Safety · scam defence
Professional design, real market prices and a familiar logo can all be copied. The useful question is not “does this look genuine?” It is “what can I verify without using anything they sent me?”
Stop
Do not send the next payment
Verify
Use an independent route
Preserve
Save messages and transaction IDs
Six common patterns
A polished website shows rising returns, but the numbers are controlled by the fraudster. The truth appears only when a withdrawal is delayed or a new ‘tax’ or ‘release fee’ is demanded.
A balance on a screen is not proof of an asset.
A caller or direct message claims to fix an account, upgrade a wallet or reverse a transaction. They ask for screen sharing, a code, a recovery phrase or a transfer to a ‘safe’ wallet.
Real support does not need your secrets or remote control.
A fake mint, airdrop, refund or security alert asks you to connect a wallet and sign. The signature can approve access to tokens rather than simply prove ownership.
Read what you are approving, not what the page promises.
Trust is built over days or months before crypto is introduced. The person coaches you towards a platform they control and may allow a small withdrawal to make the system look genuine.
A relationship is not independent verification.
After a loss, another person promises to recover the money for an upfront fee. Victim details are often reused or sold, so the second approach can feel unusually informed.
Nobody can guarantee recovery of an irreversible transfer.
The name and reference number belong to a genuine company, but the phone number, website or bank details do not. Search results and copied certificates can reinforce the disguise.
Match contact details to the FCA record itself.
The two-minute pause
One uncomfortable answer is enough reason to stop. You do not owe a salesperson, friend or stranger a fast decision.
Open the FCA Register or Firm Checker yourself. Search the legal entity and compare the website, phone number and email domain—not just the company name.
Check the FCA Warning List too, but absence is not proof of safety. New scams and new domains can appear before a warning is published.
Stop communicating and do not pay a recovery, tax, verification or unlocking fee. Contact the bank, card provider or exchange through its official channel immediately.
Preserve wallet addresses, transaction hashes, bank references, emails, phone numbers and screenshots. Report the approach to the FCA; the official crypto-scam page explains the current reporting route.
Remember
Fraud is designed to manipulate ordinary human trust. Tell someone quickly. A second pair of eyes can interrupt the next payment, preserve evidence and make the situation easier to handle.