How To Avoid Discord Scams?

Discord is a popular chat and voice communication platform that is widely used by gamers and communities alike for socializing and collaboration. Its user-friendly interface, a vast array of features, and customization options contribute to its growing popularity.

Users can create or join servers, send messages, share files, and voice chat with other members in real-time. As of December 2022, Discord boasted over 150M active users and more than 6.7M active servers. By January 2023, the platform was estimated to have reached over 560 million registered users

However, with its increased use, Discord has also become a prime target for scammers. They pose as legitimate businesses or individuals and attempt to deceive users through various methods such as phishing attempts and fake giveaways.

These scams typically rely on different tactics to extract personal information or distribute malware. While Discord has implemented security measures to combat these scams, it’s important for users to remain vigilant and exercise caution when interacting with unknown individuals or joining unfamiliar servers.

In this article, we’ll talk about Discord scams and how to avoid them.

Discord scammers come in various forms, depending on their intentions and the purpose of the targeted server. Here are some examples of the most frequent scams you may encounter on Discord

Scams that try to steal your cryptocurrency funds typically originate from bots that infiltrate poorly secured servers and send direct messages (DMs) to users, proclaiming them as winners of a cryptocurrency giveaway. Such scams typically feature prizes in Bitcoin or other virtual currencies.

Twitch, Steam, and Nitro Giveaway scams may manifest themselves as unsolicited offers of free games, game content, accounts, or Nitro gifts via DMs or public channels on servers. These scams are often identifiable by the presence of typographical errors in their links.

Giveaway scams share a commonality with Twitch, Steam, and Nitro Giveaway scams. They present themselves as shared links to supposed giveaways or servers hosting giveaways but may request personal information or funds, which should prompt the potential victim to steer clear.

Support scams may take the form of scammers posing as official support representatives in a server’s support channels to deceive users into sharing funds or account details. It is essential to note that legitimate communities have policies dictating that staff will never initiate DMs with users.

Shilling scams often target servers related to cryptocurrency or stock trading and entail the scammer sending DMs claiming to possess insider knowledge or offering advice on trading for a fee. This variety of scams is aimed at draining the victim’s cryptocurrency wallet or stock trading account.

Finally, trading tutor scams may involve scammers publicly posting in cryptocurrency or trading servers, offering free advice or tutoring to less experienced traders. However, their ulterior motive is to obtain the victims’ account details and subsequently drain them.

Discord bears the ultimate responsibility to establish new security measures to combat scammers on their platform. Although the company has introduced various features, such as member screening for community servers, these measures may still be insufficient for larger communities. To avoid falling victim to scammers, you can take the following precautions:

Exercise caution with strangers: Even if strangers seem professional, sophisticated, and helpful, you should remain vigilant about any person who contacts you online. Avoid sharing any personal information with them, including your name and city, as this information can be used to find more information about you online.

Avoid clicking on any unknown links: Be wary of unknown links posted publicly or privately, as they may direct you to a suspicious website. Verify the safety of these links instead of clicking them, and use security services to ensure their safety.

Use two-factor authentication: Though inconvenient, use two-factor authentication (2FA) everywhere to protect your accounts. Even if scammers acquire your account details, they still need physical access to your mobile device to receive the 2FA code.

Adjust your message scanning settings: Navigate to the Privacy & Safety section of your Discord account settings and set the “Safe Direct Messaging” option to “keep me safe” for maximum security.

Disable friend requests: Scammers may try to add you as a friend to avoid scanning DMs from “friends.” Disable this option in your Discord account settings to prevent unauthorized friend requests.

Disable DMs from non-friends: Disable the ability to receive DMs from anyone who is not on your friend list in your Discord account settings and personal server settings.

Report suspicious activity: Check the mutual servers that you share with anyone who sends you a suspicious DM and report the DM to the staff. Consider reporting the suspicious activity to Discord as well to help combat scammers on the platform.

In case the scammer now has access to any of your accounts, quickly change the passwords for those accounts. If your account has been compromised or is inaccessible, reach out to the website’s support team.

Stay safe!

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