Bitcoin mining is more popular than almost ever before, which means miners need to protect themselves and their bitcoins more carefully than ever.
Scammers are everywhere. Use this checklist as a guide to stay safe while mining with Compass and avoid being scammed.
- Use a unique email for Compass Mining.
- Only buy from Compass through the website.
- Confirm the identity of Compass employees.
- Carefully review your Compass invoice.
- Ask questions of the Compass team.
- Never share hardware wallet seed phrases.
- Tell Compass about mining scams.
Use a unique email for Compass Mining.
A commonplace way to protect personal information is to create a new email address only known by the client, the company, and potentially a financial services provider. This ensures that any other external communication received by an email account dedicated only to Compass business is likely suspicious or scammy mail.
Only buy from Compass through the website.
Compass only sells mining equipment and hosting through one place: the Compass marketplace. Compass team members operate on multiple platforms, like Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin.
Any other offerings – especially ones pretending to come from Compass – should be treated with skepticism. The Compass support team is always available to answer questions and help confirm the legitimacy of any product offering. Please reach out to our sales team by emailing sales@compassmining.io or submit a service request at any time.
Confirm the identity of Compass employees.
Scammers often impersonate Compass employees and affiliates by using bogus social media or email accounts. The Compass sales team will never initiate direct or private messages with you. Compass employees are always able to confirm their identity by corresponding on a different platform, like Telegram, Twitter. etc. Compass public employee information can be found here.
Be aware that some email scams can be quite sophisticated, including changing the appearance of an email sending address to mimic a real account. The Compass sales and support teams are always able to confirm their identities and answer any questions about the legitimacy of any product offerings, including audio and video calls. Contact Compass directly with any questions by contacting out sales team (sales@compassmining.io) or filling out a support request form.
Carefully review your Compass invoice.
Some Compass customers receive hardware and hosting bills from the Compass team as invoices sent via email. Scammers occasionally recreate Compass invoices with fake product offerings and significantly discounted pricing to trick Compass customers and steal funds.
Always confirm the legitimacy of any hardware or hosting invoice. Contact us with any questions or to confirm an invoice before paying. Delaying a purchase or bill payment is always better than transferring funds to a scammer.
Ask questions of the Compass team.
Miners can always contact the Compass team with questions about potential mining scams, including fraudulent invoices, phishing websites, and more. Fill out a support request form or contact a Compass team member directly using the public team information found here.
Never share your hardware wallet seed phrase.
Safely storing bitcoin requires transferring coins to a wallet that is secured by a 12- or 24- word password called a seed phrase. Never share your seed phrase with anyone, including Compass employees. Compass employees will never ask for a customer’s seed phrase.
Be sure to write down a wallet’s seed phrase multiple times and store the phrase in secure locations. Learn more about best practices with wallet passwords here.
Tell Compass about mining scams.
Compass is constantly monitoring the mining market for scams. The entire team welcomes anyone to alert Compass of ongoing mining scams. Contact us at any time by filling out a support request form. Join the Compass community on Twitter to raise awareness of other scams.