There are a number of fraudulent Twitter accounts impersonating well-known individuals and accounts in the BSV community, such as Bitcoin Association President Jimmy Nguyen, the BSV Node team, and the ElectrumSV wallet.
There is a scam web site out there that has verbatim copies the ElectrumSV web site, going by the name "Electron BSV". Please make wise decisions, if the url is not https://t.co/vJJWrixvoB, then it is fake. I've asked Sectigo for the fake site certifcate to be revoked. — rt12
— ElectrumSV (@ElectrumSV) February 6, 2020
That being said, make sure to double-check the spelling of @ names, not to click any suspicious links–especially those that come from fraudulent accounts, and to report these fake accounts whenever you come across them.
Fraudulent accounts are not anything new
Fraudulent accounts that impersonate well-known individuals and encourage them to click links, enter information, or send money to a wallet address is an age-old problem in the cryptocurrency industry. It’s easy for impersonators to capitalize off of unsuspected social media users in this manner.
Most individuals on social media only take a close look at an account’s @ name upon following them; afterward, it is not uncommon for them to glance over the @ name and primarily identify the user by their profile picture. Unfortunately, this allows fraudsters to easily impersonate and convince others that they are actually the individual they are pretending to be when only one letter within an @ name is changed.
#BSV Society – here's another scam account impersonating me. Please join me in reporting this fraudster (@JimmyWimMedia) who is trying to steal people's BSV coins.
@JimmyWimMedia (with an "m" for the Wim, not an "n") – nice try but you will not WIN. pic.twitter.com/9Pu4tXULuU
— Jimmy Nguyen (@JimmyWinSV) February 5, 2020
And here's yet another scam account impersonating me.#BSV Society – please help in also reporting this fraudster trying to steal people's BSV coins.
There is no new "Genesis" coin; Genesis hard fork did NOT split any coins; and https://t.co/IpE2skvSWe is a total scam website https://t.co/eWYrxILYZ9
— Jimmy Nguyen (@JimmyWinSV) February 6, 2020
It can be easy to miss a minor typo and think you are dealing with a legitimate account even though that is not the case. However, there are a few preventive measures and actions you can take to avoid imposters and have their accounts suspended.
How to avoid interacting with fake Twitter accounts
There are a few precautions that you can take to reduce the chance of interacting with a fraudulent account on social media networks:
Always double-check that the user’s @ name is spelled correctly. As mentioned before, fraudsters like to change one or two letters within an @ name while using the same exact profile picture. If you see that the @ name has a few typos in it in relation to the @ name you are familiar with, you should steer clear from any interaction.
NEVER send payment to an unfamiliar account requesting money, especially when that account promises to return the funds to you in a multiple of the amount that you originally sent—if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.
Do you follow the account? This might not always help you avoid an impersonator, especially if you do not follow the legitimate account to begin with, but if you think you are interacting with an account that you follow, it never hurts to check their profile and make sure it really is the account that you follow and not an impersonator acting like an account that you follow.
If someone you are not familiar with is encouraging you to click a link, enter your information, or download a program, you should steer clear until you have done your own research and can guarantee the link or software you are being directed to is legitimate.
And finally, if you do come across a fraudulent account, take the time to report it so that hopefully, it gets banned or removed from the social media site that you are using. You would be doing your peers, and really, the entire internet, a favor if you took this small step in thwarting impersonators and fraudulent activity.
Beware of fake accounts
More often than not, you will probably be interacting with legitimate accounts. However, always be cautious, especially as the BSV network continues to grow at a rapid pace and becomes increasingly popular, of individuals impersonating prominent members of the BSV community. As time goes on, you can (unfortunately) expect there to be more imposters looking to defraud unsuspecting social media users. But if you follow the five tips that we have listed above, you will be well-positioned to avoid and combat these impersonators.
As an alternative, check out BSV-powered Twetch where it would be extremely hard to be an imposter account. With Twetch, users have to pay to post, pay to follow, which results in Twetch users getting followers for real content.
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