How to distinguish between a phishing website and genuine digital exchange?

in #cryptocurrency7 years ago

The growing popularity of cryptocurrencies leads to growth of activity of swindlers. Users of Reddit-community/r/CryptoCurrency found out that addresses of roguish resources are similar to URL addresses of popular cryptocurrency exchanges, such as Binance and Bittrex. It is enough to enter only once on the "counterfeit" website — and swindlers have an access to your accounting entry at the real exchange. Your error can be enveloped by loss of all means on cryptocurrency accounts, and even on cash cards. Here simple signs of fakes to which it is necessary to pay attention that swindlers did not steal your money.

Careful traders pay attention to a green lock and a text "Is protected" in an address line of the browser: means, the website uses the safe https connection. Absence of such indicators — a correct occasion to prick up the ears. But also the websites with which everything is all right at first sight, can be dangerous.

The exchange ciphers data

The user of Reddit under a nickname of chrysotileman published a screenshot of counterfeit cryptocurrency exchange coinsmarkets.com. It is easy to note that with the website something not so: its reliability is not confirmed by appropriate certification.

The websites working with personal information shall cipher data which exchange with the user. The special SSL certificate confirms authenticity of the website and provides reliability of encoding. The protected website to the left of an address line has a green text "Is protected" also the small character of a lock, and the http protocol at the beginning of the address is replaced with https.

The website coinsmarkets.com has neither text, nor a lock, and URL begins with the letters "http". If before the URL address there are no green letters "https", avoid the website.

Wipe the monitor

The SSL certificate guarantees protection of your data against the third party, but not safety of the website. Swindlers learned to receive SSL certificates for the websites which addresses only the smallness differ from the original. Not clearly, how exactly they manage it, but in general it is not so difficult: many organizations are engaged in output of certificates, and not all of them properly check requests.

At first sight it is the URL address of popular cryptocurrency exchange Binance: it is available the green letters "https" on the put place. But peer more attentively: under each letter "n" in the word "binance" there are small points which are not in the address of the exchange — means, it is a roguish resource, the most similar to the original.

As with the website and the URL address at first sight everything is all right, the inattentive user tries to log in to the account — and swindlers get his data. Now the account of the user on the website of the exchange to their services: it is possible to steal not only cryptocurrency, but also means on bank accounts.

It is hard to note two tiny points under the URL address. In comments to a post on Reddit the user under a nickname of evantbyrne marked:

"I know about this trick long ago, but all the same not directly noted points on a screenshot".

Really, they can be taken for motes on the monitor.

In this case swindlers used the normal letter "n" with the diacritical sign — an interlinear point (it is used in a transcription of some Semitic and Old Indian languages). It is more effective, than the number similar to a letter — for example 1 instead of I.

The user of Twitter Loukas Stefanko made several screenshots of the counterfeit website Bittrex with green "https" before the URL address.

Under the letter "r" in the URL address it is possible to note  style  — the diacritical sign reminding a comma. Style  is widely used in such languages as French and Portuguese.

How to avoid fakes

Swindlers place references to the "counterfeit" websites at forums and in social networks, deliver by e-mail or advertize in Google. Such elements as седиль or interlinear points, are often hidden by underlining.

The best method not to get to swindlers — to enter the necessary URL address in an address line of the browser manually. If a certain website needs to be opened often, add it to favorites. As it is possible you look more attentively at URL addresses of web sites where personal data are required.

The extensions for browsers including developed especially for operation with cryptocurrency resources will help to prevent phishing.


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LukasStefanko Lukas Stefanko tweeted @ 11 Oct 2017 - 06:45 UTC

Phishing scam at @BittrexExchange using URL Unicode & Google Ad tricks
gerryk.com/node/68 #bitcoin #scam https://t.co/Fj8TELKvKa

Disclaimer: I am just a bot trying to be helpful.

Wow...using the dots on the "n"...smart...