How to spot a crypto scam

This is the guide we would most like every newcomer to read. Most crypto losses are not sophisticated attacks on blockchains — they are people being persuaded to hand over access. The tactics are repetitive, which means they are learnable.

The seed phrase scam

How it works. You post about a wallet problem in a public forum, Discord or Telegram. Within minutes a “support agent” messages you privately. They are friendly and competent. Eventually they ask you to “validate”, “sync” or “restore” your wallet by entering your seed phrase into a form or website.

The tell. Real support never contacts you first, and never needs the phrase. Wallet software does not require validation. If you have posted publicly about a problem, assume every direct message you receive is an attacker.

The malicious approval

How it works. A site offers an airdrop, a mint or a claim. You connect your wallet and are asked to sign. The signature is not a login — it grants a contract permission to spend your tokens, often without limit. Moments later your wallet is emptied.

The tell. Read what you are signing. Wallets show the contract and permission being requested; an unlimited approval to an unknown address is a red flag. Be especially wary of claim pages reached through advertisements or direct messages. Periodically review and revoke old approvals.

The guaranteed-return platform

How it works. A polished site or app offers fixed daily or weekly returns — 1% a day, 15% a month. Early withdrawals work, which builds confidence and encourages larger deposits and referrals. Then withdrawals slow, then stop.

The tell. Fixed returns are impossible with a volatile underlying asset. No legitimate crypto product can guarantee a rate, because nothing it invests in is guaranteed. Any advertised fixed return is describing something that cannot work — the money comes from later depositors until it does not.

The romance or “friend” approach

How it works. Someone contacts you on a dating app, a wrong-number text, or a social platform. They are warm, patient, and do not mention crypto for days or weeks. Eventually they mention their success with a trading platform. The platform is real-looking and shows your balance rising. When you try to withdraw, there are fees, then taxes, then more fees.

The tell. The relationship arrives before the investment. Any unsolicited contact that eventually reaches a trading platform is following a script, regardless of how long it took or how genuine it felt. This category costs people their life savings more often than any other.

The rug pull

How it works. A new token launches with heavy promotion, a Discord full of enthusiasm and a rising chart. The creators then remove the liquidity or dump their holdings, and the price collapses to nothing.

The tells. Anonymous team with no verifiable history. Most of the supply in a few wallets. Liquidity unlocked, or locked only briefly. Promised multiples. Countdown timers. And a community that treats any question about token distribution as an attack — see FUD.

The impersonation giveaway

How it works. A verified-looking account, or a livestream using footage of a well-known figure, announces that sending crypto to an address returns double.

The tell. Nobody doubles your money. This is always theft, in every instance, regardless of whose face is on the video.

Clipboard malware

How it works. Malware watches for a crypto address being copied and silently replaces it with the attacker’s. You paste, glance, and send to the wrong place.

The tell. Always check the first and last several characters of a pasted address against the source. For meaningful amounts, send a small test transaction first.

The rules that stop nearly everything

• Never share a seed phrase or private key. Ever. With anyone.
• Treat anyone who contacts you first as hostile.
• Guaranteed returns do not exist.
• Nobody doubles your money.
• Urgency is a technique. Slow down; legitimate opportunities survive a night’s sleep.
• Read what you sign — an approval is not a login.
• Bookmark the sites you use rather than searching for them; advertisements impersonate wallets and exchanges.
• Verify addresses after pasting, and test with a small amount first.

If it has already happened

Crypto transactions are irreversible and recovery is usually not possible. Move any remaining funds to a new wallet with a freshly generated seed phrase — not the compromised one. Revoke outstanding approvals. Report it to your national fraud body, and to the exchange if funds passed through one, since they can sometimes freeze proceeds.

Be aware of the follow-up scam: “recovery agents” who claim they can retrieve stolen crypto for an upfront fee target people who have already been defrauded. They cannot, and they are the same industry.

What to read next

You have finished the Foundations path. The natural next step is how to set up your first crypto wallet, where these rules become practical.