In 2025, scammers stole over $3.4 billion; a significant portion of these losses is linked to social engineering tactics. Most of the losses stemmed from a major hack of the Bybit exchange, highlighting the scale of the problem and the vulnerability even of large platforms. This article explains how social engineering operates in cryptocurrency and outlines practical steps to help protect your assets.
What Is Social Engineering in Cryptocurrency?
Definition of Social Engineering
Social engineering is a set of techniques aimed at persuading a person to take an action that leads to loss of access or funds. The particular danger lies in the fact that these attacks target the victim's psychology rather than technical vulnerabilities, making them harder to detect with standard technical defenses. Scammers contact investors and try to provoke emotional responses to get them to confirm transactions or share access credentials.
How Scammers Exploit Psychology
Malefactors often play on fear and urgency, pushing investors to make rash decisions. These manipulations can appear very convincing, imitating official requests from exchanges or support services. As a result, even experienced users sometimes break their own security rules under emotional pressure.
Examples of Social Engineering Methods
- Requests to provide account access or private keys.
- Asking to confirm operations or transactions under the pretext of "security."
- Encouraging installation of malware disguised as updates or plugins.
Losses from Social Engineering in 2025
According to public statistics, scammers stole over $3.4 billion in 2025, with most losses linked to major market incidents. Among the largest cases was the Bybit exchange hack, which accounted for a substantial share of the total losses. Throughout the year, other incidents involved both large platforms and private investors falling victim.
How to Protect Yourself from Fraud?
Protection against social engineering combines technical measures and behavioral habits; it’s useful to refresh basic rules and undergo training to recognize manipulations. Detailed instructions on preventing user errors can be found in related materials, such as how to protect yourself from scammers, which explain typical attack scenarios and detection methods.
- Do not share confidential data with third parties, even if the request seems convincing — this is a direct recommendation from analysts.
- Verify the source of requests: a call or message is not equivalent to an official notification from the platform.
- Use two-factor authentication on all services where possible, and never share confirmation codes.
- Regularly train to recognize manipulations and rehearse responses to suspicious contacts.
The Role of Automation in Fraud Protection
This year has made it clear that automation helps minimize human error and reduce incidents caused by user mistakes. Reducing manual operations, reliable technical solutions, and timely security updates limit opportunities for successful social engineering. Additionally, supply chain issues have shown that automated checks and monitoring are critical for ecosystem stability.
Why Is This Important?
If you mine with 1 to 1000 devices, the risk of losing funds directly through social engineering remains real, even if the infrastructure itself is properly configured. Attacks targeting people around you — administrators, operators, or owners — can lead to loss of control over wallets or equipment. Understanding attack mechanics and following simple behavioral rules reduce the likelihood of asset loss.
What Should You Do?
If you manage a mining farm or multiple devices, focus on practical steps that reduce human error and make scammers’ work harder. Below is a brief checklist of actions you can implement immediately.
- Never share private keys, passwords, or confirmation codes — this is the fundamental security rule.
- Enable two-factor authentication and require it from everyone with access to wallets and accounts.
- Verify the authenticity of requests: contact support through official platform channels, avoid links from emails and messengers.
- Automate routine operations to reduce manual confirmations and regularly update software to protect against malware.
- If part of your infrastructure runs on Windows, use wallet and system protection guides, such as materials on how to secure a crypto wallet, and integrate them into your management procedures.
Following these rules does not guarantee complete protection but lowers the chances of successful social engineering and helps maintain control over your assets. The key is to rely on proven procedures and avoid making urgent decisions under pressure.