How to Avoid Crypto Scams
Most people who lose crypto are not hacked. They are persuaded. Scams work by creating urgency and trust, then asking for one small action that cannot be undone. Knowing the standard patterns is the single most valuable security habit you can build.
1. Fake support
You post a problem publicly and a helpful account messages you within minutes. Real support never contacts you first, never asks for your seed phrase and never asks you to connect your wallet to a verification site. Anyone requesting your twelve or twenty-four words is stealing from you, without exception.
2. Giveaway and doubling scams
A video or post claims a well-known figure will send back double whatever you send. Nobody gives away money to strangers. Deepfaked livestreams have made these look increasingly convincing.
3. Wallet drainers
A site asks you to connect your wallet and sign a transaction to claim an airdrop or mint an NFT. The signature actually grants permission to move your tokens. Read what you are signing, use a separate wallet for experiments, and revoke old approvals periodically.
4. Romance and long-con investment scams
Someone builds a relationship over weeks, then introduces a trading platform where their family made money. The platform shows profits and lets you withdraw small amounts, until you deposit a large sum and withdrawals stop. The platform is a website with no money behind it.
5. Rug pulls
A new token launches, price rockets, influencers pile in, then the team sells everything or removes the liquidity. Warning signs include anonymous teams, no audit, no locked liquidity, and a small number of wallets holding most of the supply.
6. Fake exchanges and cloned apps
Search engine ads and app stores both host convincing clones. Always navigate to exchanges by typing the address or using a saved bookmark, and cross-check against a known list such as our exchange rankings.
7. Pump and dump groups
A paid group promises coordinated buying. Organisers buy first and sell into the pump. By the time the signal reaches you, you are the exit liquidity.
8. Recovery scams
After a loss, someone offers to recover your funds for an upfront fee. This is a second scam targeting victims of the first. Blockchain transactions cannot be reversed by a private service.
Five rules that prevent most losses
- Never share a seed phrase with anyone, for any reason.
- Guaranteed returns do not exist. Treat the promise itself as the red flag.
- Urgency is a manipulation tool. Slow down and verify.
- Bookmark the sites you use and never click links in unsolicited messages.
- Keep long-term holdings in a hardware wallet that never touches unfamiliar sites. See wallets explained.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can stolen crypto be recovered?
Rarely. Transactions are irreversible. Occasionally exchanges freeze funds if stolen assets are deposited there and the theft is reported quickly, so report to the exchange and to law enforcement immediately, but expect little.
Is it safe to connect my wallet to a website?
Only to sites you know and trust. Connecting itself is low risk, but signing a transaction can grant permission to move your tokens. Use a separate wallet with limited funds for anything unfamiliar.
How do I check if a project is legitimate?
Look for a public team, an audit from a known firm, locked liquidity, a supply distribution that is not concentrated in a few wallets, and a history of more than a few weeks. Absence of these is not proof of fraud, but presence of all of them is a reasonable filter.