Scams are prevalent in almost any industry where the money is involved, and the cryptocurrency exchange market is no exception. There are a number of illegitimate companies out there claiming they are providing reputable services, but one has really gone above and beyond in terms of presenting themselves as an absolute fraud.
In a story that is being widely circulated across the Internet, especially within social media sites, it is being reported that Goxtrade has been posting pictures of random people they have found on the Internet, claiming that these persons are part of their staff. Yet, they still bill themselves as a “trusted platform for trading bitcoins.”
Virtually everything about this alleged exchange has been suspect from the start. Those who visit their website are likely to receive a warning that this site has been flagged for “phishing,” encouraging users to stay away from the website.
The company claims they began operations in 2017, but there is no corroboration out there to support their claim, especially considering that their site has been flagged by many Internet browsers. This is important information, as it appears that the company is doing nothing more than trying to retrieve user information.
Phishing is an attempt by websites and hackers to obtain sensitive information, including such things as usernames, passwords, and credit card information. This is usually accomplished by providing some kind of electronic communication that users believe is authentic and trustworthy. Goxtrade has clearly proven themselves to be anything but that.
In what can be viewed as a completely “stupid” decision, it has been revealed that the company not only used photos that did not belong to staff members but even brought along the names of those for whom they had stolen the pictures.
Amber Baldet, the cofounder of Clovyr, was one such person. She posted a message out on Twitter explaining that she is not a developer for the Goxtrade, despite the claims by the company that she serves in this position.
In addition to the fraudulent pictures, there are also a number of other red flags. According to a report, Goxtrade is not registered at the company address that they provided, and they are not included in the registry of companies and businesses within the United Kingdom.
Fraud is nothing new to the cryptocurrency world. There are companies out there claiming that their currency is “Bitcoin” when it is not. There are those who are attempting to defraud individuals of their currency, and then there are hackers looking to breach security protocols to steal currency from people’s digital wallets or create false transactions.
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