Crypto Scam Checker

Detect Bitcoin and cryptocurrency fraud before you commit funds — fake exchanges, pig-butchering platforms, recovery scams, and the regulator-warning-list checks that defeat them.

Last reviewed: 9 May 2026 · ScamSupport research

How Crypto Scams Actually Work in 2026

Global crypto fraud reached an estimated $17 billion in 2025 according to the Chainalysis 2026 Crypto Crime Report. The losses are concentrated in five operational patterns. Knowing the shape of each is the strongest single defence; the specific platform names change weekly, the tactics rarely do.

1. The fake exchange / fake brokerage platform

The most-common 2026 pattern. Scammers build a polished trading platform with a real-looking dashboard, fake price charts, and fabricated regulator badges. Victims deposit funds, see artificial "gains" on the dashboard, and are encouraged to deposit more. When they try to withdraw, the platform invents a series of fees ("tax clearance", "withdrawal verification", "anti-money-laundering deposit") that never end. Malwarebytes documented a single network of 15,500 fake-platform domains in 2026 alone; OCCRP's Scam Empire investigation mapped 81 connected platforms run by a single criminal network.

2. Pig-butchering ("sha zhu pan")

A long-form social-engineering attack that begins on a dating app, LinkedIn, or via a "wrong number" WhatsApp message. The scammer builds a relationship over weeks — months — before introducing crypto trading as part of the conversation. They share screenshots of their own "successful" trades, eventually move the conversation to a fake platform (see #1), and walk the victim through depositing larger and larger amounts. The University of Texas estimates pig-butchering has extracted at least $75.3 billion globally since January 2020.

3. Fake-airdrop and seed-phrase phishing

An email, X post, or Discord message announces a "free airdrop" of a popular token. The "claim" page asks you to connect your wallet and sign a transaction — the signature gives the scammer permission to drain every supported asset in the wallet. Variants ask for your seed phrase directly under the pretext of "syncing" or "verifying" the airdrop. No legitimate token claim ever asks for your seed phrase. Connecting your wallet to an unknown site with a malicious approval is the most common modern crypto-theft vector.

4. Fake exchange support / impersonation

Scammers monitor X and Reddit for posts about wallet or exchange problems, then DM the poster pretending to be Coinbase, Binance, MetaMask or Ledger support. They direct the victim to a fake "support portal" or ask for the seed phrase to "unlock the wallet". Impersonation scams grew 1,400% year on year in 2025 per Chainalysis. Real exchange support never asks for your seed phrase, password, or 2FA codes.

5. Recovery scams

The second-stage attack against confirmed victims. Within hours to weeks of an initial loss, the victim is approached by a "blockchain forensics specialist", "crypto recovery solicitor", or "ex-FBI investigator" claiming they can trace and recover the lost funds. They demand an upfront fee, often in crypto. Legitimate solicitors do not work upfront-fee-in-crypto; legitimate law enforcement does not contact you cold offering to recover stolen funds. We cover this pattern in detail in the UK Recovery Guide's recovery-scam section.

The Five-Minute Pre-Investment Check

Before depositing into any crypto platform you don't already trust, run these five checks. Together they take under five minutes and defeat the great majority of fake-platform pitches.

  1. Check the FCA Warning List. The FCA Warning List of unauthorised firms is updated daily. Search the platform's name. If it's on the list, walk away.
  2. Check the California DFPI Crypto Scam Tracker. The DFPI tracker covers crypto-specific platforms targeting US and international victims. The platform may be on a US warning list even if it's targeting UK consumers.
  3. Check international warning lists. ASIC (Australia), the NZ FMA, and the Investing.com broker blacklist all maintain public lists of platforms flagged as fraudulent.
  4. Check the domain registration date. Use a free WHOIS lookup. If the platform was registered in the last 90 days, treat it with extreme caution — the great majority of fake platforms have very young domains because they get taken down regularly.
  5. Try a small test withdrawal. If the platform accepts deposits but blocks small test withdrawals, the case is closed. A platform that lets you in but won't let you out is, by definition, a scam.

If You've Already Sent Crypto to a Scam Platform

  1. Stop immediately. Don't pay any further "fees" or "verifications" — every additional payment goes to the same fraudster.
  2. Screenshot everything before you change anything. The platform interface, the chat logs, the wallet addresses you sent to, the transaction hashes from your wallet history. Save in a single dated folder.
  3. Call your bank's fraud line if you sent fiat currency to a UK exchange before the funds were converted to crypto. Recall is sometimes possible while funds are still in the regulated banking system.
  4. File a Report Fraud complaint at reportfraud.police.uk. Save the case number; you will need it for any subsequent action.
  5. For UK investment-platform scams, also report to the FCA via fca.org.uk/consumers/report-scam-unauthorised-firm. The FCA actively warns the public against named firms once it has evidence.
  6. Read our UK Recovery Guide at /scamsupport/blog/uk-recovery-guide-2026 for the full first-60-minutes playbook including the £85,000 PSR APP reimbursement framework.
  7. Be alert to recovery scams. The criminal economy maintains "sucker lists" of confirmed victims and will approach you with offers to recover the funds. Almost every such approach is a second-stage scam. The legitimate routes are your bank, the FCA, the Financial Ombudsman, and SRA-regulated solicitors verified through the SRA register.

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Scanner methodology validated across 351 cases spanning 7 UK scam categories — macro precision 98.5%, recall 98.5%, F1 98.5%. Methodology brief. Output is informational only: always verify the sender independently before clicking links, sharing details, or making payments.

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