What Is a Rug Pull? How to Recognize Common Crypto Scams
The patterns behind the most common on-chain scams, and how to avoid them.
A rug pull is a scam in which the creators of a token drain its liquidity or otherwise cash out at the expense of everyone else holding the asset. It usually happens fast and is difficult to reverse once complete.
Warning signs are consistent across incidents. Anonymous teams, unlocked liquidity, mint functions that let the deployer print unlimited supply, and heavy paid promotion on social media are all reasons to slow down and investigate further.
Beyond rug pulls, common scams include fake support accounts asking for your seed phrase, address-poisoning attacks that put a look-alike address in your transaction history, and malicious token approvals that let a contract drain your wallet in the background.
The safest defaults: never share a seed phrase, verify every address on your hardware wallet screen, and periodically review and revoke token approvals you no longer need.