The privacy and security aspects of using cryptocurrencies is one of its most attractive features. However, if you fall on the wrong side of a scammer or a thief, then these attributes will work against you.
It is almost impossible for you to get your funds back once they have been taken. Therefore, it is important that you are implementing measures that are preventative.
You do not want to have any vulnerabilities that will leave your coins exposed to nefarious people. These do not have to be complex security measures, a lot of them are simply commons sense and do not take any time at all to implement. Some people also manage to lose their coins through not being careful enough.
Once you know that your funds are well protected, you can then sleep soundly at night.
This is one of the most simplest ways to protect your accounts no matter if it relates to cryptocurrency or not. It adds an extra layer of protection straight off the bat for all of your accounts.
Even if somebody gains access to your password, they still need to have the six digit key in order to get access to your account. These codes will change every time you want to log in as it is not really going to be easy for someone else to access your account unless they have access to both your password and your mobile device.
Most forms of two-factor authentication use some sort of app such as the Google Authenticator app or send the code by SMS to your phone.
While a lot of people like to share with others there ups and downs when it comes to their trading experience, it is a good idea to not share too much information about your actual holdings.
Those who build wealth rapidly during the 2017 boom for example were quick to show off on social media their massive gains. However, this makes them a clear target for those looking to get their hands on these coins.
To hold your cryptocurrencies, you need to have a wallet. A lot of people buy tokens at an exchange and keep them in the hot wallet on their exchange account. This is one of the worst things you can do, because there have been countless examples of hackers getting into the systems of even the largest exchanges and stealing massive sums of coins from these customer hot wallets.
Most exchanges will struggle to reimburse you the full value of the coins that have been stolen from you. This is why you need to be using a wallet that is safe and secure. While there are many options out there, the best type of cryptocurrency wallet is a cold storage hardware wallet.
This allows you to store your tokens on what is akin to a USB stick, which cannot be accessed by any hacker due to the lack of a network connection. Therefore, you can physically keep these tokens safe and sound.
While mobile wallets can be handy, you should treat them like you would your real life wallet. You should only keep casual funds in mobile wallets. Therefore, if you manage to lose these tokens, you are only losing a fraction of your entire portfolio and not the entire sum.
Phones are easy to hack, which is why it is important that you do not rely on these wallets too much.
One of the most common ways people get scammed out of their tokens is through emails that impersonate a supposedly safe body in the space. This could be an email supposedly from the exchange you are using or a company advertising their airdrop.
An email may say that you have to update your password or have you click on some sort of link. You should never click on any links in a suspicious email or add in any usernames or passwords.
Always make sure that the email address matches exactly to what it is supposed to be. Phishing schemes are easy to fall prey to, which is why you should always treat these types of emails with suspicion.
There is a lot of damage that a hacker is able to do to you even if they are able to put even the smallest piece of malware on one of your devices. They can get valuable information such as your passwords and wallet passwords.
Therefore, to add an extra level of security, you should ensure that your devices have some quality malware protection and antivirus software installed upon it. Free software should usually be avoided, as they will likely be selling your data onto a third party.
The tactics used by these hackers are constantly changing, something which the free software will likely not really be keeping up to date with over time. Therefore, it is probably worth the time and money it takes choosing a quality paid software company for their malware protection and antivirus offering.
It is very easy to accidentally send funds to the wrong wallet address. Once this is done, you are likely never going to be able to get these tokens back. Therefore, you should always triple check everything when you are making a transaction to another wallet.
Make sure that the type of wallet you are sending tokens to are compatible with those given tokens. This is one of the most common mistakes out there and could be a costly one. You also need to make sure that the wallet address you are sending the transaction to is the correct one.
Always make sure that the address you have copied and pasted is exactly correct. This step only take a few seconds, but it could save you a serious amount of money.