Scam 1: Advanced phishing attacks
Advanced phishing attacks targeted crypto wallets and exchange accounts using sophisticated tactics that leveraged user trust to steal private keys or login credentials.
To carry out advanced phishing attacks, criminals create fake websites that mimic legitimate platforms. They send deceptive emails disguised as trustworthy organizations, or use social engineering tactics to trick victims into sharing sensitive information. Some people impersonate support staff and design clone interfaces to capture information.
Attackers may employ sophisticated tactics for such phishing attacks.
Wallet Drainers: These are malicious programs or scripts used in phishing attacks. After the victim connects his wallet to a fraudulent site and approves the malicious transaction or grants token permission, the attacker can automatically move funds from his wallet.
Quitting: Scammers use malicious QR codes placed on email, text messages, or public surfaces. When scanned, these codes either redirect users to a phishing website or trigger harmful downloads that steal your credentials and personal or financial information.
Spear phishing: Unlike typical phishing, this method is aimed at a particular individual or organization. Scammers often create personalized messages using urgent phrases such as “need immediate action.” The goal is to create a sense of victims of panic and pressure, making quick and costly mistakes.
In August 2025, core Ethereum developer Zach Cole discovered that his crypto wallet was drained after a malicious cursor extension stole his private key. Earlier that year, in May 2025, an elderly US citizen was victim of a $330 million Bitcoin (BTC) robbery, and the attackers used sophisticated social engineering tactics to access the victim’s wallet.
Did you know? The earliest recorded Bitcoin scam dates back to 2011. In 2011, a Ponzi scheme called “Bitcoin Savings & Trust” promised investors a 7% return each week. In the end, they scam over 700,000 BTC.
Scam 2: Ragpur
Scammers often misuse the hype surrounding distributed finance (DEFI) platforms and make inappropriate token (NFT) projects into projects to deceive investors. A common tactic is lag pull. There, developers suddenly withdraw liquidity and disappear with investors’ funds.
These schemes often mimic legitimate ventures, promising extraordinary returns or exclusive digital assets, but ultimately divert funds from unsuspecting users. Many are exaggerated projects that rely on social media topics without providing real value. Others are cloned platforms that allow users to replicate trustworthy Defi or NFT websites to trick users into depositing their assets.
The lagpur warning signs include unrealistic promises of high returns, with little or no risk, no transparent audits or publicly available codes, and no anonymous teams who don’t want to share their identity or qualifications.
Since the beginning of 2025, Rug Pulls has caused nearly $6 billion in losses across the Web3 ecosystem. By comparison, during the same period in early 2024, the total loss from Lagpur was just $90 million.
A notable example is the Libra token on the Solana network. The market value of the token has skyrocketed to $4.566 billion after Argentine President Javier Mairey mentioned in X. After the post was removed, the token price fell by more than 94%, leading to the charges of Ragpur.
Scam 3: Impersonation
In many cases, social media spoofing poses a serious threat to the crypto ecosystem, undermines trust and leads to significant losses. Scammers frequently posed as trusted influencers, developers, or support staff on platforms like X.
In impersonation scams, scammers exploit the user by infiltrating a conversation or creating fake profiles to exploit the user’s quick profits. They often run fake giveaways and promise double returns in exchange for small “verification” deposits. Scammers may run spoofed accounts to copy celebrity copies, gain wallet access, or send direct messages posing as exchange support to get quick transfers for emergency funds.
Red flags include accounts with slight spelling errors (such as “@elonmuuuk”), unverified profiles without verification badges, and requests for direct cryptographic transfers, as legal entities do not ask for these.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, in 2024, crypto fraud won victims $9.9 billion worldwide, driving a four-fold increase. In Hong Kong, scammers have impersonated John Lee’s CEO through fake X accounts and deepfake videos promoting digital currencies that the government believes will support.
Did you know? Even if blockchain security improves, fraud continues to adapt. In 2024-25, scammers moved from hacking smart contracts to manipulating human behavior. By 2025-26 their tactics were even more sophisticated.
Scam 4: AI-powered Deepfark Scam
AI-powered Deepfark scams have emerged as a major threat, using advanced technology to deceive users and steal assets. Criminals are now leveraging artificial intelligence to create very realistic video or audio clones of well-known executives, influencers and celebrities.
AI-driven deepfakes are trained with public content such as interviews, podcasts, YouTube clips and more, which are extremely convincing. They can easily believe fraudulent claims even for cautious users.
In August 2024, The New York Times labeled the deepfake version of Elon Musk as “the biggest scammer on the internet.” One victim, 82-year-old retired Steve Beachamp, was so confident in the video that he invested $690,000 in retirement savings in a few weeks. The money disappeared without traces, and many others fell for similar scams.
Quantum AI is said to be a fraudulent online investment program that falsely claims to use AI and quantum computing to generate high returns for investors. The scammers are allegedly manipulated the website to display fake transaction results.
Deepfake blurs the line between authentic and fraudulent communication. They use trust, urgency, and FOMO (fear of missing) to make it a serious threat.
Did you know? Crypto Romance Scams surged during the pandemic and continued into 2025. Before pitching fake “investment opportunities,” scammers build trust in dating apps, ultimately leading victims to send life savings.
Scam 5: Crypto Support
Fake crypto support scams are increasingly threatening, targeting users with false offers of assistance to steal money and confidential information. Scammers often pose as customer support agents from trusted exchanges and wallet providers.
Scammers who pretend to be customer support executives contact victims via social media platforms like X and Telegram and fake websites that resemble official domains. By providing seemingly authentic support, they leverage the trust of their users.
These scammers share phishing links disguised into the support portal, promote “wallet recovery” services that require private keys and seed phrases, and offer fake refunds designed to drain your account. Such tactics prey on users who are already dealing with technical issues or looking for a quick solution.
In May 2025, the famous crypto support scam appeared following the Coinbase data breaches. It is said that personal information, including name, address, ID image and bank information, was leaked there. Criminals pretending to be Coinbase support will contact the victim and encourage them to transfer their assets to their security code, two-factor authentication (2FA) details or fraudulent wallets.
