The cryptocurrency landscape has been a common place for phishing scams and complex fraud issues. Unfortunately, more and more traders are falling victim and losing money as a result. Mercatox are becoming one of the more popular cryptocurrency scams with many investors losing funds through correspondence and brokers on the exchange.
The peer-to-peer exchange platform allows users to buy and sell cryptocurrency and e-currency. It’s supposed to offer a convenient way to trade using different payment methods, but with its various security concerns, it's important to know how you can be affected.
Here, we will explore this scam and offer you general guidance on what to do if you have been affected and how to avoid being affected in the future.
The Mercatox exchange is unregulated and unlicensed with no information on the owners, founders or location. This has caused a stir amongst the trading community, as they have labelled the exchange as untrustworthy. There is a clear lack of transparency and no legal licence, which means that they are not usually not held accountable if a scam occurs.
Recently, a warning has been uploaded onto the Mercatox website to warn users about phishing. Users of the exchange reported receiving emails and messages that were from the official Mercatox accounts. These scams tried to trick them into taking action, such as paying to list coins or preventing delisting, often by requesting additional deposits.
Mercatox stated that they don’t use social media or any messenger apps and essentially put the burden of staying safe on the traders, avoiding all the blame. Their advice was that traders should report any scam messages received and contact their team if there are further concerns.
Mercatox Recovery
If you have been affected by a scam, there are several things you can do to recover.
Secure Your Account
You must ensure that your account is secured to avoid any further breaches in the future. There are a few ways that you can secure your account, such as changing your account password, enabling two-step authentication and reporting the issue to see if there are any other security measures that can be put in place.
Recover Funds
Recovering lost funds is unlikely, but there is a slim chance that you will be able to. You can try reporting the scam to authorities by filing a report with your local law enforcement agency or financial crime unit. You can also try to contact your bank or payment processor to see if there is anything they can do.
Consider Legal Advice
Seeking legal advice is a great option, as law firms can work with you to try and recover your lost funds.
Learn From The Experience
Prevention is key, so learning from the experience and improving your online security awareness is important for avoiding phishing attempts in the future. The aim is to make fraud a thing of the past, so knowing how to minimise the risk of it is greatly important.
How To Avoid Scams
If you have been lucky enough to not be a victim, you should still ensure that you know how to avoid them in the future. These scams are getting more complex and frequent so you must know how to protect yourself from them.
Think Before You Click
You should always treat links from unknown senders with suspicion. Don’t click any untrustworthy links in emails or messages, as you never know if it could lead to a scam through a fake website or malware download.
Install Anti-Phishing Tools
Anti-phishing tools work by running quick checks on any sites you visit and comparing them to known phishing websites. You will get an alert if you are about to access one of the scam websites and make you aware of the dangers. Firewalls can also be used to further enhance your online security. These act as a protective wall between you and online hackers.
Contact WRS If You Have Been Affected
Scams are becoming more of a commonality, which puts investors at greater risk of losing their assets. You should seek professional advice if you have been affected by these phishing scams, which is where WRS can help you.
Contact our team of lawyers today to arrange a free consultation so that we can help you start your journey of recovering lost funds and prevent it ever happening again.