays, the problem of fake social media profiles is very relevant, even for companies. Thus, you should only trust social media accounts that are provided on the official website of the company. Scammers try to make their social media profile look like the official one so they are hard to spot.

Just like with phishing websites or emails, if in doubt, look out for misspellings in the name of the account. Also, fake social media profiles often follow more people than the actual followers they have or do not have a rich history of posts.

Things you can do to avoid scam

1. Two-factor authentication

We offer our users the option to set a two-factor authentication method for their login, withdrawals or change of profile information, so you will only be required to input a key when performing such operations.

If someone steals your login details, they still would not be able to withdraw money without the 2FA code. Thus, make sure you choose an authentication method that you can ensure the security of, whether it is SMS, Google or email.

2. Double-check the website’s URL

Another measure you must take is to always check the website URL before inputting your code. If there is a typo in the name of the company or something looks different from the website you are used to, do not insert your code and contact our support team to make sure you are on the correct website.

Bookmarking the URL of websites you visit frequently, especially the ones in which you hold funds and perform financial operations, is also highly recommended. This will prevent you from accidentally visiting phishing websites, such as fake SpectroCoin scam pages.

At SpectroCoin, we use encryption in order to keep your data safe. When you visit SpectroCoin.com, you will see an icon and ‘https’ informing you that this is a secure site. By clicking on the lock, you can also find the security certificate issued to the website.

3. Do not provide sensitive information via email or unofficial communication channels

SpectroCoin will never send you emails or messages on social media asking for your password or PIN codes. In case of doubt, you can contact our support team directly through the 24/7 live chat available on our website.

4. Beware of suspicious links and documents

We highly recommend that you do not click on any links or download any files if you are not sure who sent it and why. Malicious links that contain ransomware or other types of viruses are disguised as legitimate files/links, which might trick users into downloading or opening them.

If you have already clicked on the link and it has compromised any of your devices, we recommend that you use the Europol project nomoreransom.org to help you decrypt some types of ransomware. Besides decryption tools, they also offer advice and have a list of places you should contact in your country in case you have fallen victim to ransomware.

5. Update your devices and applications

The SpectroCoin team advises its users to create and update backup files as well as to update their devices and apps whenever possible. In case your phone or computer is compromised, a backup will minimize the impact as your personal data will not be lost forever.

Antivirus and up-to-date software are also a must, since outdated equipment can leave room for potential security breaches through cyber attacks. For a final check of URLs and files, you can also use VirusTotal. It will analyze if the domain/file contains malware or whether it is safe to use it.

6. Change your account password frequently

From time to time, when you log in to your account at SpectroCoin, our system will suggest that you review and change your password. 

You should change passwords on all your devices frequently, making sure you do not use the same one for several accounts, and that you are not using sequences (‘abcd1234’), names, common words or dates (‘spectrocoin2013’), since they could be easily guessed by someone else.

7. Do your research

If it is your first time visiting a website that you would like to sign up to do thorough research of the company or organization that owns the website. A few things you should look out for:

• A legitimate company will almost always provide official contact details on their website and will be responsive in their communications.
• While crypto companies, in general, are fairly new, a good sign is if a company has been operating for years, like SpectroCoin, and not days or months like those SpectroCoin scam pages that are impersonating us.
• If necessary, check whether the business has officially registered with local authorities.

These are only a few measures but they can help you protect yourself from unauthorized activity in your account at SpectroCoin, scam or fraud.

Is SpectroCoin legit?

When it comes to our website, our team members at SpectroCoin review and follow strict procedures when dealing with your data and funds. For these reasons, we constantly participate in courses and seminars to revise and improve our practices.

Even though cryptocurrencies are not regulated, our company works under applicable EU laws and regulations, implementing international AML and CTF standards. This means that, in case we notice potential illegal activities or fraud, we collaborate with law enforcement agencies for the investigation, which helps to ensure that you have a safe environment in which you can store, buy and sell your cryptocurrencies.

We are constantly on a lookout for fake SpectroCoin scam websites so that we could protect our users from falling into their trap.

If you come across a phishing website or unsolicited email, you can also help us and others by reporting it here.

If you suspect someone has accessed or can access your account unauthorizedly, please contact SpectroCoin support via the “Live Chat” option on our website.