David was 22.
A student. A freelancer.
He had saved $1,000 after months of grinding online gigs — and he wanted to flip it into something big.
In 2021, everyone was printing money in crypto.
Dogecoin was exploding. BNB was mooning. New “100x gem” tokens were dropping daily.
David joined a Telegram group where they were hyping a new coin — let’s call it “MoonPaws.”
The devs seemed active. Website looked okay. Even some Twitter influencers were posting about it.
“This is the next Shiba Inu!”
“Low supply, crazy tokenomics — don’t miss out!”
“$100 now could be $10K in a month!”
FOMO hit him hard.
He jumped on PancakeSwap. Bought $1,000 worth of MoonPaws.
The price started to rise. Up 10%, then 25%.
He was buzzing.
But then — he tried to sell.
Nothing happened.
He tried again…
Then again.
Still nothing.
David checked the contract — it was a honeypot.
You could buy the token… but you couldn’t sell it.
Ever.
Suddenly, the Telegram group was gone.
The website disappeared.
Liquidity was pulled.
In seconds.
His $1,000 turned into… $0.11 worth of a token no one could cash out.
💡 The Lesson:
David didn’t quit.
He learned the hard way, but he became smarter, safer — and much more careful.
🚨 So how can you avoid this mistake?
✅ Use honeypot checkers: Websites like honeypot.is or tools on DexTools can tell you if a token is sellable.
✅ Check the contract: Always read the smart contract or consult someone who can. Look out for high taxes, blacklists, or weird functions.
✅ Avoid hype-only projects: If all the value is coming from Telegram or Twitter hype, it's a red flag.
✅ Look for locked liquidity & renounced ownership: If devs control the contract or LP, they can rug at any time.
✅ DYOR: Don't trust influencers blindly. Research the project deeply.
Crypto is powerful — but unforgiving to the careless.
Learn from David. Don’t be the next victim.
🔥 Got scammed before? Share your story in the comments — someone might avoid the same trap because of you.