Crypto Scams:- The web3 industry and Bitcoin are rapidly evolving and developing but so are the crypto scams.
Be it the Argentine President Javier Millie associated $LIBRA meme coin rug pull or the $CUBA Solana Pump-and-dump, the crypto scams continue to rock the industry. Just two days prior only, Javier Millie has received clean chit in the $250 million $LIBRA scam.
Amidst this, a new report by Bitget in collaboration with SlowMist and Elliptic highlights the evolution of scams between 2023-2025. The crypto scams are dominantly implemented in three ways – Deepfake Impersonation or AI related scams, Social engineering schemes and Ponzi-like frauds.
AI-Related Crypto Scams Dominate Leading to $4.6 Billion Losses
With no doubt, the adoption of Artificial Intelligence in dApps and web3 industry is increasing at a rapid pace. The use cases of AI Agents are being expanded by emerging crypto projects – such as Donut, TrueNorth – working at the integration of AI and crypto. Howeve, AI is proving both as a boon and bane for the cypto world.
The report highlights AI-associated Deepfakes among the most popular tactics used by scammers these days. The use of AI synthesis tools such as Synthesia, ElevenLabs, and HeyGen manipulates the users in believing the fabricated audio or video as real.
The various scenarios it creates includes:
1. Deepfake Celebrity Videos promoting Investment such as Singapore PM Lee Hsein deepfaked to promote “crypto Investment platforms”
2. Creation of forged facial videos to bypass KYC Verification on exchanges and wallets platforms
3. The formation of fake identity groups on Telegram and other social channels to implement Crypto scams
4. Penetration of Zoom meetings using Deepfake or trojan-infecfted meeting software
Evolution of Social Engineering and Ponzi Schemes
Apart from the AI-related Deepfake scams, the other type of prevalent crypto scams are the social engineering tactics and Ponzi scheme attacks.
The Bitget report further reveals that despite being low-tech, these attacks manipulate users’ behaviours using “psychological vulnerbilities.”
Such attacks include AI Arbitrage bot scams, Trojan-laced job offers, fake interview coding assigmenefs and phishing links communicated by Telegram or X DMs. The AI Arbitrage bot scams include the ChatGPT generated bots fool the users by claiming the option of autonomous trading which ultimately results in fund loss.
Ponzi Schemes Are not Vanished Yet
In crypto’s early years, before DeFi, NFTs, and sophisticated hacking tools, classic Ponzi and pyramid schemes were by far the most prevalent scams.
A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that lures investors by promising high returns with little or no risk. Instead of generating real profits, the operator pays “returns” to earlier investors using the capital from newer investors. However, when inflows slow or investors attempt to cash out en masse, the scheme collapses, leaving most participants with heavy losses.
Though their frequency has decreased owing to the development of more sophisticated crypto scam tools, the report argues that traditional Ponzi and pyramid schemes haven’t vanished in crypto – they’ve simply gone digital. They are now cloaking themselves in buzzwords like DeFi, NFTs, and GameFi while still relying on “new money to pay old investors.”
A stark example that the report offers is if Hong Kong’s 2023 JPEX collapse, where a supposedly global exchange backed by celebrity endorsements. This hawked its JPC token with promises of “high, stable returns” before regulators and police intervened, revealing over HKD 1.6 billion lost by more than 2,600 victims.
The report concludes that today’s schemes are more sophisticated using:-
1. they employ legitimate-looking open-source smart contracts and on-chain metrics to mask their illicit design;
2. layer complex “yield farming” and “staking reward” structures that secretly siphon funds;
3. exploit viral growth through Telegram groups, WeChat channels, and influencer livestreams;
4. and even deploy AI-powered deepfakes like the February 2025 hoax video of Tanzanian billionaire Mohammed Dewji promoting a bogus $Tanzania token that netted scammers $1.48 million in hours.
Tools that can flag Crypto Scams
With the various types of scams plaguing the industry, the report shares the certain tools that can be used to track and flag such funds seized during crypto scams.
These include:
1. Transaction monitoring tools tracking incoming and outgoing source of transactions
2. Investigative tools such as cross-chain bridging used by scammers for moving funds across different blockchains
3. Address screening using behaviour-based detection
Elliptic’s Investigator tool showing how an illicit entity uses cross-chain bridges to move funds
Conclusion Requires Vigil
To conclude, crypto scams have evolved from the simple, “send-me-your-money” Ponzi and pyramid schemes of Bitcoin’s early days into highly sophisticated operations. Today, they blend cutting-edge blockchain tooling, social engineering, and even AI-generated deepfakes to exploit users.
Thus, with the evolving crypto scam techniques, there is a need for constant vigil by users and web3 platforms.
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With over four years of experience in covering and tracking the financial markets, Sneha Agrawal is a dedicated Crypto Journalist and Editor with passion for researching and writing the crypto pieces. She is currently leading the Brandtalk section, here at CoinGape. She likes to keep track of political, legal and financial happenings all around the world - without which she deems her day incomplete. Apart from her Journalistic endeavours, she is a solo traveler, museum goer, and a keen reader of books.
CoinGape is a burgeoning blockchain and crypto media company. It was recently awarded as the Best Crypto Media Company 2024 at Global Blockchain Show, Dubai. Our goal is to keep industry professionals up to date on the most recent news and developments. We are a team of experts who take great pride in offering unbiased and well researched information to help our readers make informed decisions. Read our Editorial Policy
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