2025 Cryptocurrency Market Risk Map: Identifying the Top 10 Most Common Scam Traps

Bitcoin hits a new all-time high of $126K, Ethereum surpasses $2.92K, and the cryptocurrency market enters another phase of疯狂增长. In this “10 bulls crypto” rally, opportunities and risks coexist. Every bull market is accompanied by scammers’狂欢. According to blockchain security firm PeckShield, in 2024, losses from crypto scams and hacking exceed $3 billion, with hackers accounting for 70% and scams 30%. Advances in AI technology are making these criminals’ tactics increasingly sophisticated. How can you protect your assets in the big market of 2025? This comprehensive guide to 10 common scams may help you avoid pitfalls.

Pump and Dump: The Oldest Trick Still Works

The logic of this scam is simple: spread false information or flood social media to hype up the price of small coins, then quickly cash out at the top, leaving other investors with losses.

In November 2024, a California teen created a meme coin Gen Z Quant on Pump.Fun, earning him $50,000 in 10 minutes. His method was create→promote→dump. When angry traders came after him and even launched online harassment against his family, the teen continued to release more fake coins. This incident reveals how easy manipulation is in the current crypto ecosystem.

Signs to Recognize: Sudden price surges without news support, overwhelming social media promotion, opaque project team info, no clear technical roadmap.

Protection Measures: Deeply research project fundamentals, stay alert to hype, diversify investments across different assets.

Fake ICOs and False Token Launches: Scams Under the Guise of Fundraising

While legitimate ICOs are legal fundraising methods, criminals have learned this trick. They create seemingly legitimate token sale projects that are actually carefully crafted scams.

Between August and November 2024, hackers hacked social media accounts of McDonald’s, singer Usher, and rapper Wiz Khalifa, orchestrating a fake token issuance fraud involving $3.5 million. These accounts promoted fake tokens GRIMACE, SCHRADER, and USHER on Pump.Fun. The incident was later exposed by on-chain investigator ZachXBT, who promised to reveal the culprits.

Signs to Recognize: Unrealistic promised returns, unverifiable team identities, lack of detailed whitepapers, vague fundraising info.

Protection Measures: Verify team members’ identities and backgrounds, read whitepapers thoroughly, participate only on reputable exchanges.

Phishing Attacks: Stealing Your Private Keys and Passwords

This type of attack tries to trick users into revealing private keys, recovery phrases, or login credentials by impersonating legitimate institutions. FBI data shows 69,000 crypto-related phishing incidents reported in 2024, with USDT being the most targeted asset, with losses of $112 million. The Ethereum network is the main venue for such scams, accounting for 75%.

In January 2025, the Discord server of Virtuals Protocol, a virtual agent platform, was hacked. Hackers gained access via a moderator’s private key and posted fake Google search result links. Later, cybersecurity firm Scam Sniffer found three malicious links in Google searches. These attacks are becoming more sophisticated.

XRP community lawyer John Deaton shared his experience of being phished in February 2024. He received an email from a “exchange” tricking him into entering his recovery phrase, resulting in $500,000 stolen. This highlights that even experienced individuals can fall victim.

Signs to Recognize: Urgent emails demanding immediate action, links to suspicious websites, requests for personal info.

Protection Measures: Verify URLs before visiting websites, enable two-factor authentication (2FA), never click unknown links, regularly update passwords.

Fake Wallets and Malicious Apps: What You Download Might Be a Trap

Scammers create wallets or trading apps that look identical to official ones but are designed to steal private keys and funds. In January 2025, malicious browser extensions appeared in Firefox add-on store, masquerading as official wallets of major exchanges. Once installed, sensitive info and funds are stolen. The exchange quickly removed these extensions and warned users to transfer funds.

Signs to Recognize: Apps from unofficial app stores, poor user ratings and reviews, requests for private keys or recovery phrases.

Protection Measures: Download only from official websites or app stores, read reviews carefully, legitimate wallets will never ask for your private key.

Guaranteed Returns Scams: There’s No Free Lunch

Scammers promise high returns with minimal risk, often creating urgency to make you invest quickly. In March 2024, Busan police arrested two scammers who defrauded an elderly person of 5.5 billion KRW ($4.1 million), claiming investments could yield 70% monthly returns. They forged bank statements and property contracts to gain trust. The victim’s 100 billion KRW turned into a promise of 170 billion, but this promise will never be fulfilled.

Signs to Recognize: Promises of fixed or abnormally high returns, urging quick investment, vague about how profits are generated.

Protection Measures: Remember all investments carry risks, think carefully before investing, understand how returns are produced.

Impersonating Celebrities and Companies: Fake Endorsements to Scam Your Money

Scammers impersonate celebrities, influencers, or well-known companies to gain trust and lure you into fake projects. Metallica’s Twitter account was hacked in May 2024 and used to promote fake coin METAL. Hackers claimed partnerships with Ticketmaster and MoonPay (which are false), and the fake coin traded over $10 million in a short time. Although tweets were quickly deleted and parties denied involvement, the scam succeeded.

Signs to Recognize: Unsolicited messages from “famous” figures, requests for donations or crypto investments, links to fake websites.

Protection Measures: Verify identities through official channels, never transfer funds to strangers, report suspicious activity to official authorities.

Multi-Signature Wallet Scams: Playing with the Multi-Sig

Multi-signature wallets require multiple keys to authorize transactions. Scammers exploit this complexity to manipulate keys and gain unauthorized access. According to Kaspersky’s December 2024 security report, a new multi-sig scam is popular on YouTube. Scammers pretend to be beginners wanting to learn how to transfer funds, luring greedy “thieves” to try stealing crypto assets. Ironically, when these amateurs send Tron tokens to bait wallets, the tokens are automatically redirected to the scammers’ wallets. The scammers thus earn the infamous “digital Robin Hood” reputation.

Signs to Recognize: Strangers asking to share private keys, multi-sig settings being changed without your knowledge, unusual transfer confirmation requests.

Protection Measures: Keep private keys secure, regularly check wallet activity, trust only reputable service providers.

Honeypot Scams: Looks Like a Money-Making Black Hole

These projects create fake tokens or projects that seem legitimate but trap investors once they invest. On April 29, 2024, Bonk Killer (BONKKILLER) appeared on Solana with a market cap of an absurd $328 trillion—more than the global GDP. Of course, it’s a scam. Developers embed malicious code in smart contracts to freeze all transactions, preventing investors from selling. When traders try to cash out, they realize they’re stuck, and the token value crashes.

Signs to Recognize: Tokens that can only be bought but not sold, opaque project teams and goals, over-reliance on social media hype without substance.

Protection Measures: Use tools to analyze smart contract code, thoroughly investigate project backgrounds, test small withdrawals first.

Rug Pulls: Sudden Liquidity Withdrawal

Developers suddenly withdraw liquidity and disappear, causing the token’s value to plummet instantly, trapping investors. This is common in meme coins. Influencer Halley Welch (“Hawk Tuah girl”) launched Hawk coin on Solana, reaching a $490 million market cap, then crashed 95% within hours. Crypto critic Coffeezilla accused Welch and her team of orchestrating a pump-and-dump scheme. Welch denies any token sales, but the community claims insiders have been dumping from the start.

Signs to Recognize: Sudden liquidity removal, team vanishing, project promises far from actual progress.

Protection Measures: Check if liquidity is locked, track project updates and team communication, only invest what you can afford to lose, diversify your portfolio.

Deepfake Scams: Fake Videos, Real Money

Scammers use AI to generate videos or audio of celebrities, creating false endorsements or investment pitches. According to AI detection firm Sensity, about 90% of crypto-related deepfake scams involve fake Elon Musk images. On August 25, 2024, a fake livestream titled “Live: Elon Musk supports Trump” appeared, with AI-generated Musk promoting fake crypto schemes via QR codes and fake websites (like teslaearn.io). These scams promise high returns but ultimately divert funds to scammers’ accounts.

Signs to Recognize: Unrealistic video content, urgent calls to action, inconsistent behavior or speech from the person.

Protection Measures: Verify information through official channels, beware of urgent language, learn to identify deepfake features.

How to Stay Safe in 2025’s Market

Faced with evolving threats in the “10 bulls crypto” rally, investors must take proactive defenses.

Step 1: Do Your Own Research (DYOR) Before investing, conduct thorough research. Use trusted sources like CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap to verify token legitimacy.

Step 2: Strengthen Wallet Security Consider hardware wallets like Ledger or Trezor for offline storage. Enable 2FA. Never share private keys or recovery phrases.

Step 3: Choose Reliable Platforms Use reputable exchanges. Some offer comprehensive security features including 2FA and Passkeys.

Step 4: Keep Learning Subscribe to security news sources. California’s DFPI crypto scam tracker is a good resource.

Step 5: Manage Risks Diversify investments, set profit targets in advance, use stop-loss orders.

Step 6: Stay Skeptical If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Always verify through official channels.

Step 7: Lifelong Learning Crypto is constantly changing. Regularly update your knowledge through trusted sources.

Summary: Invest Smart, Hold Peacefully

In today’s bull market, 10 common scams are evolving in various forms. DeFi, social media, and AI are increasingly exploited by attackers. But as long as you follow this checklist, do thorough research, protect your private keys and info, and use legitimate platforms, you can greatly reduce risks.

Remember: Crypto investing requires not just luck and intuition, but strategy and vigilance. By staying smart and cautious, you can seize market opportunities while avoiding traps. Continuous learning, careful verification, and diversification are the three golden rules to navigate the 2025 crypto world.