Scams to Avoid This Holiday Season | The Bitcoin Way
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The Scammers Are Here (2025 Holiday Edition)
The holiday season is in full swing and that means… the scammers are working overtime. It’s sad to say, but there are people that will be working around the clock the next month to try parting you from your money.
Over the years, scams have grown increasingly sophisticated and now (oftentimes) rely less on technical savvy and more on psychological manipulation. In other words, they use your innate kindness and trust to get to you.
We wanted to break down a few of the more common scamming themes you might witness and how to avoid falling prey to them.
Bitcoin Exchange Support Calls
One of the more common scams involves a “representative” from a major exchange, such as Coinbase, reach out indicating an “issue” has been identified with your account.
The way they frame the issue could vary, but the request for action is often the same: “Give us your seed phrase.”
If ANYBODY is EVER asking for your seed phrase, you can be sure it’s a scam. Your seed phrase is the key to accessing your Bitcoin. Once it’s been shared or leaked, you can kiss your Bitcoin goodbye.
Here are two practical ways of avoiding this type of scam.
First, get your coins off of the exchange and into 100% self-custody. When you know that the keys to your coins are sitting on your own hardware wallet, stamped into a metal plate, and secure in a safe place, you don’t have to wonder if your Bitcoin is safe. It just is.
But when you keep your coins with a third party, you’ll constantly be second-guessing how well they’ve secured them and, understandably, wonder if something is wrong when a scammer contacts you acting as though they work with a custodial service provider.
Self-custody is the antidote to this fear and will give you peace of mind. If you aren’t in self-custody now, schedule some time with The Bitcoin Way to learn how we can help.
And second, as mentioned above, never give your seed phrase out to ANYBODY and don’t ever type it into an internet-connected device. If you need to share it with a trusted friend or family member, understand that you are giving them the keys to your wealth. And if you choose to do so in trust anyway, do it in a room with no cameras or microphones (i.e., no smartphones or computers around) and away from the holiday bustle so you can be sure nobody is listening in.
Messages from Hot Girls & Celebrities
Earlier this year, a French woman was duped out of over €800,000 because she believed Brad Pitt was messaging her and interested in a relationship.
This is at once incredibly sad that she thought a guy like him would find random interest in her, and also very scary that technology has evolved to make such a scam convincing.
The attackers used AI generated “selfies" of Brad Pitt in a hospital bed and requested money to pay for kidney cancer treatment.
The same scams are true even for those without celebrity status. Odds are if a highly attractive person is reaching out to you to establish a relationship… no offense, but it probably isn’t real. The only way you can verify is to meet up in real life, but that poses obvious physical security risks as well.
The best thing to do in these cases is to simply ignore those messages. Technology, such as AI, has advanced to such a degree that “proof” of authenticity provided is compelling. But the truth is, the “hot girl looking to cure her loneliness” is almost guaranteed to be a guy halfway across the world making minimum wage on behalf of a larger scam operation.
Don’t take the bait.
“We Caught You Watching Porn”
Another insidious scam typically involves an email or private message being sent to the victim indicating that the attacker managed to hack into the person’s computer or smart phone and has captured footage of the individual viewing adult content.
And if you don’t send them some Bitcoin in the next 24 hours… your entire contact list is going to receive a link to watch the video. It’s blackmail at its most evil.
While there are legitimate cybersecurity threats to cameras and this scenario is not impossible to imagine happening, the reality is that it is trivial and inexpensive for an attacker to send an email designed to instill fear and hope you’ll pay out of panic.
Don’t fall for it though. Most of the time, these emails go to spam so you may never see them. And yet, your entire contact list hasn’t received footage of you watching porn. That’s a pretty good indication they are mostly just scammers.
There is no silver bullet but two words of caution: 1) don’t look at porn or visit sites that would enable you to be blackmailed and 2) don’t fall for the fear-mongering if the scammer’s email does hit your inbox.
If you need help locking down your devices (and, by the way, we can assist with filtering out undesirable sites such as adult content automatically for you), schedule some time with our team to learn more about our Personal Cybersecurity service.
Watch Out for Fake Bitcoin Wallets
This past summer, a “mobile version” of Sparrow Wallet was released. Or so people thought.
Sparrow Wallet is a great, Bitcoin-only desktop wallet and one that we support. Unfortunately, they do not make a mobile wallet - this was an app created by a scammer.
Many Bitcoiners were duped into believing they could download the app, input their seed phrase, and view their balance and send Bitcoin from their phone.
Let us reiterate though: never input your seed phrase on an internet-connected device!
It turns out, Apple had done shoddy diligence with this app and it had been released into the wild only to bait many folks into giving up the keys to their Bitcoin. Just because the branding looks right and the software seems legitimate doesn’t mean there isn’t a scammer on the other end of it.
Always verify the source of the tools you use. A quick look at Sparrow Wallet’s website would have been enough for users to know that they do not offer a mobile solution.
And, of course, clients of The Bitcoin Way can always reach out in their private chat with us before making any sudden moves when it comes to Bitcoin custody.
General Takeaways
Scams abound and tactics to enable them vary so it’s impossible to know with 100% certainty what is real. But here are a few ways of avoiding scams very generally:
- If an attractive person is messaging you, assume it’s a scam. Fight the temptation and just ignore them. Once you engage, they’ll use compelling images and proven tactics to convince you that it’s really a celebrity or hot girl. This kind of scam is easier to avoid through non-engagement.
- Don’t share your seed phrase with ANYONE. You should never type your seed phrase into a smart phone or computer or share it with anyone that is asking. Your seed phrase represents the keys to your Bitcoin and once you give them up or expose them to malware- and surveillance-prone devices, you can kiss your Bitcoin goodbye.
- Take 100% self-custody of your Bitcoin. When you alone hold the keys to your Bitcoin, you don’t have to worry about account issues at Coinbase or what anybody else is saying - you can be sure it’s protected as it should be. Again, if you are unsure how to do this, schedule some time with The Bitcoin Way to learn more about how we can help.
- Check your emotions. If you are feeling rushed or fearful as you consider giving up sensitive information or making a financial transaction, that is your cue to pause. Scammers are very good at winding people up and making them feel like they need to act immediately. If that is how you are feeling, there is a very good chance you’re dealing with a scammer.
And, as we’ve said several times here… if you’re a client of The Bitcoin Way, you have access to a superpower in the form of a private chat with us.
Reach out and get our thoughts and assistance if you ever feel unsure of something you’re facing. We’d love to hear from you and always respond quickly.
We hope this has been helpful and that your holidays are full of family, friends, and joy. Now you can do your part to keep them scam-free.