The most common crypto scams

Scams take more money from crypto users than hacks or price crashes. Most follow a handful of scripts. Learn the scripts and you will recognise them when they come.

The scale

In 2025 the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center received 181,565 complaints involving crypto. Reported losses were about $11.4 billion, and about $7.2 billion of that was investment fraud. These figures cover only what US victims reported.

Fake investment platforms

This is the largest category. It often begins with a friendly message from a stranger on social media, a dating app or a "wrong number" text. Over weeks, the stranger builds trust and then mentions an investment that is working well for them.

You are guided to a professional-looking website or app. Your first deposit appears to grow. You may even be allowed a small withdrawal. Then you add more. When you try to take out a large sum, there are "taxes" or "fees" to pay first. The balance on the screen was never real.

Impersonators

Someone claims to be from your bank, a government agency, a tech company or an exchange's support team. They say there is a problem and that you must move money or pay in crypto to fix it. Some send victims to a Bitcoin ATM with a QR code.

The US Federal Trade Commission is blunt: "Only scammers demand payment in cryptocurrency."

Giveaways

A post or a video, often using a celebrity's face, promises to double any crypto you send. Some videos are recycled interviews, and some are faked with AI. Nobody doubles your money. Whatever you send is gone.

Fake support and phishing

You ask for help in a public forum and a "support agent" messages you privately. They ask for your seed phrase, or send you to a site that asks for it. No real support team needs your seed phrase. Lesson 37 covers phishing in depth.

Token traps

Rug pulls and pump-and-dump schemes, covered in Lesson 11, are scams that use real tokens.

Recovery scams

After a loss, victims are contacted by "recovery experts" who promise to get the money back for an upfront fee. The FBI received 10,516 reports of this in 2025. It is the same criminals, or others like them, coming back for a second payment.

Warning signs they share

Contact you did not ask for
Promised or guaranteed returns. The FTC again: "Only scammers will guarantee profits or big returns."
Pressure to act fast or to keep it secret
A request to pay in crypto, share your screen or install software
Any request for your seed phrase or a login code

If it happens to you

Stop sending money, including any "fee" to release funds. Report it to the exchange you used and to your national fraud authority. In the US, that means the FTC and the FBI's ic3.gov. Lesson 40 has a full response plan.