Crypto Fraud: How Scams, Hacks, and Fake Airdrops Steal Your Crypto

When you hear crypto fraud, any deceptive practice designed to steal cryptocurrency from users through trickery, hacking, or false promises. Also known as crypto scam, it’s not just about hackers breaking into wallets—it’s about people being manipulated into giving away their keys, signing bad contracts, or chasing fake rewards. This isn’t rare. In 2025 alone, over $2 billion was stolen in crypto heists, and more than half of those came from users who thought they were joining a legit airdrop or trading on a trusted exchange.

Crypto heist, a large-scale theft of cryptocurrency from exchanges or protocols, often orchestrated by organized cybercriminal groups. The ByBit hack in February 2025, where North Korean hackers stole $1.5 billion, wasn’t an anomaly—it was a pattern. These groups don’t break into systems with brute force. They target human error: fake customer support, phishing emails, and cloned websites that look real. Meanwhile, fake airdrop, a scam where fraudsters promise free tokens in exchange for wallet access or small payments, then vanish. Projects like Kalata and CELT never had public airdrops—but dozens of sites still pretend they did, collecting wallets and private keys from unsuspecting users.

And then there’s the exit scam, when a crypto project suddenly disappears after raising funds, leaving investors with worthless tokens. BITKER didn’t just shut down—it vanished with $1.2 million in user funds. HiveSwap, DOLZ, and Y8U? All low-liquidity tokens with no team, no roadmap, and no real use. They’re designed to pump and dump, and most people don’t realize they’re holding digital trash until it’s too late.

What ties all these together? Trust. Scammers count on you believing something sounds too good to be true—because it usually is. A meme coin with 420.69 trillion tokens? A gaming token that pays you just for playing? A new exchange that lets you trade GEL with no fees? These aren’t innovations—they’re traps dressed up as opportunities.

Below, you’ll find real cases of how these scams play out: from the details of the biggest crypto heist in history to the quiet deaths of tokens that never had any value to begin with. You’ll see which airdrops are real, which exchanges vanished overnight, and how to spot the warning signs before you lose your money. This isn’t theory—it’s a survival guide for anyone holding crypto today.