Scam awareness

How crypto scams actually work — and how to dodge them

Almost nobody loses crypto to a genuine hack of the blockchain. They lose it because they typed a seed phrase into the wrong box, approved a transaction they didn't read, or trusted someone who messaged first. The good news: the same handful of tricks come back again and again, and once you can name them, they stop working on you.

DeWallet will never ask you to connect a wallet, sign a message, or share your seed phrase. If a site claiming to be us does any of that, it is a fake. See our trust & safety page.

The six scams you'll actually meet

01

Seed phrase phishing

How it works:
A site, form, email, or 'wallet validation' tool asks you to type your 12 or 24 words to restore, sync, verify, or unlock something.
The tell:
Any request for your seed phrase outside your own wallet app during a restore you started.
How to stop it:
Treat the phrase like the money itself. Never type it into a browser page. Store it offline on paper or metal.
02

Wallet drainers

How it works:
You connect to a site for an airdrop, mint, or 'security check' and sign a message or token approval. The signature authorises transfers out of your wallet.
The tell:
Urgency, a countdown, a surprise reward, or a signature request you can't read in plain language.
How to stop it:
Read every signature prompt. If the wallet warns you or the request is unreadable, reject it. Use a separate low-value wallet for experimenting.
03

Fake wallet apps

How it works:
A cloned app appears in an app store or a sponsored search result. Everything looks right, but the seed phrase it generates is already known to the attacker.
The tell:
App installed from an ad, a link in chat, or a store listing with few reviews and a recent publish date.
How to stop it:
Always start from the wallet's official website, typed by hand, and follow its download link. Check the developer name in the store.
04

Support impersonation

How it works:
You post a problem publicly; minutes later a friendly 'admin' DMs you and walks you to a form or a screen-share.
The tell:
Unsolicited DMs, requests to move to private chat, screen-sharing, or 'sync your wallet with our tool'.
How to stop it:
Real support never DMs first and never needs your keys. Only ever use help links from the official site.
05

Fake giveaways and doubling

How it works:
A livestream, ad, or celebrity lookalike account promises to send back double whatever you send.
The tell:
'Send 0.1 ETH, get 0.2 back.' Anything that requires you to send first.
How to stop it:
No one gives away free money. Sending crypto is irreversible — there is no chargeback.
06

Romance and investment 'pig butchering'

How it works:
A long friendly relationship leads to a slick trading platform that shows fake profits until you try to withdraw.
The tell:
Withdrawals blocked behind a 'tax', 'fee', or 'unlock deposit' you have to pay first.
How to stop it:
A platform that needs more money before it releases your money is stealing from you. Stop sending immediately.

Six rules that cover 95%

  • Nobody legitimate ever needs your seed phrase — not support, not a validator, not us.
  • Type wallet and exchange domains by hand or use bookmarks; never trust search ads.
  • Read every signature request. If you can't explain what it does, reject it.
  • Keep a small 'hot' wallet for experiments and a separate wallet for savings.
  • Slow down. Urgency is the one ingredient every scam needs.
  • Verify surprising news in two places before you act on it.

If you think you've been hit

  1. 1. Move first, investigate later. Create a brand-new wallet with a new seed phrase on a clean device and move whatever is left. Speed beats tidiness.
  2. 2. Assume the old wallet is burned. If your seed phrase was exposed, revoking approvals is not enough — never reuse it.
  3. 3. Revoke approvals. For a signature-only compromise, revoke token approvals from the official revoke tool linked by your wallet provider.
  4. 4. Report it. File with your national fraud reporting body and tell the platform where you met the scammer. It rarely recovers funds, but it does get networks taken down.
  5. 5. Ignore 'recovery experts'. Anyone promising to get your crypto back for an up-front fee is the second scam in the same story.

Frequently asked

What is a wallet drainer?+
A drainer is a malicious website that asks you to sign a transaction or token approval that looks routine — claiming an airdrop, verifying a wallet, minting an NFT. The signature grants an attacker permission to move your tokens, and they empty the wallet within seconds. Nothing is 'hacked': you approved it.
Someone from support messaged me first. Is that normal?+
No. Legitimate support never messages you first on Telegram, Discord, X, or WhatsApp, and never moves you to a private chat. Unsolicited support contact after you post about a problem is close to 100% a scam.
Is it safe to enter my seed phrase to 'restore' or 'validate' a wallet?+
Only ever inside the official wallet app you installed yourself, and only when restoring a wallet you own. No website, form, support agent, or validation tool ever needs it. If a page asks for it, it exists to steal your funds.
I got an airdrop token I didn't buy. Should I sell it?+
Leave it alone. Unsolicited tokens often route you to a scam swap site where selling requires an approval that drains everything else. Hide the token rather than interacting with it.
I think I already signed something bad. What now?+
Move remaining assets to a fresh wallet with a brand-new seed phrase immediately — that is faster and more reliable than revoking approvals one by one. Then revoke old approvals, and treat the compromised wallet as burned.
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