The Cardano Foundation’s guidance for staying safe from sophisticated scams
The Cardano Foundation reminds our valued community to remain extremely vigilant in light of a recent rise of fraudulent activity targeting ada holders.
The level of sophistication involved in this most recent fraudulent scheme makes it incredibly difficult to detect. While our team works very hard to deplatform these sites we would like to share further details with you so you may avoid them.
In the most recent scheme, bad actors have convincingly duplicated the https://cardanofoundation.org/ website in an attempt to promote a scam.
This fake website, pictured below, attempts to lure users into joining a stake pool named ‘HyperPool’, which promises high rewards for participants. This stake pool does not exist, and the Cardano Foundation has absolutely no association with it. The Cardano Foundation will never run a stake pool.
Please always make sure you are visiting: https://cardanofoundation.org/. Do not simply rely on the SSL certificate padlock being present next to the URL, as fraudulent individuals can also implement a false SSL. The Cardano Foundation genuine SSL provider is Cloudflare, and we ask that you check this information as well as verifying the URL is correct before you use our site.
To steal your funds, the signup link for the fake pool directs you to a duplicated version of the AdaLite wallet. The URL for the fake wallet uses the domain extension ‘.ORG’ instead of the real wallet which uses a ‘.IO’ domain (https://adalite.io/).
This fake wallet, pictured below, will then prompt you to connect your hardware wallet device, provide a Keystore file, or restore an ada wallet from your mnemonic phrase in order to join the pool. It is at this point your funds will be lost.
We ask our community to be totally aware that any interaction with this fake wallet and stake pool will result in the total loss of your funds with no way to retrieve them. We cannot reverse transactions on the blockchain, and we cannot restore your lost funds should you attempt to interact with this fake wallet and stakepool.
Please read on to find out how you can stay safe, and some general Cardano security rules to remember.
Three golden rules for staying safe
Please always remember these three golden rules, now and in the future:
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No Cardano entity, either the Cardano Foundation, EMURGO, or IOHK, will EVER advertise a scheme where you to send funds of ada or any denomination to any address, entity, or individual;
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No team member from any Cardano entity will ever ask you to send funds of ada or any denomination to any address, entity, or individual;
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The Cardano Foundation does not and will never run a stakepool, and any pools advertising affiliation with the Cardano Foundation are unofficial and should be approached with caution.
You can read more about unofficial giveaways and scams and how you can protect yourself from them here. Please find a complete list of our official channels and websites here.
Thank you and stay vigilant,
The Cardano Foundation
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