Crypto scam on Telegram channels: how it works and how to avoid losing money

Scams in the crypto community are a common occurrence—a topic we could discuss endlessly. As the years go by, scammers continue to refine their schemes and come up with new ones.

We recently published an article about how AI has contributed to the spread of fraud in the cryptocurrency market.

But that was just a small part of what’s actually happening. Today, we’ll talk about scams on the Telegram platform. We assume almost all of you use this messenger. It’s no surprise, since it’s convenient and clearly outperforms others. However, it is also one of the best places for fraudulent activity.

Well, let’s take a look at how it all works and how you can avoid losing money out of the blue.

How do crypto scams work on Telegram?

The main idea is to create fake investment Telegram channels. Scammers disguise them as expert, reliable communities that you can supposedly trust. Speaking of trust—that’s the main focus of their activities, and they do everything possible to inspire it in their audience. 

No, you won’t see any hints of fraud there. On the contrary—everything looks clean and transparent, with plenty of numbers, success stories, charts showing excellent results, convincing recommendations from “top investors,” numerous subscribers, and so on. But this is just a facade capable of misleading even those who’ve “been around the block” in crypto.

Trust is established—so what happens next?

And that’s where it gets interesting. Once the channel has established itself as an expert source, they move on to the “real work”:

• They promote new tokens and claim that their prices will skyrocket very soon. This is pure manipulation—creating a sense of urgency and scarcity. The channel appears to be expert. They say, “Buy now—you have to buy now to get the best deal.”
• Next, they provide contract addresses and redirect users to decentralized exchanges to buy these tokens.
• And well, you can guess what happens next.
• But that’s not all, because many users don’t give up that easily. When they realize they’ve been scammed, they message “support”—that is, the Telegram channel’s admins. The manipulation continues here as well. The scammer asks the user to record a video where they praise the service and recommend the channel. Then they promise to get back soon with a solution to the problem and a refund. The result: the user is blocked, and the scammer boldly moves on to target others, showing the video with testimonials that inspire even more trust.

From the very beginning (when the channel is created) to the end (when the scheme is carried out), scammers use manipulation. First, they build trust, then instill a sense of urgency, and then restore trust again to position themselves for maximum gain. 

Scaling of the scam: what other methods are there?

• A very common scheme involves paid subscriptions to “VIP chats,” where supposedly the hottest market information is sent, and a subscription guarantees you instant growth and profit multiplication. But usually, there’s nothing special in these chats, and they don’t reveal any secrets to success.
• Signals to buy or sell assets. Here, they ask you to enter your profit, and off you go.
• Does Telegram’s support help in the fight against this? Unfortunately, not really. Scammers quickly adapt to various changes anyway and will continue to scam on the platform.
• Honeypot – “perpetual tokens,” or a scheme where you can actually buy a token or smart contract, but then you can’t get rid of it. You can buy it, but you can’t sell it. That’s why it doesn’t immediately raise suspicions, because you seem to get what you came for. 

How can you avoid becoming a victim of scammers in the cryptocurrency market?

• Are they promising you the moon and claiming you’ll make a 100% profit? Run away. You know that while 100% guarantees might make sense elsewhere, they sound ridiculous in the crypto market. Here, the situation can change daily.
• Want to fall into a phishing trap and give a scammer access to your wallet? Be sure to visit a third-party website from a Telegram channel. 
• Pay attention to the channel’s history and the admin. If you see that it’s new and the admin frequently changes their username—think twice about whether you should blindly believe every word written here.
• Verify contract addresses using reliable blockchain browsers. This way, you can learn more about the assets and determine if they can be sold—this will protect you from falling into a honeypot.
• Think carefully before paying to join a VIP chat. The thing is, it’s not always a scam, since paid chats are quite common. But it’s easy to run into a scammer, so you should double-check all the information about it beforehand.
• If you’re unsure, look for third-party reviews. Often, in certain communities or Telegram directories, users flag suspicious channels and chats. You can also Google information about a specific token. There are also many open Telegram chats where users share their experiences, ask others questions, and so on. By the way, AFFHUB has its own Telegram chat where you can always message us if you notice anything suspicious. 

In conclusion

Scams have always existed, do exist, and will continue to exist. Over the years, they’ve only gained momentum, and hoping they’ll disappear is overly idealistic.

So there’s only one solution: know how it works and how to avoid falling victim to this game. If you double-check everything and don’t let your emotions get the better of you, it’s entirely possible to avoid these scams.