Avoiding scams
Six lessons on what fraud looks like from the inside. We describe patterns rather than names, and each lesson shows what a reader can verify alone.
6 of 6 lessons readyRug pull: how it works, what traces it leaves on-chain, and what a reader can verify in two minutes
A rug pull is a situation where a token's creators drain value from the project (most often by pulling liquidity from an exchange or selling their pre-held holdings) and leave other holders with a token that can't be meaningfully sold; most of these patterns are visible on the blockchain before it even happens.
Honeypot tokens: you can buy, but you can't sell. How the smart contract does it and how to test for it
A honeypot is a token whose smart contract lets you buy but blocks the transaction when you try to sell, or takes practically the entire amount from you. In this lesson we show the patterns that reveal it, using a concrete example with numbers. No accusations, just the mechanics, backed by public EVM and DEX documentation.
Fake Platforms and Lookalike Domains: How to Spot the Patterns of a Scam
Fraudulent exchanges and wallets rarely copy the technology; instead they copy the name and domain of a real service. That is why your first line of defense is to compare the exact address in your browser against a known, verified version, rather than trusting how the page looks.
The Con Artist's Long Game: What the Contact, the Guided Purchase, and the Money Transfer Look Like from the Inside
A "long-play" investment scam has three phases: first someone reaches out and earns your trust, then walks you step by step through buying crypto on a real exchange, and finally convinces you to send the coins off the exchange to a wallet or "platform" that they control. The loss happens only in the final phase.
Guaranteed Returns, Finfluencers, and Paid Promotion: How to Read a Promise and What Actually Applies in the EU
In the EU, there is no legal financial product that could promise a private investor a "guaranteed return" with no risk, and anyone who promotes crypto for money is obliged to disclose it visibly; if they don't, that alone is a warning sign.
The signature that drains your wallet later: how airdrop and approval scams work
When you sign an "approval" in your wallet, you are not consenting to a single transaction. You are often granting a stranger's contract permission to move your token, even a week or a month from now. The key to defending yourself is knowing how to read and revoke these permissions.