Have you ever seen a link on Discord that looked too good to be true? Well, it probably is. Discord, the popular VoIP and chat app, has recently been hit by scams/hacks. Hackers have taken advantage of the app’s open nature to scam users out of crypto, NFTs, and money.
Read on to learn the extent of crypto and NFT scams and how to protect yourself from them. We will also let you know about our new product that’s on its way to help protect against these scams (yes, it is a cyber security Discord bot).
Discord Scamming: Messaging platforms are a gold mine for scammers
Discord has become the wild west for scamming. It is especially true with crypto and NFT projects. NFT scams have been on the rise since their skyrocketing popularity in 2021. Such projects use the messaging platform to share news and keep in touch with their community.
However, scamming remains a dire reality. As Andrey Sergeenkov puts it, “Discord is a great tool to connect with like-minded individuals and engage with their favorite projects. However, it is also a lightning rod for scammers.”
According to the cybersecurity firm Kaspersky, there has been a sharp increase in Discord crypto-related scams and hacks in the past few years, enabling them to use new tactics to lure victims. Hackers are increasingly targeting Discord users, and victims are losing more money to these scams and hacks.
Anyone who uses Discord can see how many phishing attempts are made on the platform. However, this type of malicious attack affects not only the average joe but also those with very large communities.
In May 2022, OpenSea’s (the largest NFT marketplace) Discord channel was subject to one such attack. June arrived, and Yuga Labs’s Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) Discord server also got hacked.
The damage can also be seen with the recent compromise of the Mee6 Discord bot in May 2022, which unfortunately led to the invasion of many crypto projects with scam messages on their public channels.
This included the likes of play-to-earn giant Axie Infinity, amongst others. Such events highlighted the importance of having updated real-time data on what could harm internet users and – more importantly, data on how to protect them.
This includes updating your community about Discord safety and other messaging platforms. No one is safe from such types of scams unless some action is taken.
Cryptocurrency scams and frauds: Unsettling statistics
There are some dire statistics when it comes to cryptocurrency scams. The FTC reported that from January 2021 to March 2022, losses to frauds and scams relating to cryptocurrency surpassed $1 billion, affecting more than 46,000 people.
The median loss per person was $2,600. Reported losses to crypto scams in 2021 were nearly 60 times higher than in 2018. Now let that sink in for a second.
Moreover, in the first quarter of 2022 (January to March), cryptocurrency fraud losses reached $329 million, almost half the total crypto fraud losses in 2021 ($680 million) in a quarter of the time.
What does this data tell us? If not blocked, the number of scams will rise exponentially (as it is already doing) and threaten mass DeFi and crypto adoption. As the industry changes, morphs, and adapts, so do attackers.
Discord Security
Discord themselves are aware of such scams. Their blog highlights the type of scams to look out for on their platform and how you can manually prevent them. The most common types of scams are phishing scams and giveaway scams.
With phishing scams, hackers create fake versions of popular websites and trick users into entering their personal information on these sites. They then use this information to steal money or commit identity theft.
With giveaway scams, hackers create fake accounts and promise to give away free products or services if the user sends them money. Here is a list of other types of scams to be aware of:
- Crypto scams
- Fake NFT drops
- Free Nitro scams
- Impersonation
- Phishing links
- Various malware
How to protect yourself from Discord Scams
To protect yourself or your Discord community from these scams and hacks, you should:
- Never enter your personal information on any website you are unfamiliar with.
- You should be wary of any account that promises to give away free items or services. If you are unsure about an account or message, you can report it to Discord’s support team.
- Keep your eyes peeled on what types of links you are clicking on and when they are sent from Discord.
- Using password managers can also help you prevent phishing (if your saved credentials do not appear when you click on a link taking you to a questionable Discord website, it is most likely a phishing attempt and not a Discord website). However, non-browser-related password managers are safer.
Taking these precautions can keep yourself and your Discord community safe from harmful scams and hacks. There is much more to say about how the scammers on Discord work (don’t worry, we will iron out the details in another article).
However, what if there is another way to automatically chuck these malicious links out of your server to keep your community safe?
This is where Interlock comes in.
Discord Security Bot: Something is brewing in the Interlock laboratory
We are working on a Discord bot, Bouncer, to block malicious links and phishing sites from infiltrating your Discord public channels.
With years of cyber security experience and a robust, enterprise-ready threat intelligence database (including Visual AI), we ensure the bot is ready for action and that every discord channel is safe.
Bouncer protects your Discord community from phishing, bad links and scam sites. It instantly scans links in public channels and removes the bad ones, keeping safe conversations flowing. Setup takes about a minute and your community members are instantly protected.
Join the Bouncer Waitlist
If you have your own crypto community which you would like to protect from scammers, you can hire Bouncer to keep the malicious links out of your party.
At this moment, getting access to the bot is pretty simple. All you have to do is post a Tweet saying:
“Hey @interlockweb3, I would like to join the waitlist for the Discord bot! #bouncerbot”
The hashtag will help us identify who would like to use our bot so we can get back to you ASAP.
Once you follow these steps, all the rest is in our hands to provide you with the link to the bot and start protecting your community.
About Interlock
Interlock is decentralized security, incentivized for everyone. Interlock is creating an ecosystem of community-driven security products and a threat intelligence network to protect web users and decentralized finance.
Visit interlock.network to learn more
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