Only Dummies Fall For Crypto Scams — Until I Fell for One
Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth— Mike Tyson
I got a confession to make; just like every “smart” people out there, I thought I was too smart to fall for a scam, especially in the crypto space.
I thought I would be the next overnight millionaire and that my strategy was foolproof — until BAM!! I just got rug-pulled; my money just disappeared in a matter of minutes.
I am writing this blog as a cautionary tale to everyone to be extra vigilant and that no one is too smart to fall for one. After all, I, a super smart guy with an IQ rivaling Albert Einstein (lol), got scammed.
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Late as it may, I did some research on the crypto scams that I had a personal encounter with so that you, the person reading this, would benefit from my mistakes and avoid losing money to some crypto scammer.
Rug Pull Scams
The best way to start the list is by introducing the scam that got me, the rug pull scam. It is a classic crypto scam taking advantage of the modern man’s fear of missing out (FOMO).
If you’re quite experienced in crypto, you might have heard people telling you to avoid “FOMOing” into a project.
Listen to them; that is how I got scammed.
The coin was a top performer among the newly listed coins on Coinmarketcap, a price-tracking website for cryptocurrencies. As a diligent investor, I did the necessary research, I checked their website — it looked legit, I checked their social media presence — people were excited about it, and I checked their telegram account — it was full of excited investors.
Needless to say, I got scared of missing out on it and bought some (I won’t disclose how much for privacy). A few minutes later, my initial investment’s value fell by 80 percent, then a few more minutes later, by 90%.
I kept hoping it was just a dip and the price would recover, but it never did.
Their social media went silent, and everyone was muted in their telegram group chat. By then, I knew it was already official; I just got rug-pulled.
Romance Scam
Another variation of a “Nigerian Prince” scam, except that this one targets simps.
This too I had a close encounter with.
The very first day when I made a twitter account and I started following crypto influencer, this cute girl started messaging me. Thankfully, I know that I am not that attractive that women slide into my dms (lol) so, I was instantly on my guard.
Long story short, she started talking about a crypto investment and how she needs the seed phrase of my crypto wallet. Needless to say, the moment she asked for it, I noped out of there real quick and instantly blocked her.
Regardless, crypto romance scams works by gaining the trust and affection of the victim and then using that to exhort valuable information to pull of a scam.
So, if your attractiveness level is not on the same level as Johnny Depp or Chris Hemsworth, put your guards up when a cute girl tries to slide into your dms.
As a side note, romance scams don’t just happen to men, it can also happen to every gender. So, always remain vigilant.
So, what’s the key takeaway here?
Well, for one, if you, just like me fell for a scam, don’t feel bad as it happens to the best of us (specifically me, jk). Just know that it is not the end of the world, treat it as a really, really, expensive lesson. Framing it that way makes you feel a little bit better and makes it easier to accept (its what I did and it kinda worked).
“Smart people learn from their mistakes. But the real sharp ones learn from the mistakes of others” — Brandon Mull
And if you’re lucky enough to avoid being scammed, please take this as a cautionary tale to keep your record clean. Be one of the real sharp ones.
