CRYPTOCURRENCY IS A SCAM!!!!! DONT INVEST IN IT!!!

Scammers getting 'more sophisticated'

Alex Saunders has been trading cryptocurrencies from Launceston for five years and has seen scams become more sophisticated, including phishing scams, pyramid schemes and websites that tout extraordinary returns.

"When I first started off it was very much dodgy websites just trying to catch people out," Mr Saunders said.

"Whereas now the hackers and the scammers are definitely getting more sophisticated."

Mr Saunders is now heavily active on social media, including running his own YouTube account Nugget's News, in an effort to help traders navigate the often complex world of cryptocurrencies.

"Don't try and get rich quick," Mr Saunders warns.

"You've got to do your research. Look into these projects.

"The scammers and the guys that run these projects are aware that people have made a lot of money in this space and unfortunately people are just throwing their money at these projects left, right and centre without doing due diligence."

But despite the warnings, Mr Saunders said the underlying technology of bitcoin — along with many established trading platforms — was safe.

"There's a common misconception that bitcoin gets hacked a lot," Mr Saunders said.

"Bitcoin itself and cryptocurrencies have never been hacked. It's only the websites and businesses that are built on top of it that tend to get hacked."