IMPULSE took over as James Gale hit the button to invest £3,000 in what he thought was the presale link to a hotly tipped new cryptocurrency – but in a second the money was gone.
This wasn’t the first – or last – time the 34-year-old was duped out of his hard-earned cash, and sadly it’s a story heard all too often in the world of online assets.
Last year alone, scammers took home a record £10billion ($14bn) according to data from Chainalysis – a 79 per cent rise from 2020.
Cryptocurrencies – online money that can be used to purchase certain items or services without the need to use real names or go through a bank – dominate the headlines too, with price fluctuations, new coins and even Eric Trump threatening to sue a creator coin for using his family name.
Losing £230,000 to dodgy and bad investments spurred James, from Uxbridge, London, to want to make the online space safer for users.
He launched his own coin – Koda Cryptocurrency – in May last year and now advises about the dangers to be aware of when investing.
From “FOMO” to “apeing”, “rug pulls” and “doxxing”, he also helps decode common crypto terms and how investors can avoid falling foul of cons.
James tells The Sun: “The reason people get scammed, in my opinion, is that everyone has seen the success that can come from a good cryptocurrency and getting in there…
