Scammers have been targeting users on Discord, the chat server platform popular with gamers, by offering them free bitcoin or ethereum on a fake exchange platform.

• The fraudsters targeted Discord users on cryptocurrency-focused servers, sending them private messages purporting to be from a new exchange giving away cryptocurrency, according to a Kaspersky Daily report on Thursday.
• Potential victims are told to register with the exchange, offering up personal data in the process, and either make a small cryptocurrency deposit or go through a fake know-your-customer (KYC) identity check to complete the process.
• When victims try and claim their free crypto, they are asked to top up the account with an amount such as 0.02 BTC (worth $750 at press time) or the equivalent in ether or U.S. dollars.
• Claiming the free crypto appears to work, crediting the user's exchange account with the promised amount, but when a withdrawal is attempted it fails.
• The supposed exchange, called "withEREUM" in this case (the scam changes such details regularly to keep it fresh), has been convincingly designed to look authentic, even touting two-factor authentication, said Kaspersky.
• As well as nabbing visitors' crypto, the scammers may be collecting a database of crypto users, per the report, which could "fetch a nice price on the dark web."

Read more: Substack Newsletters Are Being Used to Spread Crypto Scams