A primer on illicit activity on Ethereum

There is a technical difference between fraud and a scam. A scam is an act where we unknowingly pay for a fake item, transfer money, or provide our private keys to a criminal. Conversely, fraud refers to any suspicious activity on our address that we did not authorize. In this book, we will use both terms interchangeably.

The Ethereum Security blog has three key messages for anyone starting in the crypto industry:

• Always be skeptical
• No one is going to give you free or discounted ETH
• No one needs access to your private keys or personal information

As of today, some of the most common scams include the following:

• Giveaway scams: These basically work by criminals promising that if we send X amount of crypto to an address, it will be returned to us but doubled in amount. These schemes are often psychological, offering the victim only a limited amount of time to participate in this “opportunity,” generating...