How can you spot a cryptocurrency scam?
Treat any promise of guaranteed or unusually high returns, any request for your seed phrase, any demand to pay in crypto, and any fee required to withdraw your own money as a scam. Pause, verify independently through official channels, and report it.
The patterns repeat
Scams change their costumes, but the mechanics stay the same. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s guidance boils down to a simple rule: only scammers demand payment in cryptocurrency, guarantee profits or promise big payouts with no risk. The red flags below appear across investment, romance, impersonation and job scams.
Red flags
Guaranteed or extraordinary returns. Real markets do not guarantee anything. “Daily 2% returns” or “risk-free arbitrage” are signals to stop.
Someone you met online steers you to a platform. In long-running “relationship investment” scams, a new friend or romantic interest introduces a trading app or website, shows small early gains and encourages bigger deposits. The platform and the profits are fake.
You must pay to withdraw. A demand for a “tax”, “unlock” or “verification” fee before you can withdraw your own balance is a hallmark of a fake platform. Paying never releases the money.
Requests for your seed phrase or private key. No legitimate wallet maker, exchange or support agent will ask for it. Anyone who has it controls your coins. See self-custody basics.
Impersonated support. Scammers reply to public complaints posing as support staff, or buy search ads that mimic exchange login pages. Use only the support links inside the official app or site you typed yourself.
Pressure and secrecy. “Act in the next hour”, “don’t tell your bank” and “this is confidential” are designed to stop you checking.
Government or utility payments by crypto ATM. Agencies do not demand payment in bitcoin or via a crypto ATM.
Fake transaction help. Offers to “accelerate” a stuck transaction or “refund gas” for a fee. Learn the legitimate methods in our stuck transaction guide.
Before you send anything
- Pause. Legitimate opportunities survive a day’s delay.
- Verify independently. Look the company up yourself; check the SEC’s Investor.gov or the UK FCA’s register and warning list.
- Check the address and network. Blockchain transfers are irreversible.
- Talk to someone you trust who is not involved.
If it already happened
- Stop sending money, including any “fee” to get funds back.
- Save evidence: transaction IDs, addresses, messages, website addresses and usernames.
- Report it: in the US to the FBI’s IC3 (ic3.gov) and the FTC; in the UK to Action Fraud. Tell the exchange you sent from, as it may be able to flag the receiving account.
- Be alert for recovery scams: people who contact you promising to retrieve lost crypto for an upfront fee.
Why this belongs in a network log
On-chain data shows that a transfer happened, but it cannot show whether it was voluntary. Transaction finality is what makes Bitcoin and Ethereum useful; it is also why mistakes and fraud are so hard to undo. This site does not promote exchanges or tokens and will never contact readers asking for funds or keys. Our only address is listed on the contact page.
Questions people also ask
- Can stolen crypto be recovered?
- Rarely, and usually only when law enforcement can trace funds to an exchange that freezes them. Be very wary of “recovery services” that contact you after a loss; they are a common follow-up scam.
- Where do I report a crypto scam?
- In the US, report to the FBI at ic3.gov and to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. In the UK, report to Action Fraud and check the FCA warning list. Also tell the exchange you sent funds from.
Sources
- U.S. FTC: What to know about cryptocurrency and scams
- FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)
- U.S. SEC Investor.gov: Crypto asset investment scams
- UK FCA: Cryptoassets — protect yourself
Prepared by Daily Crypto News from the sources above. Published 2026-10-15; last reviewed 2026-10-15. See our editorial standards. Not financial, tax or legal advice.