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1. “Pig Butchering” crypto scam
Targeted manipulation: how fraudsters draw their victims in deeper and deeper!
This is how this crypto scam works: Fraudsters pretend to be friendly contacts, often on social media platforms or dating apps. They strike up seemingly harmless conversations, slowly build trust and eventually lure their victim with “investment tips” promising incredible profits. To increase their credibility of this crypto scam, they present fake success stories and alleged returns on manipulated platforms.
Everything looks real, but they are fake platforms! Initially, they often even let their victims pay out small winnings to build trust. But as soon as enough money has flowed in, they disappear without a trace.
Other tricks used by fraudsters
To get even more, the fraudsters use further tricks. They claim that transactions have been stuck. They charge high fees or demand additional payments for taxes and trading costs. No matter how much the victim transfers, they are left empty-handed in the end. The fraudsters disappear with the money.
2. Wallet hacking SMS and seed phishing
Beware of fraudulent warning messages: This is how wallet theft works
Fraudsters send fake text messages or emails claiming that their victim’s wallet has been compromised. In the message, they request that the seed phrase (the wallet’s security keywords) be entered in order to “restore” access.
As soon as they get their hands on the seed phrase, they take full control of the wallet and withdraw all assets. Note: Reputable services never ask for your seed phrase!
The same Crypto scam on exchanges
Fraudsters also use this trick on crypto exchanges: They claim the account has been hacked and urge the victim to create a private wallet and transfer all assets to it. Shortly afterwards, they demand the seed phrase of the new wallet – and empty it immediately. A classic crypto scam!
3. Fake recovery services after a crypto scam
After a scam, some victims turn to, or are even contacted by, supposed “recovery services” (once you’ve been scammed, you seem to be an easy target for the next scam). They promise a high chance of success in recovering the stolen crypto. These services always ask for high advance payments for “processing fees” or similar, but do not deliver any results and usually disappear after receiving the payment. Trust only reputable providers, this might be a good place to start: Crypto Tracing
4. Fake AI videos with well-known people
Fraudsters are increasingly using AI-generated videos featuring well-known personalities who supposedly recommend investing in certain platforms. These videos look deceptively real and suggest that well-known personalities support the platform.
5. Coin doubling scam
Scammers promise to double any cryptocurrency deposit sent to a specific address. They often refer to this as a “special offer”. But in reality, it is simple theft: once the coins are sent, the scammers keep them and there is no refund. Reputable providers never offer such doubling promotions.
6. Fake recovery tools and wallet connection
A more recent crypto scam uses fake websites that are supposed to help with “recovery” after a theft. The fraudsters demand that victims connect their wallets to the website and confirm certain access requests. This gives the fraudsters access to their wallets and enables them to withdraw all assets. Note: Avoid connecting your wallet to unknown websites.
7. Seed input on fake websites
This scam aims to trick the victim into entering their seed phrase on a fake website that looks deceptively similar to the real wallet website. As soon as the fraudsters receive the seed phrase, they can control and empty the victim’s wallet. Note: Reputable websites never ask for the seed phrase.
8. Payout in worthless tokens
In some cases, victims are promised a payout from their investments, but instead they receive “worthless” tokens that have no real market value. These tokens cannot be traded on real crypto exchanges.
9. Unsaleable tokens “ Honeypot“
This crypto scam offers tokens that at first glance appear to show genuine trading activity. It looks as if other users can buy and sell the token without any problems, but in fact the token’s smart contract was programmed in such a way that only the fraudsters can sell the token.
10. Multisig crypto scam
Comments on social media where someone shares their *seed phrase* and asks for help with the transfer. This is not a normal wallet, but a multisig wallet. The people who see something like this like to set up the wallet and want to take the tokens themselves, but this requires fees in the network of their own tokens. Then they send ETH for the gas fees, for example; but they can’t send anything, whereas the fraudster can, because he has the necessary multi-signatures.
Important note on: “Recovery of lost funds”
If you have been the victim of such a Crypto scam, you can practically assume that the stolen money cannot be recovered by technical recovery services. If a technical recovery service claims to be able to recover stolen coins for you, this is 99.9% of the time the next scam. The only way is through law enforcement agencies in cooperation with reputable crypto tracing providers.
Recommendations:
- Report the incident to the police immediately: report the incident as soon as possible, even if there is little chance of a refund.
- Protect your seed phrase: Do not share it under any circumstances and keep it in a safe, physical location.
- Question unrealistic promises of returns: Always check the smart contracts and be skeptical of offers that are too good.
- Be vigilant with new or unknown tokens: Only invest if you know the source and background.
- Avoid dubious platforms and offers: Never enter unsafe or unknown platforms.
- Check information thoroughly: do your own research and only trust reputable financial advisors.
If you have already fallen victim to a crypto scam, report the incident to the relevant authorities immediately. Actively protect yourself and your digital assets!
Ing Thomas Jochen Wagner, MBA
