There is a new investment scam targeting first-time founders. Here’s how it works.

SCAMMERS! SCAMMERS!

Photo by Lindsey LaMont on Unsplash

Getting funded is a pain in the ass and recently a new scam is hitting founders with little experience with cryptocurrency.

I’ve tried my hardest to simplify this but there may be some terminology that isn’t clear. All you have to understand is this: if you don’t know how to control a cryptocurrency wallet securely, do not take investment in cryptocurrency.

I am writing this because I’ve seen people hurt by this scam and the companies in question did nothing. This is a warning for anyone in the same position.

The scam goes like this: you, the founder, might be running a fundraise or doing an equity funding round. The scammers will target users on Fundable, for example, and explain that they are very interested in your product and are willing to fund your entire round in crypto.

They will most likely contact you through WhatsApp. There is some suggestion that they have access to an exploit that will inject something into your Chrome browser but I haven’t confirmed that exploit. Just assume by the time you start chatting you’ve been compromised.

The scammer will say they are from a seemingly stodgy old investment group. One victim was contacted by the FamilyInvestmentGroup.com (SCAM LINK) and investors named David Boccard (david@familyinvestgroup.com) and Albert Kriken (albertkriken@gmail.com). The scammers will go through a full song and dance, saying they would invest in the victim’s company. They will then ask if the victim accepts cryptocurrency.

Here’s where the scam starts. The scammers will ask the victim to create an account on Blockchain.com. The victim’s Blockchain.com account is most likely compromised at this step. Blockchain.com is notoriously lax when it comes to security and it is not a safe wallet. Do not use it to store crypto. Once the victim creates the account, the hackers will surreptitiously take control of this account.

The scammers begin the scam by asking to meet. They’ll make it very hard to meet. My friend was about to get on a plane to go to Belgrade to meet his scammers. Eventually, plans will fall through and the scammers will decide that they…