The most common scams

Scammers love crypto: payments are fast, irreversible and cross borders. In the US alone, according to the FBI, people reported 11.4 billion dollars lost to crypto scams in 2025. But the scams repeat over and over – you just need to know them.

Giveaways#

"Send us 1 BTC and we'll send you 2 back!" – usually with a photo or a deepfake video of a celebrity and a countdown.

Nobody gives away money by first asking you to send yours. Ever. What you send, you will not see again.

Fake support#

You post on social media that your withdrawal is stuck, and within minutes "exchange support" writes to you. They will help… if you tell them your seed phrase, install a "verification app" or send money to a "safe address". Real support does not message you first and never wants sensitive details.

Pump and dump#

A group secretly buys a small, thinly traded coin. Then they whip up hype on social media – "this coin will do 100×!" – and the price shoots up. Once enough new buyers have jumped in, the organisers sell everything and the price collapses.

Rug pull#

The creators of a new token take the investors' money and vanish – they literally "pull the rug". Often these are projects with an anonymous team, grand promises and pressure to buy as soon as possible.

Romance and friendship scams#

The most expensive of all. The scammer chats with you for months as a friend or partner, wins your trust and then "teaches you to invest" on their platform. The profits on the screen keep growing until you want to withdraw. Then comes a "tax" or a "release fee" – and finally silence. This is called pig butchering. Crypto investment fraud, most often of this kind, cost people in the US alone 7.2 billion dollars in 2025, according to the FBI.

If it happens anyway#

• Do not pay anything more – "crypto recovery" for a fee is just another scam.
• Secure your accounts – change passwords, check 2FA, move the remaining funds.
• Report it – to the police and, if a licensed firm was involved, to the regulator.

Common myths#

• "It won't happen to me, I'm not stupid." Scams target emotions – trust, fear, greed. Not intelligence.
• "It's a verified account, so it's real." Accounts get stolen and badges get bought.
• "It's been paying out profits so far." Small withdrawals at the start are part of the plan.