SCAM ALERT: BTCPop Twitter Impostor Seeks Your Bitcoin

Be wary of the Twitter account BTCP0P. No not BTCPop, they're good people. It's BTCP0P that's the impostor.

It appears as if they are making an attempt to trick people into sending coins to an address almost certainly not own by BTCPop.

Confused? Let's look at this more closely.

Here's the actual URL of the twitter account of BTCPop, the P2P loan and trading platform.

https://twitter.com/BTCPOPCO

Here's the impostor:

https://twitter.com/BTCP0P

Other than the missing "CO" at the end of the authentic account it's hard to tell who's for real. Until you lower case the URL.

Then compare:

REAL: https://twitter.com/btcpopco

FAKE: https://twitter.com/btcp0p

Tricks to Uncover Common Impostor Strategies

Using numbers or letters to look like other numbers or letters is a common practice and to the unsuspecting eye this almost always lures in actual users to a given platform. Here's  few to watch out for:

NAME	TEST	IMPOSTOR	RESULT
BTCPOP	Case	BTCP0P	btcpop	btcp0p
LOCALBlTCOlNS	Case	LOCALBITCOINS	localbltcolns	localbitcoins
COlNBASE	Case	COINBASE	colnbase	coinbase
BITSTAMP	Case	BlTSTAMP	bitstamp	b1tstamp
bitstamp	Case/Size	bıtstamp	blockcha₁n	blockchain
	Case	>>	BLOCKCHA1N	BLOCKCHAIN
	Case	>>	BLOCKCHA₁N	BLOCKCHAIN
	Case/Size/Case	>>	blockcha1n	blockchain
PAXFUL	Len(user)	PAXFUL.	6	7

1. In the first example (this articles original subject) there's simply a 0 used instead of an 0. This is a dead give away if you change the case.
2. Localbitcoins with a 1 serving as an I, hard to detect when the username is UPPERCASE, however easy to spot once the case s toggled.
3. Coinbase has a lowercase l along with UPPERCASE letter thus resembling an uppercase i. Case toggle reveals this one in both directions but be careful here because the entire case of the string must be changed.
4. Same example the third, this time with bitstamp.
5. The 5-6 examples are rather tricky and depending on what system and/or software you're using it may be difficult to detect. In this example a subscript 1 or L (lower) is used for an i, at a glance it looks right. Double toggle the case or unify the size to reveal.
6. The last example is not easily detectable outside of paying attention or counting the characters. In this example there's a subscript period at the end of the username which looks more like a spec on the screen. 

These are just a few techniques to watch out for. Always be aware of who it is you're actually dealing with.

About BTCPop

BTCPop is a P2P lending, IPO, and trading platform, you can learn more about there on their website. It's a great way to get a crowdfunded loan, IPO, or exchange various digital currencies with peers. Check them out.

Visit BTCPop

Be careful out there!

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Article by dinbits

Image Credits:

Banner Image by dinbits.com staff
Resources:
Twitter, MaineBitoin

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