Crypto Exchange Scams: How to Spot and Avoid Fake Platforms

When you trade crypto, you’re trusting a platform with your money. But not all exchanges are real. A crypto exchange scam, a fraudulent platform designed to steal funds or trick users into handing over private keys. Also known as fake crypto exchange, it often looks professional—clean design, fake testimonials, even fake customer support—but it’s built to disappear with your assets. These scams aren’t just phishing sites. They’re full-blown operations that copy real exchanges, clone their logos, and even run fake Twitter accounts to appear legit.

One common trick? Promising high rewards for depositing tokens. You send your ETH or BNB to "claim" free tokens, and your wallet is drained. Another? Fake airdrops like the HyperGraph (HGT) airdrop, a non-existent token giveaway used to lure victims into connecting wallets. Or platforms like İkipara, a Turkish exchange flagged for lacking licenses and hiding team details—they operate openly but have no legal backbone. These aren’t edge cases. They’re the norm in unregulated spaces.

Scammers also exploit trust in decentralization. They create fake DEXs that mimic Quickswap or Uniswap, but with altered contract addresses. You think you’re swapping tokens on a trusted protocol, but the code is rigged. Even the name "TomoDEX" gets copied—remember, if a platform claims to be decentralized but asks for your private key, it’s not decentralized. It’s a trap.

What ties these scams together? Lack of transparency. No real team. No audit reports. No customer service you can actually reach. And always, always—pressure to act fast. "Limited time offer!" "Only 5 spots left!" That’s not urgency. That’s manipulation.

You don’t need to be an expert to avoid these traps. Just check: Is the exchange listed on CoinGecko or CoinMarketCap? Does it have a verifiable team? Are the smart contracts audited by a known firm like CertiK or SlowMist? If you can’t answer yes to all three, walk away. The most dangerous scams aren’t the ones that look bad—they’re the ones that look just good enough to fool you.

Below, you’ll find real breakdowns of platforms that turned out to be scams, fake airdrops that stole wallets, and exchanges that vanished overnight. No theory. No guesswork. Just what happened, why it worked, and how to make sure it doesn’t happen to you.