Today I want to share a topic that everyone involved in crypto needs to understand clearly – what is scam and how to protect yourself from scammers.

Scam in English means fraud – a malicious act where individuals or organizations intend to seize others' assets, especially cryptocurrency. Those who carry out these acts are called scammers and will face penalties if caught. Nowadays, with the development of the internet, scam methods are becoming more sophisticated and complex, with scale that can spread across many countries, affecting millions of victims.

I have met quite a few people who have been scammed in this market. They fall into traps for many reasons – some do not realize they are being deceived, but there are also those who know it’s a scam but still participate for high profits. For example, Ponzi schemes – where the money from new investors pays earlier investors, so the earlier you invest, the more profit you get. But when new investors dry up or the scheme becomes too large, it collapses and investors lose everything.

There are many different types of scams you need to know. The first type is Scam ICO – a common form since 2017. Scammers create a new cryptocurrency project, promote it with big promises, even hire KOLs to build credibility. After raising a large amount of money through the ICO, they abandon the project, take the money, and disappear. Warning signs include the project lacking real solutions, the team hiding their identities or having a history of scams, a poorly designed website and whitepaper, and an unclear roadmap.

The second type is liquidity withdrawal – often happening on DEXs like Uniswap, PancakeSwap, Sushiswap. Initially, the project is built very professionally, but after issuing tokens, they withdraw all liquidity. Signs include very low liquidity, liquidity that can be locked or withdrawn at any time, and promises of high APY returns.

The way to prevent scams is to do thorough research before investing – check whether the project truly needs blockchain, how the community is, and what the tokenomics look like. I recommend checking the smart contract to see if the holders and founders show any suspicious signs. Also, when connecting your wallet to a website, make sure that website is truly reputable and secure. When you no longer need access, revoke permissions to avoid being exploited.

What scam really means is a costly lesson for anyone who wants to succeed in the crypto market. I hope these insights help you protect your assets. If you have questions, please comment so we can discuss together!