Market Volatility Warning: The “Recovery Scam” Surge
Risk Level: Critical (Targeting Liquidation Victims)
1. The Context: Why Today?
In the last 24 hours, the cryptocurrency market has experienced over $339 million in liquidations. This volatility is primarily driven by the massive $9.5 billion options expiry scheduled for tomorrow, January 30, which has forced rapid and aggressive position adjustments across the board.
Historically, such heavy liquidation events create a state of “investor desperation,” which cybercriminals exploit through highly targeted social engineering attacks.
2. The Primary Threat: “Recovery” & “Refund” Scams
As long positions were hit hardest today, scammers are actively monitoring social media for users posting about their losses.
How the Scam Operates:
- The Bait: Automated bots or fake “Blockchain Support” accounts reply to your posts or send Direct Messages (DMs) claiming they can “reverse” your liquidation or “recover” lost ETH/BTC for a fee.
- The Lie: They may use technical jargon like “smart contract reversal” or “escrow recovery” to sound legitimate.
- The Trap: To “start the recovery,” they ask you to connect your wallet to a “refund portal” (which is actually a wallet drainer) or pay an “initial gas fee”.
3. The ShieldGuard Reality Check
In alignment with the ShieldGuard Protocol security-first philosophy, we urge our community to remember these immutable facts:
- Transactions are Irreversible: Because blockchain transactions are final, no “support agent,” “hacker,” or “official” has the technical capability to reverse a liquidation or a completed transfer.
- No Exceptions: Anyone claiming they can recover funds lost to market liquidations or sent to a scammer is 100% a fraudster attempting a “secondary theft”.
- Support Never DMs First: Legitimate exchanges and protocols will never send you a Direct Message to offer assistance with lost funds.
4. Preventive Education: Your Defensive Action Plan
To protect your remaining assets during this period of high volatility, follow these ShieldGuard Learn guidelines:
- Silence the Noise: Disable DMs from non-followers on X (Twitter) and Discord to block “Recovery Bot” swarms.
- Verify Support Channels: Only communicate with official support through the verified website of your exchange or protocol. Never click links provided in social media comments.
- Audit Your Approvals: If you have interacted with any “refund” sites recently, immediately use a tool like Revoke.cash to ensure no malicious contracts have “unlimited spend” permissions on your wallet.
- Proactive Defense: Rather than reacting after a loss, use ShieldGuard Learn’s real-time alerts to stay ahead of evolving threat models.
5. ShieldLabs Perspective: The Human Layer of Security
Our ShieldLabs Incubator team emphasizes that while we build technical tools, the “Human Layer” is the first line of defense. Market volatility is a tool for scammers to bypass your logic. By remaining calm and recognizing that “recovery” is a technical impossibility on-chain, you effectively neutralize the threat.
Your Security is Our Protocol. Stay informed. Stay protected. Stay with ShieldGuard.
ShieldGuard Protocol ($SHPRO) www.ShieldGuard.io
Proactive Security for the Decentralized Economy
