No legitimate investment guarantees high returns with little or no risk in very short period.
"I saw an ad on social media for a crypto trading group. The coach shared screenshots of people making millions. I started with £500, and my dashboard showed £5,000 a week later.
When I tried to withdraw, they said I had to pay a £10,000 'tax' first. I paid it, and then they stopped replying."
How the scam works
Fake investment websites
Scammers reach you through social media ads, often with AI-generated videos of celebrities, or through private messages offering a "Crypto trading coach". They send you to a convincing trading site where your balance appears to grow fast. The profits are fake. They're designed to get you to invest more. When you try to withdraw, you're asked to pay a tax or fee, and then the scammer disappears.
Fake and worthless tokens
Scammers increasingly use tokens with no real value, such as old tokens left behind when a project migrated to a new contract, or fake low-liquidity tokens. They send them to wallets at random or hand them out in social media groups.
These tokens can show a misleading balance in your wallet. When our Support team reviews them, they almost always turn out to be worth nothing. They're used to lure you into "claiming", swapping or paying fees to unlock them.
If unexpected tokens appear in your wallet, don't interact with them or visit any website linked to them. You can read more about how to protect yourself from such scam here:
Fake crypto: Seedify Fund, Megaland, Tara and other old, or migrated tokens
How to identify fake, low liquidity, or no value token?
Warning signs
- Immediate guaranteed profits with no risk
- Pressure to invest quickly or keep it secret
- Offers from social media ads or strangers on messaging apps
- Websites that look almost like a real firm's, with a slightly different address
- A fee or tax you must pay before you can withdraw
- Unknown tokens with a high displayed value
Protect yourself
- Check the platform is registered with your country's financial regulator.
- Type web addresses yourself instead of clicking links.
- Never pay to withdraw your own funds.
- Get advice from an independent financial advisor before you invest.
Already sent funds?
Stop paying and stop all contact. Contact Blockchain.com Support through the official Support chat, and report the scam to your local police.
Crypto transactions usually can't be reversed. Be wary of anyone offering to recover your funds for a fee. It's often a second scam.