Types of Crypto Scams
Complete overview of crypto scam types — pig butchering, Ponzi, fake exchange, romance.
Crypto industry attracts scams — $3-5B+ lost annually. Knowing scam types is basic protection.
1. Pig Butchering (Romance Scam) • Long-term romantic scam • Scammer builds trust over months • Proposes "safe investment platform" • Victim invests everything → platform disappears • Especially targets lonely elderly people
2. Ponzi schemes • Pay old investors with new investor money • High "guaranteed" returns (10-50%/month) • Examples: BitConnect, PlusToken ($3B) • Collapse when not enough new investors
3. Fake exchange • Identical look of real Binance/OKX • Accepts deposits, blocks withdrawals • Phishing URL (Bınance.com instead of Binance.com)
4. Rug Pull • Team launches token/NFT with pump • Collects enough, then disappears with liquidity • Most common in DeFi and NFT space
5. Fake Influencer Giveaway • "Elon Musk sends 2× BTC to everyone who sends" • YouTube live stream with stolen profile • Always fake — no one sends BTC to get more
6. Fake "recovery" scam • Targets those already scammed • "We can find your money" • Take money for "recovery" that doesn't exist
7. Insider trading "signal" • Paid Telegram channel with "alpha" • Admins accumulate, pump, then dump on subscribers
Golden rule: