‘Get Rich Quick’ Scams Hit Bitcoin

Be careful out there. The Verge reports:

Back in August, weird ads began appearing for something called the Bitcoin Robot that purported to earn massive profits by making hundreds of small transactions a day in the virtual currency, a version of the lucrative high-frequency trading done on Wall Street. The Bitcoin Robot claimed to have a waiting list of 20,000, even though the promo video through which it debuted has fewer than 500 views. Four days after launch, the Bitcoin Robot advertised that "EVERY Bitcoin Robot User Is In Profit (100% Success Quote) I-N-S-A-N-E!"

The Bitcoin Robot bears all the marks of a scam, down to the obviously fake affiliate reviews posted around the web and the illustrated 1-2-3 steps of "download, install, profit." The original ad even seemed to hint that it all might be vapor: "We here have developed a Bitcoin Robot that earns Bitcoin every day, 7 days of the week, 24 hours per day!" a narrator says. "Or at least we claim to do so, for now."

The Bitcoin Robot is just one of many dubious "get Bitcoin quick" schemes floating around the internet.[...]in a world where a well-known pundit can honestly declare "I’m putting all my savings into Bitcoin" and a gambler can earn $1.3 million in a single payout on a Bitcoin betting site, it can be difficult to tell what’s real.