TL;dr

Introduction

Scammers are everywhere. You may have gotten emails form Nigerian princes, or phone calls from the IRS demanding Home Depot gift cards... There are people up to no good, and it is your responsibility to keep yourself secure. Below are a few tips to help you.

When it comes to high value objects - scammers are attracted, like a moth to a bright light. Bittensor is no exception, and members of the community have had wallets drained. All of the advantages of crypto - permissionless, anonymous - can be used against you... so be careful!

Wallet safety

Your tao is stored on the chain, and only those with wallet credentials can access your tao.

Seed phrase/Mnemonic

When you create a wallet you are given a 12 word phrase that can be used to recreate your wallet. Super useful if your computer dies, or you smash your phone use the seed phrase to create a new access point. However, if you give out this phrase you are giving this person full access to all of your tao in this wallet. NEVER DO THIS.

• We have seen examples where the user knows not to share their seed phrase, but is tricked into sharing the "hex encoded" version of their seed phrase. This 2 steps for the hacker to access your wallet.

Coldkey/hotkey

Wallet addresses: 5GKH9FPPnWSUoeeTJp19wVtd84XqFW4pyK2ijV2GsFbhTrP1 are safe to share. You may lose some anonymity around your coldkey by sharing it, but it cannot be used nefariously.

Social Media

This holds for Twitter, Discord, Telegram - anywhere really. If you ask a question, and you get a random person offering to help you - assume it is a scam. Especially if it is a direct message.

Discord

Keep it in the open. Use channels for all messages. If you must DM: ensure it is the person you think you are speaking to. Leave a note in their profile, and make sure that note matches

In Doubt?

• Ask in public. If someone wants to to use a different server, or move to DMs - they may be trying to hide from the community - not keep you safe.
• Don't do it. Educate yourself and make sure you understand what your action does, and how it could affect you/your wallets.
• Too good to be true? You are a direct descendant of Queen Elizabeth II and she has left you 4,000 tao in her will? Stop and think about what you are about to do.

What you can do?

• If using Discord - set up 2 Factor Authentication - either Via SMS or with an authenticator app. This will prevent unauthorized takeovers of your Discord account.
• Always verify who you are talking with.
• Be wary of clicking any link. Especially messages to #open-a-ticket or #talk-to-an-admin (r similar). They are taking you to a new Discord server.