How to spot a gaming scam
According to the Blockchain Gaming Alliance (BGA), a majority of people still think the Web3 gaming industry is rife with scams and con merchants.
In its 2023 State of the Industry report, the BGA highlighted survey results showing that almost three out of four people believe that blockchain gaming is a scam — and have done so since the industry emerged.
“Since 2021, respondents cited that the biggest misconception surrounding all of blockchain gaming is that people assume it is a scam or a Ponzi scheme. In 2023, 70.0% agreed that this was still the top fallacy about the industry.”
It may be a fallacy overall, but while the industry overall is on the level, the ease of stealing crypto does attract grifters with questionable intentions. They’re not blockchain games, though — they’re pretend games out to rip people off.
The FBI warned gamers earlier this year about sneaky criminals using pretend Web3 games to snatch people’s crypto. They reminded gamers about fake games that lure in users with promises of cash if they connect their wallet, and then, bam, they steal all your crypto.
In another notable example, CertiK recently shared with Cointelegraph that the team behind the FinSoul gaming project had pulled off an exit scam by reportedly swiping $1.6 million from investors.
The FinSoul team allegedly hired actors to pretend to be its executives, then raised funds for the apparent purpose of developing a gaming platform. Instead of creating the platform, the team allegedly just siphoned off $1.6 million in bridged Tether from investors to their own accounts.
So, how can gamers stay safe when diving into a new Web3 game?
According to Martin Peko, co-founder of Wallet Guard, gamers should always have their guard up when it comes to invites for pre-release games.
Speaking to Magazine, Peko points out that while it might seem tempting to hop on board early with projects before they launch or simply to boast about being an early adopter, it could end up draining your wallet.
While he’s bullish about Web3 gaming as a way of adopting new users into blockchain technology, he notes that “Users need to be aware that unsolicited DMs over Discord and Twitter are common grounds for distributing scams and malware.”
“Early warning signs of a scam are when someone you don’t know is trying to get you to be a ‘beta tester’ or is promising a reward for trying out their Web3 game. If they’re trying to get you to download an executable file, that should immediately be a red flag.”
As most users end up getting scammed by fake Web3 games when they hook up their wallets, the best way to avoid this is to use a transaction simulator (e.g., Wallet Guard) to get human-readable insights into the outcome of a transaction.
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