Crypto Exit Scam: How to Spot and Avoid Fake Crypto Projects

When a crypto exit scam, a deliberate deception where developers abandon a project and steal investors’ funds. Also known as a rug pull, it’s one of the most common ways people lose money in crypto. It doesn’t look like a scam at first. The website looks professional. The Telegram group is active. The token price is rising. Then, one day—poof. The website vanishes. Withdrawals stop. The devs disappear. And your crypto? Gone.

These scams aren’t rare. They’re built into the system. Projects like TAGZ Crypto Exchange, a platform that promised zero fees but vanished in 2023 after stealing user funds and Pearl v1.5, a zero-fee exchange with no users, no audits, and no transparency didn’t fail—they were designed to fail. The same goes for fake airdrops like DOGGY, a dead NFT project with zero trading volume that tricked people into thinking they were getting free tokens. These aren’t accidents. They’re business models.

What makes these scams dangerous is how they copy real ones. Legit projects have audits, clear teams, and active communities. Scams have none of that. They use hype, fake volume, and influencer shills to create urgency. You’re told to act fast—"limited time," "exclusive access," "don’t miss out." But if there’s no public code, no team names, no social proof beyond a paid tweet, it’s a red flag. Even big names like Coinbase can be hijacked—look at Mochi (MOCHI), a meme coin named after a CEO’s cat with no utility but enough brand association to fool people into buying. It’s not the coin that’s the scam—it’s the lie that it’s worth something.

And it’s not just exchanges. Airdrops like VikingsChain (VIKC), a token with a market cap under $15K and zero trading activity or fake claims around TopGoal x CoinMarketCap, a real NFT giveaway that scammers copy to trick users into giving away private keys are all variations of the same trick: get you to click, connect your wallet, and hand over control. Once you do, your crypto is gone. No recovery. No recourse.

Why do people fall for this? Because they’re not looking for red flags—they’re looking for the next big thing. They see a 10x gain and ignore the silence behind it. But crypto exit scams don’t need to be smart. They just need to be loud. And they’re everywhere—on Twitter, Discord, YouTube, even in Google search results. The only defense is skepticism. If it sounds too good to be true, it is. If you can’t find the team, the audit, or the history, walk away.

The posts below show you exactly how these scams unfold. From fake exchanges that vanished overnight to meme coins with no purpose and airdrops that don’t exist, you’ll see the patterns before they trap you. You’ll learn how to spot the signs, avoid the traps, and protect your money—not just today, but in every new project that comes along.