Beware of Phishing Scams on WhatsApp!
Main Takeaways
Binance will never reach out to users in WhatsApp groups with investment advice, discussion of purchases, or requests for funds.
You can always check the legitimacy of someone claiming to represent Binance with the Binance Verify tool.
Scammers have a tendency to use WhatsApp and other messaging platforms for phishing scams. They’ll try to gain your trust and ask you to send information or funds to them.
Be careful of scammers on WhatsApp — stay vigilant and always stick to our official communication channels!
Your online security is of the utmost importance to us. Before we dive into the details, we have an important message to share:
Binance will never contact you via WhatsApp with investment advice, offers or request for funds.
If someone claims to represent Binance and reaches out to you requesting funds or offering investment advice on WhatsApp, they're trying to fool or scam you.
Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for bad actors to impersonate us in order to contact you and ask for funds. In fact, it recently came to our attention that scammers had impersonated the Binance France and Italy teams to extort money from our community via WhatsApp groups.
Informing yourself is one of the best ways to protect yourself against these scams, and that’s why we’re here today. Let's stay vigilant together!
How Binance Will Actually Contact You
There are several ways that Binance could contact you or that you can reach out to us:
Via the Binance customer support team, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, on our customer service portal.
Via our official X (formerly known as Twitter) account: @binance.
Via Telegram. Make sure, however, that you have verified the identity of the contact with the Binance Verify service. This tool lets you check a website, e-mail address, Telegram ID, or other point of contact to see if it’s legitimate.
You should also carefully examine any community group you belong to. Our Keep Yourself Safe From Community Group Scams guide will help you do just that.
Via email. Again, make sure that you use Binance Verify to carefully check the sending address.
What’s the Danger Here?
In one word: phishing.
Phishing scams involve deceptive tactics where a fraudster convinces a victim to send funds or hand over confidential information. This is often achieved through fake emails, websites, or messages that closely resemble legitimate crypto platforms. The scammer aims to exploit a user’s trust before asking them for information or assets.
How can phishing attempts be made via WhatsApp?
As the crypto and social media landscape expands, so do the tactics of malicious actors aiming to exploit unsuspecting individuals. WhatsApp is one of the most popular methods of contact for millions around the globe, making it vulnerable to being used by scammers.
Here’s how a phishing scam on WhatsApp would typically look:
Impersonation: A scammer creates a fake WhatsApp profile resembling a Binance representative.
Urgent issue: They claim an urgent problem with your Binance account, such as suspicious activity.
Information or funds request: The scammer asks for sensitive information such as account credentials and two-factor authentication codes or requests that you transfer them some crypto.
False trust: They share some details that seem credible, potentially from public sources.
Isolation and vanishing: The scammer insists on secrecy and discourages you from discussing this with anyone else, including Binance support, claiming the situation is sensitive and needs to be handled discreetly. Finally, they disappear after you send crypto or information, leaving you with losses.
Staying Vigilant and Informed Is Your Weapon Against Scams
By understanding how the scam works, you’re set up to notice its telltale signs. This is one of the most powerful ways you can protect yourself. Don’t forget, we’ll never reach out to you via WhatsApp with investment advice or to request funds. You can be sure that anyone doing so is trying to defraud you, so stay vigilant and stick to our official communication channels.