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Bitcoin QR generators are plagued with scammers

TL;DR

Bitcoin QR generators do make it easy for users to share their wallet addresses.

Certainly, QR generators are the best thing that has happened to cryptocurrency after barcodes. But the problem lies with the websites that let you change your data from strings, hypertext, to SHA-256 encrypted crypto key strands of code that your lens can decode almost in a jiffy.

Your data should be yours

There are scammers out there to get you and ZenGO, a cryptocurrency wallet provider published a report last month, warning the potential risks of using QR encoding services from untrusted websites that mask your data underneath for their use.

The ratio of scamming websites has risen at an alarming rate and out of five (5) searches only one (1) of them respects your privacy while the remaining four (4) would be doing what they want with your data as they please.

As the name suggests, the Quick Response (QR) code is fast and stores your data in a format not readable by us humans but handing over wallet keys for a speedy transaction isn’t a great bargain for the unsuspecting victims out there.

Bitcoin QR generator alternative

Other methods to make fast and secure payments as the Foundation of Interwallet Operability (FIO) exist as well. More than twenty-five (25) wallets and crypto exchanges have been moving on from writing long and tiresome crypto keys and instead, they’ve turned to the ‘username: domain’ method that Trust Wallet recently began using.

ZenGo co-founder, Tal Be’ery also said that these scammers don’t even have their own QR. Instead, they invoke a blockchain explorer API to do their dirty work for them and this gives them time to work on more projects if regulatory authorities find out about the scam. Thus it is better to use the websites trusted websites instead of searching for ‘Bitcoin QR generator’ via your search engine and have the QRs run by Threat Intelligence Service.

The scammers don’t care

For these scammers, this is business and the ZenGo research team has come up with a number-of how much these scammers have been able to rip off of unsuspecting customers. The numbers ass up to give a total sum of twenty thousand ($20,000) dollars.

On of the addresses that had its -crypto key turned to QR saw twenty-one transactions in a week taking 0.58 BTC in that time and allocating it to the scammer’s wallet. Scammers need to be cautious that they do not get caught and often take precaution when emptying wallets as changing their own wallets periodically so that they don’t get caught or copying their own crypto key be copied into the victim’s computer to fake the idea that the victim’s crypto key is being mishandled.

ZenGo researchers had reasons to believe that this just the tip of the iceberg and like with any other asset, the wolves want to bite deeper into lamb.

 

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Ahmad Asghar

A first generation gamer at heart and tech buff by nature, have been involved in the tech sector for better part of a decade. With that insight and knowledge, he now covers blockchain, cryptocurrency and everything fintech so others can make sense of the industry.

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