Fake crypto exchanges and apps: how to recognise them
Many investment scams end on a crypto platform or app that looks professional: real-time charts, a balance in dollars, trade history and a support chat. The problem is that the numbers are made up. Your money was never invested: as soon as you deposit it, it goes to the scammers.
How victims get there
- From celebrity ads promising profits from an “automatic system”.
- From WhatsApp or Telegram groups with a “professor” recommending an “institutional app”.
- From an online romance that turns into “let me teach you to invest”.
How the trap works
- You are asked to buy crypto (usually USDT or bitcoin) on a real exchange and send it to an address they give you “to fund your account”.
- The app shows your balance and it starts “growing” with trades that never happen.
- You are allowed to withdraw small amounts at first, so you trust it and deposit more.
- When you try to withdraw seriously, taxes, “liquidity” fees, insurance or verification deposits appear. Each payment leads to another.
- Finally the account is frozen or the platform disappears and reappears under another name.
Warning signs
- The app is not on Google Play or the App Store, or you are asked to install it from a link or a “profile”.
- The website domain is new, or imitates a well-known exchange by changing one letter.
- You are asked to send crypto to an address instead of depositing by card or transfer to an identifiable company.
- Support is only via chat and always has a reason why you must pay before withdrawing.
- Returns are too high and too steady. See what realistic returns look like.
- You cannot find which company is behind it or where it is authorised.
How to check an exchange
- In the European Union, under the MiCA regulation crypto-asset service providers need authorisation. The European authority ESMA publishes a register of authorised firms, and each country has its own supervisor.
- In the UK, crypto firms must be registered with the FCA.
- Elsewhere, check your financial regulator or IOSCO’s international I-SCAN search.
- Check the exact web address and only download apps from official stores and the exchange’s own website.
- Search the name on InvestRedFlags.
More details in how to check if a broker is regulated.
If you have already sent crypto
Crypto transfers cannot be reversed, but:
- Do not send more, even if they say it is to unlock your balance.
- Notify the real exchange you sent the funds from, with the destination address and transaction IDs.
- Report it to the police with all the information.
- Distrust anyone promising to recover your crypto for a fee: it is a recovery scam.
Follow the remaining steps in our victim guide.