Safety · Beginner lesson · about 4 minutes
Crypto Safety Checklist
Read this before you install a wallet, send money, or answer a message from “support.”
The short answer
Slow down. Check things yourself, in a separate place. Protect the secrets that let anyone send your money.
In plain English
This checklist is boring on purpose. Boring is good when a payment can be permanent. Keep it close by. Use it before you set up a new wallet, which is an app or device that keeps the secret keys to your coins. Use it before you move coins out of an exchange, which is a company where people buy and sell crypto. Use it before you give an app permission to move your coins. And use it when a message you didn't expect shows up.
No checklist can remove every risk. But it can make you pause. That pause gives you time to notice pressure, a wrong network, a fake website, or an approval you don't understand.
Use this before money moves
Print it. Keep it. Pause.
- Use a website or app you found yourself. Don't use a link from a message you didn't expect.
- Never share your recovery phrase or private key. A recovery phrase is the list of backup words for your wallet. A private key is the secret that lets you spend your coins. Anyone who has either one can take your coins. Real support will never ask for either one.
- Before you approve, check the exact coin, the network, the address, the amount, and the fee. The network is the system that carries the payment. Some coins can travel on more than one network. If you pick the wrong one, the money can be lost. The address is where the money will go.
- When you paste an address, check the whole thing, not just the first and last few letters. Some harmful programs, called clipboard malware, can swap in a look-alike address that matches the first or last few characters.
- If you haven't sent money this way before, send a small test amount first.
- If you use a network like Ethereum, look over the permissions you've given apps in your wallet. Take back any you no longer need. Taking one back is called revoking it. Bitcoin doesn't have app permissions like this.
- Write your recovery phrase on paper and keep it somewhere safe from fire and theft. Never save it as a photo, an email, or a file online. Make a plan so your family can reach your crypto if something happens to you.
- If someone rushes you, stop. Check with the company through an official way you find yourself.
What can go wrong
Read this before you act.
Once a crypto payment is confirmed, there's no undo button and no bank to call. Confirmed means the network has accepted it. Only the person who got the money can send it back. A website, person, or logo that looks trustworthy doesn't make a payment safe.
Check your understanding
A few questions. Not a test.
Pick an answer to see why it's right or wrong. There's no score to unlock.
Sources and corrections
This lesson is a starting point. The links below back up the main points on this checklist. Please tell us if something needs fixing.