“I nearly threw my laptop out the window,” laughs Jess, a 29-year-old nurse from Leeds. She’d just watched £500 disappear into a website that promised 15 % returns “per week” on Bitcoin. “It looked exactly like Coinbase, the URL was *almost* right, and the app even had five-star reviews. Turns out the whole thing was fake.”
Jess isn’t alone. Last year Brits lost more than £300 million to crypto cons, with Action Fraud receiving a fresh report every two hours. The good news? You don’t need a computer-science degree to stay safe. Once you know the classic tricks—and a handful of dead-simple rules—you can swerve 95 % of scams without breaking a sweat.
Below is a jargon-free, UK-specific field guide to the most common crypto traps and how to dodge them.
Why crooks love crypto (and why beginners get hit hardest)
- Pseudonymous wallets – No passport or postcode is attached to a blockchain address, so tracing thieves is tricky.
- Irreversible transfers – Hit “send” and the money is gone for good; there’s no Section-75 credit-card protection or Direct-Debit guarantee.
- Hype culture – Meme-coin millionaires make headlines, FOMO kicks in, and people skip the usual checks.
- Regulatory grey areas – Most crypto assets are *not* regulated by the FCA, meaning consumers often enter the Wild West without a sheriff.
The seven scams you’ll actually meet in Britain today
1. Fake investment platforms / unregulated exchanges
What it looks like: A slick website or app boasting “guaranteed 3 % daily”. You deposit £200, the dashboard shows juicy profits, but when you try to withdraw you’re hit with “verification fees” or radio silence.
Red flag: The firm isn’t on the [FCA register](https://register.fca.org.uk) (search by *full* company name, not just trading name).
Quick test: Type the URL letter-by-letter yourself; scammers love swapping “o” for “0” or adding “-pro” to a genuine brand.
2. Phishing emails & fake wallets
What it looks like: An email titled “Suspicious login on your Binance account” with a big green button. Click it and you land on a perfect copycat site that nicks your password and 2FA code.
Red flag: Generic greeting (“Dear customer”), odd sender domain (@binance-support.ru), or urgency (“Your coins will be deleted in 24 h!”).
Quick test: On PC, hover over links; on mobile, press-and-hold. If the preview URL doesn’t match the real domain, bin it.
3. Rug-pull tokens
What it looks like: A shiny new coin on TikTok rockets 300 % overnight. Early buyers shill it on Discord; developers “lock” half the liquidity to prove they’re legit. Then they yank the liquidity and vanish, crashing the price to zero.
Red flag: Anonymous team, no audit, or a wallet holding >20 % of supply.
Quick test: Paste the contract address into [Token Sniffer](https://tokensniffer.com); a score below 50 is a giant neon “danger” sign.
4. Romance scams (“pig butchering”)
What it looks like: A charming stranger on Hinge asks to continue the chat on WhatsApp. Weeks later: “My aunt works at a hedge-fund start-up; she’s made 6 k in a month. I could ask for an invite.” You deposit, the romance cools, and so does the wallet.
Red flag: Any love interest who brings up *investing* before meeting for coffee.
Quick test: Do a reverse-image search of their profile pics—stolen photos are the biggest giveaway.
5. Pump-and-dump groups
What it looks like: A Telegram group advertises “31 000 % gains in 30 seconds!” At the set time everyone buys, price spikes, admins sell early, latecomers eat the loss.
Red flag: The countdown clock and the phrase “Only share this invite with *three* friends.”
Quick test: Check the coin’s chart on [DexTools](https://www.dextools.io); vertical green candle followed by immediate cliff = classic pump.
6. Fake giveaways
What it looks like: A Twitter account with Elon Musk’s avatar tweets: “To celebrate, we’re giving back to the community! Send 0.1–5 BTC and get double back.” The tweet is even “verified” (easy since the blue check became a paid perk).
Red flag: Anyone asking you to *send* crypto first to *receive* crypto.
Quick test: Ask yourself why a billionaire needs your £50 starter stake.
7. Impersonation support calls
What it looks like: You post a question on a public Facebook group: “Why won’t my Ledger connect?” Within minutes “Ledger_Support” DMs: “Validate your wallet here to prevent deletion.”
Red flag: Legitimate firms never slide into your DMs.
Quick test: Ask the person to email you from an official domain; the scammer will go quiet.
Five golden rules that stop almost every scam
- Never hand over crypto to someone who promises to invest it for you. Friends, advisors, priests, Instagram gurus—no exceptions.
- If the headline contains “guaranteed”, “risk-free” or “can’t lose”, sprint the other way.
- Use only FCA-registered or temporary-registration exchanges for GBP deposits. (Check the *full* legal name on the FCA register; clones love look-alike names.)
- Control your private keys. Buy a reputable hardware wallet (Ledger, Trezor), write the seed phrase on paper, store two copies in separate, fire-safe locations.
- Type URLs yourself or use browser bookmarks —every single time you log in.
I’ve been scammed—what now?
- Report to Action Fraud online or on 0300 123 2040 within 24 h. You’ll get a crime-reference number—handy if your bank can claw anything back.
- Phone your bank’s fraud team. Ask for a “charge-back” or “faster-payment recall” if you sent GBP. Success isn’t guaranteed, but the sooner you act, the better.
- Gather evidence: screenshots, TXIDs, wallet addresses, emails. Police and HMRC may need them later.
- Ignore “recovery agents” who slide into DMs promising to get your Bitcoin back for an upfront fee—most are double-scammers.
- Breathe. Scammers win twice when victims stay silent out of shame. Talking helps stop the next person falling for the same trick.
The bottom line
Cryptocurrency is just software. Used sensibly, it’s no more dangerous than online banking. The trick is to slow down, spot the clichés, and let common curiosity (and the FCA register) do the heavy lifting. Follow the five rules above and you’ll enjoy the ride—without becoming the next cautionary tale on the Action Fraud ticker.