A new survey has revealed that one in three Americans had an average of $97,583 in crypto stolen. And Generation Z users were the most exploited.
Cyber security firm Kaspersky surveyed 2,000 US adults in October 2022. One-third of the respondents in the survey said that they have been a victim of crypto theft.
While Gen-Z is considered a tech-savvy generation, a surprising 47% of respondents aged 18-24 had been lured by crypto scammers. In contrast, only 8% of respondents over 55 were victims of crypto theft.
The average value stolen was $97,583, but 15% of respondents lost crypto in the range of $100,001 to $1 million.
How to protect your funds from crypto theft?
Mark Rivero, Senior Security Researcher, advises, “From scams to malware to cryptojacking, there is a long list of online threats targeting cryptocurrencies. Users should be very careful when investing their money, keeping a close eye on phishing scams and fake websites. They should employ any additional security measures that are available to them, such as multi-factor authentication, and should use strong, unique passwords across all accounts.
Tips for DeFi users
Decentralized finance (DeFi) users should be extra careful about where they link their wallets. Some phishing websites drain users’ assets when they link their wallets.
Bad actors use social media spam campaigns in the name of airdrops, free mints, giveaways, whitelist access, etc. to lure people. Scammers impress influencers and projects by creating fake accounts with slight changes in username.
The screenshot below shows how scammers use spam campaigns via bot accounts.
Users must write down their private keys on hard paper rather than storing them on a device that is often connected to the internet. Additionally, tools such as Fire can alert users before signing a DeFi transaction.
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disclaimer
BeInCrypto has reached out to the company or individual involved in the story for an official statement regarding the recent developments, but has not yet received a response.