Cryptocurrency Fraud: How Scams Work and How to Avoid Them

When you hear cryptocurrency fraud, the deliberate deception of individuals to steal crypto assets through fake platforms, false promises, or manipulated markets. Also known as crypto scams, it’s not just about hacked wallets—it’s about people being tricked into giving up their money willingly. Every day, new victims fall for promises of free tokens, high returns, or exclusive access to the next big thing. These aren’t glitches or bad luck. They’re carefully designed traps built on hype, urgency, and false trust.

One of the most common forms of fake airdrops, fraudulent token distributions that trick users into connecting wallets or paying gas fees to claim non-existent rewards is the ‘WKIM Mjolnir’ or ‘KTN Adopt a Kitten’ scam. These sound legit because they use real project names or mimic official branding. But if you’re asked to send crypto to claim a reward, it’s already a loss. Then there are unregulated crypto exchanges, platforms with no oversight, no KYC, and no accountability that vanish overnight after collecting deposits—like BtcPro, Alita Finance, or BXTEN. They look real because they copy the UI of Binance or Coinbase. But they have zero user reviews, no regulatory licenses, and no way to withdraw your funds. And when a token like OneRing or Fry drops to $0 with no team, no updates, and no trading volume? That’s a rug pull, when developers abandon a project after draining liquidity from a decentralized exchange. It’s not a market crash. It’s theft.

What makes these scams work? They target people who don’t know what to look for. A real exchange doesn’t hide its team. A real token has active development, public code, and real trading volume. A real airdrop doesn’t ask for your private key. The red flags are obvious once you know them: anonymous teams, zero liquidity, copy-pasted whitepapers, and pressure to act now. You don’t need to be a tech expert to spot these. You just need to pause and ask: Does this make sense? Is this too good to be true? Who’s behind it?

Below, you’ll find real reviews of platforms and tokens that turned out to be scams, broken down by what went wrong and how to recognize the same patterns before you invest. No fluff. No theory. Just what actually happened—and how to keep it from happening to you.