🍌 Beware of impersonators: What types of scams are found in TON

⚫️ Recently, stories of users falling victim to scammers have been circulating more frequently on TON. These situations can happen to anyone, but to help reduce their occurrence, we’ve decided to start #antiscam post series and compiled a list of the most common types of crypto scams you might encounter:

⚫️ Phishing sites pretending to be well-known projects. You might get added to a chat titled «Click to claim your Notcoin airdrop,» receive a message like «You’ve been gifted Telegram Premium, activate now,» or «I want to buy an asset you own on Fragment» (with a link to a fake Fragment site). These scams rely on your trust in a familiar brand. What to do: always ask yourself, «Am I really on the official site?» before taking any action, and carefully review the conditions of any transaction before confirming it.

⚫️ Impersonation in private messages (another form of phishing). You post a question in a project’s chat, and suddenly, you get a direct message from «the admin» or «support.» Often, the scammer uses the name and profile picture of a well-known TON ecosystem participant... but with one character altered in the username. What to do: don’t trust unsolicited messages from strangers. If the message seems important, verify the sender’s identity and username carefully.

⚫️ Rug pull. Anyone can create a token on TON, so after you buy a «promising token with big development plans,» the founder might disappear with your money («pulling the rug»), abandoning the project entirely. What to do: to minimize risks, check how long the token has been around, the reputation of its creators, whether token minting rights have been revoked, and whether their share of tokens is locked for a significant period. If these safeguards are in place, the founders are financially incentivized to make the token successful in the long term. Learn more here.

⚫️ Honeypots. This is another token-based scam but more technical. A token is created that users can buy but cannot sell. What to do: stick to well-known platforms like DeDust.io, where honeypots don’t make it into the main trading list. While you can still encounter honeypots, the platform will warn you if the token isn’t on the whitelist and remind you that purchasing it is at your own risk.

⚫️ «Free money.» Finding a seed phrase for an unknown wallet can be tempting — you might want to access it and withdraw everything. However, the wallet may contain tokens that require you to first send some TON to cover fees. Once you deposit Toncoin, it’ll disappear instantly. What to do: avoid chasing after «free money» — they’re often traps.

🖊 Of course, these scams aren’t the only ones out there. Share in the comments: What types of frauds have you encountered?

@thedailyton