Picture this.

You’re in a shadowy backroom. Velvet drapes. A cigar burns lazily in the ashtray. A smooth-talking gentleman promises you untold riches if you just hand over your gold and wait. Sounds like a scene from a 1940s noir film, right?

Wrong. It’s happening today. On-chain. In Discord. In your DMs.

The technology’s new, but the trickery? Ancient.

Web3 has opened the gates to freedom, opportunity, and financial sovereignty. But it also cracked open Pandora’s box. Con artists are crawling out with shiny tokens, fake NFTs, and promises of “guaranteed yield.”

So today, we’re going to expose the classic long cons still haunting crypto—and show you how to dodge them like Neo in The Matrix.

The Long Con Never Dies: How Yesterday’s Hustles Shape Today’s Crypto Scams

These scams are so old, they’ve got names. Like boxing moves or kung-fu strikes.

The Spanish Prisoner

Old School: You get a letter from a “nobleman” who’s stuck in jail and needs your help (and money) to escape. You’ll be rewarded handsomely… if you just keep sending more.
Web3 Remix: Airdrop phishing. “Help me recover my lost wallet.” Impostors in Telegram pretending to be devs.

The Ponzi Scheme

Old School: Pay the first investors with the money from the new ones.
Web3 Remix: Fake DeFi platforms promising 1% daily yield. You’re not investing. You’re just feeding the machine.

Pig Butchering

Old School: Build a long con through romance or emotional connection, then go for the kill.
Web3 Remix: Online “trading mentors” and “love interests” grooming lonely souls to send crypto into fake exchanges.

Pump & Dump

Old School: Manipulate stock prices through hype, then dump your shares.
Web3 Remix: Telegram groups pump low-cap coins, insiders dump on you while you’re still loading up your bags.

Affinity Fraud

Old School: Use trust from religious or social communities to run a scam.
Web3 Remix: Influencers shill garbage tokens. Private groups whisper “alpha” plays. But you’re the exit liquidity.

New Tech, Same Tricks: Why Crypto Is Con Artist Heaven

Crypto gives you the power to be your own bank. But with great power comes… zero customer support.

Scammers love Web3 because:

  • It’s instant. No chargebacks. No delays.
  • It’s anonymous. Wallets are numbers, not faces.
  • It’s complex. Confusion breeds vulnerability.
  • It’s hype-fueled. Greed is a lever—and they pull it hard.

The world’s slickest scam artists have traded their fake Rolexes for Ledger wallets and .eth domains.

Real-World Wreckage: Recent Scams That Hit Hard

Let’s get specific. Here are a few recent headline-grabbers that show just how real these cons are:

  • “SafeMoon Implodes” – Once a meme-fueled rocket ship, SafeMoon became a case study in pump-and-dump tactics. Millions lost when the insiders dumped.
  • “BitBoy’s Token Endorsements Under Fire” – Prominent influencer Ben Armstrong (aka BitBoy Crypto) was named in lawsuits over undisclosed promotions. Affinity fraud with a YouTube face.
  • “Fake Trading Platform Scams $100M+” – The so-called “Pig Butchering” scam targeted lonely investors on dating apps, luring them to a slick but fake trading app.
  • “Mutant Ape Planet NFT Founder Arrested” – The creator of this knockoff NFT project made off with $2.9M in a rug pull, after hyping the project on social media.
  • “FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Convicted” – While not your average scammer, SBF’s misuse of customer funds on FTX has become a poster child for broken trust at scale.

⚡️ How to Spot the Hustle: 5 Red Flags of a Crypto Con

Wanna stay off the rug? Here’s your radar:

  • “Too good to be true” yields. If it guarantees 10% per day, it’s not a yield farm—it’s a meat grinder.
  • Vague, generic promise. No defined use case. All hype. No substance. A lot of $10 words for another me-too token. Don’t walk. Run.
  • Pressure to act fast. Real investments don’t have countdown timers.
  • Anonymous devs with no history. If you can’t find them online, neither can law enforcement.
  • No code audits. Scammers count on you not checking the smart contract.
  • Cult vibes. If asking questions gets you banned from the Telegram, that ain’t a community—it’s a cult.

🔗 Tap here to read our full fraud-spotting checklist.

🧵 This Isn’t Just About Money—It’s About Trust

Scammers aren’t just stealing ETH. They’re eroding trust in the very tools we need to free ourselves from corrupt banks and broken systems.

The good news?

Every time you learn, every time you question, every time you share this knowledge with a friend—you strike a blow for truth.

Crypto was built to free us.

Let’s not let the con men in Gucci belts and AI avatars take it from us.

🔥 Forward this to one crypto-curious friend. Save them from becoming exit liquidity.

Want a deep dive into the dark side of crypto? Episode 8 of Uncensored Crypto rips the curtain back on the scams, schemes, and snake oil swirling in the crypto world.

Sign up to watch the 9-episode series here for free!

MichaelHeadshot
Michael Hearne

I’m a serial entrepreneur, and I’ve spent the last 15 years taking companies to new levels, breaking the boundaries of innovation, and triumphing over adversity. My wife, Victoria, and I started our first business in a 2-bed/1-bath apartment with 4 kids, next to a crackhouse. We pushed through setbacks and failures to lift our family out of poverty. Along the way, I’ve learned that my struggles make me stronger. And that being the best version of me is the greatest contribution I can give to the world. It makes me a better husband, and father. It improves my health, energy, and my capacity to serve others. And it has allowed me to build businesses that make the world a better place. Today, I work for passion, to make a difference, and solve real problems in the real world through my business ventures. This little site is where I share the things I’ve learned, and am still learning, on my journey.