‘EtherSecurityLookup’ is a Javascript-based Chrome Extension to Detect Crypto Scammers

The phenomenal growth of crypotocurrencies over the past year has brought with it a group of fraudsters and con artists,

 who are using social media to run misleading, and often fraudulent ads that are meant to lure unsuspecting victims into buying digital currencies with false promises and under false pretexts. With artificially inflated demand, the prices of cryptocurrencies skyrocket, giving these fraudsters the chance to cash out their own investments, leaving innocent victims fending for themselves with no idea if they'll ever recover their hard-earned money.



Now, the Ethereum community has had enough of their leaders being impersonated on Twitter and other platforms, and are fighting back against these scamsters. Their weapon of choice? A tiny piece of software called 'EtherSecurityLookup'. Developed by Harry Denley, it's a javascript-based Google Chrome extension that warns users about possible fake Twitter accounts trying to impersonate well-known leaders of the cryptocurrency industry. Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin was impersonated on Twitter by multiple fake accounts, one of which is shown below the image.



Funnily enough, Buterin says that there are at least 827 accounts on Twitter that are trying to impersonate him by altering his name "via a single addition, substitution, swap or deletion". As can seen, however, his account is verified by Twitter's blue checkmark, which is something users must always watch out for while determining if an account truly belongs to a public figure or not.