Skip to content
Contact us
  • There are no suggestions because the search field is empty.

How to recognise and respond to a Bitcoin investment scam

Investment scammers may use crypto platforms as part of their scheme. They may tell you to open a Bitcoin account, buy bitcoin and transfer it to a wallet or investment platform that they control. Blockrise does not offer or approve third-party investment opportunities.

If another person is guiding, pressuring or instructing you through a Bitcoin transaction, pause before you continue. Do not rely on the website, documents or contact details that person has provided.

How an investment scam can work

A scammer may contact you through social media, WhatsApp, a dating platform, telephone, email or an online advertisement. The person may present themselves as a broker, financial adviser, account manager or representative of an investment platform.

The offer often promises high, consistent or guaranteed returns with little or no risk. You may be shown a professional-looking website or dashboard with supposed profits. These figures may be fabricated and do not prove that an investment or account exists.

The scammer may then guide you through opening an account, depositing euros, buying bitcoin or transferring bitcoin to an external address. Later, you may be asked to pay more for taxes, fees, insurance, verification or the release of your supposed profits. These additional requests are a strong warning sign.

Warning signs

Be cautious when one or more of these signs apply:

  • You receive an unsolicited investment offer or an online relationship turns into investment advice.
  • You are promised guaranteed returns, unusually high profits or an investment with little or no risk.
  • You are pressured to act quickly, keep the opportunity secret or invest more than you intended.
  • A third party tells you to open or use a Blockrise account for their investment service.
  • Someone dictates what you should tell Blockrise or asks you to hide the real purpose of a transaction.
  • You are asked to install screen-sharing or remote-access software.
  • You are asked to share your screen while signing in, buying bitcoin or authorising a transaction.
  • You are instructed to transfer bitcoin to a private wallet or an unfamiliar platform.
  • The company, adviser or wallet owner cannot be independently verified.
  • You must make another payment before you can withdraw supposed profits.
  • Someone claims that Blockrise recommends, approves or works with their investment service.

A professional website, positive reviews, account statements or a visible balance are not proof that an investment is genuine. Scammers can copy company details, impersonate real people and create fake trading dashboards.

Pause before you transact

Before you deposit euros, buy bitcoin or authorise a withdrawal:

  1. Stop the conversation and take time to check the offer independently.
  2. Do not use links, telephone numbers or verification documents supplied by the person who approached you.
  3. Search for the company and adviser through the relevant financial regulator. In the Netherlands, check information held by the Autoriteit Financiële Markten at https://www.afm.nl/en/contact.
  4. Contact Blockrise through an official channel shown in your account or on the Blockrise website if another person has told you to use Blockrise for an investment.
  5. Speak to someone you trust who is not involved in the offer.
  6. Do not install remote-access software or allow another person to operate your device.

Never share your password, PIN, authentication code, recovery code, private key or Blockrise Seed words. Blockrise will never ask you to disclose secret authentication or recovery material by email, telephone, chat or screen sharing.

What Blockrise will never do

Blockrise will never:

  • promise or guarantee investment returns;
  • approach you with a third-party investment opportunity;
  • ask you to transfer bitcoin to an adviser, broker or recovery service;
  • ask you to conceal the true purpose of a transaction;
  • ask for your password, authentication codes, recovery codes, private keys or Blockrise Seed words.

A person who claims otherwise is not acting on behalf of Blockrise.

If you may already be involved

Stop sending money or bitcoin. Do not pay additional taxes, release fees, verification costs or recovery charges requested by the suspected scammer. Break off contact, but preserve the evidence before blocking accounts or deleting messages.

Contact Blockrise through an official channel and explain what happened. Contacting Blockrise does not guarantee that a transaction can be stopped, reversed or recovered. A confirmed transaction on the Bitcoin network cannot be reversed by Blockrise.

Save as much information as possible, including:

  • wallet addresses and transaction IDs;
  • screenshots of websites, dashboards and balances;
  • emails, chat histories and telephone numbers;
  • names, company details and social-media profiles;
  • payment instructions, invoices and bank statements;
  • dates, amounts and a timeline of what happened.

If a bank transfer was involved, contact your bank. You can also seek guidance from the Dutch Fraudehelpdesk at https://www.fraudehelpdesk.nl/fraude/ik-ben-gebeld-met-een-beleggingsvoorstel/ and report suspected fraud to the police at https://www.politie.nl/aangifte-of-melding-doen/aangifte-van-oplichting.html. You may also report relevant financial-market misconduct to the AFM.

Be alert to recovery scams

People who have lost money are often approached again by someone claiming to be a lawyer, investigator, regulator or recovery specialist. They may promise to recover the bitcoin in exchange for an upfront fee, tax payment or access to your wallet.

Treat unsolicited recovery offers as suspicious. Do not send more money, share credentials or allow remote access to your device. Verify any organisation independently through official public contact details.