1. The 'Honey Pot' Scam in DeFi: Visible Profits, Inaccessible Funds
'Honey Pots' are one of the most insidious malicious traps in the DeFi space, essentially smart contracts with backdoors. Scammers deploy seemingly normal token or liquidity pool contracts, allowing users to deposit funds and even make small withdrawals, thereby building trust. However, hidden within the contract are special clauses: either only the scammer can withdraw all funds, or they restrict other users from selling tokens—once funds are invested, it's like falling into a sealed honey pot, where one can only enter but not exit.
Unlike 'carpet-pulling', the fraudulent logic of 'honey pots' is embedded in the code from the time the contract is deployed, rather than extracting liquidity later. Key signals to identify such scams include: smart contracts not audited by third parties, APY promises far exceeding industry levels, and vague information about the project team. Remember: contracts that lack a security audit should not be touched, no matter how high the returns.
2. Fake Mining Scams: The 'Easy Money' Trap Created from Nothing
Fake cryptocurrency mining projects disguise themselves as 'cloud mining' or 'mining farm investments', attracting investors through forged professional websites, real-time profit dashboards, and expansion plans. They promise stable high returns, luring users to invest cryptocurrency or fiat currency, even encouraging friends and family to join.
But essentially, these platforms have no actual mining equipment or computing power; the so-called 'profits' are merely payments made to old investors using new investors' funds in a Ponzi scheme. When new funding dries up, platforms will block withdrawals under the pretext of 'maintenance fees' or 'taxes', ultimately vanishing with the funds.
Prevention Points: Be wary of promises like 'capital preservation and guaranteed interest' or 'daily fixed returns', and request verifiable evidence like real footage of mining farms, energy consumption data, etc.; refuse any demands for forced reinvestment or additional investments.
3. SIM Card Hijacking: Targeting your phone verification codes.
'SIM Card Hijacking' essentially involves identity theft to control the user's phone number, thus stealing cryptocurrency assets. Scammers first obtain user information through data leaks or phishing, then impersonate the user to contact the carrier, transferring the phone number to a SIM card they control.
Once successful, they can intercept SMS verification codes and password reset links from exchanges and emails, easily bypassing 2FA security verification and directly logging into accounts to transfer assets.
Protective Measures: Use Google Authenticator or similar authentication apps instead of SMS 2FA, set a dedicated PIN for SIM card transfer with your mobile carrier, and regularly check account login logs.
4. Malicious Smart Contracts: Authorization Means 'Authorization is Stolen'
Interacting with malicious smart contracts is a common cause of financial losses in DeFi. When users approve transactions in DApps, they grant the contract certain permissions (like using specific tokens). However, malicious contracts may contain hidden code: once authorized, scammers can directly transfer all related assets from the wallet without requiring further confirmation from the user.
Such scams often appear in fake airdrops and high-yield mining pools. Prevention methods: regularly revoke unused contract authorizations using tools like revoke.cash, only interact with well-known protocols that have been audited, and meticulously verify permission scopes before signing transactions.
5. 'Pig Butchering': From emotional dependency to asset zeroing.
'Pig Butchering' is a complex scam that combines emotional manipulation and investment fraud, divided into four steps:
Building Trust: Scammers disguise themselves as ideal partners on social or dating platforms, developing deep emotional connections over months;
Introducing Investment: Claiming to have 'internal channels' or 'exclusive opportunities', recommending fake cryptocurrency platforms;
Small Profit Temptation: Allowing victims to initially invest and receive 'high returns', even permitting small withdrawals;
Harvesting Exit: Inducing victims to invest all savings, then demanding more money under the pretext of 'paying taxes' or 'unfreezing funds', ultimately disappearing.
The core of this type of scam is to exploit emotional dependency to lower vigilance; always remember: reject investment recommendations from people you meet online, regardless of how good the relationship is.
6. Airdrop and ICO Scams: The most deadly temptation is free offers.
In 2025, airdrop and ICO scams are still rampant, with even more covert tactics:
Fake Airdrops: Using AI to generate high-fidelity project pages, asking users to transfer 'Gas fees' or connect wallets to claim, but in reality, stealing private keys or authorizations;
Fake ICO/IDO: Packaging 'revolutionary projects', creating hype through fake white papers and celebrity endorsements (often AI deepfakes), and running away after raising funds.
Verification Methods: Cross-check information through official project Twitter, Discord, etc.; refuse to click on unofficial links, and remain skeptical of 'opportunities that come knocking'.
7. AI and Deepfake: Making scams harder to discern.
AI technology has elevated cryptocurrency scams:
Fake Endorsements: Using Deepfake to generate videos of celebrities like Musk endorsing certain platforms, even conducting 'live promotions';
Simulated Personas: AI-generated faces and social profiles make 'pig butchering' scammers more convincing, while chatbots simulate customer service to dispel user doubts;
Automated Scripts: White papers and emails generated by large language models are logically rigorous, making it difficult for ordinary users to distinguish between true and false.
Response Strategy: For information like 'celebrity endorsements' or 'exclusive insider news', always verify through multiple authoritative channels; be wary of overly perfect personas and unreasonable high returns.
8. Typographical Errors and URL Phishing: A single character difference can lead to zero assets.
Such scams exploit user input errors:
Typos Hijacking: Registering domain names similar to well-known platforms (e.g., binancce.com, coinbbase.com), leading users to fake websites when they enter the wrong URL, recording the entered account and password in real-time;
URL Spoofing: Using subdomains (binance.scam.com), similar characters (coinhase.com), or extra words (binance-support.com) to forge official websites, disseminated through phishing emails or ads.
Prevention Tips: Bookmark frequently used platforms and click directly when logging in; check if the URL matches the official one exactly, and be particularly wary of sites where password managers do not auto-fill.
Cryptocurrency scams are constantly evolving, but the core remains the use of 'greed' and 'negligence'. Remember: there are no high returns without risk. Always prioritize verifying platform security, protect your private keys and verification codes, and do not let emotions or interests cloud your judgment.
If you have questions, you can follow the Old Rogue to avoid detours and be wary of scams.
