Stay sharp, stay safe

The crypto scams guide.

Every trick in this guide loses its power the moment you recognize it. Meet the most common crypto scams, learn what each one looks like, and pick up the one habit that keeps your coins exactly where they belong.

Reviewed and current as of September 12, 2026

01Impersonation: a familiar face, a stranger behind it

Someone poses as a creator you trust, sometimes even yours truly, an exchange, or a friend. The username looks almost right, the photo matches, and the message arrives with urgency: a special offer, a private deal, a limited window. Everything feels familiar by design.

The one habit: verify through the official channel you found yourself. Real creators announce real things on their real channels. This channel asks for none of those things, in DMs or anywhere else. When in doubt, open the official page directly and check.

02Fake giveaways: generosity with a catch

Send one bitcoin, receive two back. A celebrity doubles every deposit for the next hour. The page looks polished, the countdown ticks, and the testimonials glow. It reads like a celebration, and that is the point.

The one habit: real giveaways start with the gift, and your deposit stays in your wallet. Money flows toward you in a genuine gift, and stays yours until you choose to move it. Any offer that starts with your deposit is a performance, and you get to enjoy it from the audience.

03Phishing sites and apps: the almost real login

A link arrives promising an airdrop, a wallet update, or an urgent security check. The site mirrors the real one, letter for letter, except for one swapped character in the address. The app in the store wears the right logo with a slightly wrong name. You type your details, and someone else reads over your shoulder.

The one habit: bookmark the sites you trust and type addresses yourself. Check the URL bar with fresh eyes before you log in, especially after following any link. Your bookmarks are a short list of places that have earned your trust.

04Pump and dump groups: the secret signal

Join the private group, buy the signal coin at the exact minute, watch it moon. The organizers bought earlier and sell into the excitement they created. Late arrivals hold the bag while the hosts count their gains.

The one habit: treat promised returns as a signal to step back. Nobody hands out free money to strangers on the internet. Your own research and your own plan beat any whispered tip, every time.

05Fake support staff: help that hurts

Support reaches out first, which real support rarely does. They need your seed phrase to verify your wallet, or remote access to fix an issue you first hear about from them. The tone is professional, the logo is right, and the request is the whole trick.

The one habit: real support waits for you to contact them, and genuine support agents keep seed phrase requests off the table entirely. End the conversation, open the official site or app yourself, and start a fresh ticket there.

06Sky high yields with zero explanation

A platform promises returns that make your eyes widen, with glossy charts and vague talk of trading bots or secret strategies. Early payouts arrive on time, because fresh deposits fund them. The math works until the deposits slow.

The one habit: ask where the yield comes from, in plain words. Honest returns have honest explanations: lending interest, staking rewards, trading fees. When nobody can explain it simply, your money stays happily in your wallet.

07Your everyday safety routine

Pause before you act on anything urgent. Verify through official channels you found yourself. Keep seed phrases on paper, private, and far from cameras. Start small with any new platform while you learn its ways. Talk through big moves with someone you trust.

These habits turn the whole space from a maze into a neighborhood. The security basics guide covers the full routine, the wallets guide keeps your keys safe, and the glossary decodes every term you meet along the way.