Top Scam Patterns in 2025: The Red Flags You Must Spot
A non-speculative guide to the most common 2025 scam patterns: stealth honeypots, LP games, blacklists, and social fakes.
- Stealth honeypots trigger on liquidity thresholds
- LP time-bombs remove just after influencers shill
- Fake KYC + rented “founders” across multiple rugs
Contract Tricks
Liquidity-triggered blacklist or max-tx changes.
Owner-only “trading pause” functions hidden in libs.
Tax setters without caps; 5% → 99% overnight.
Proxy patterns with upgrade slots controlled by a single EOA.
Liquidity Games
No LP lock or lock < 7 days while hyping “community first.”
Mirrored LP adds/removes timed with influencer tweets.
WETH/SOL pairing only, no stable pair to mask slippage.
Flash-locked LP: locks that expire in hours, not days.
Social & Off-Chain
Twitter with <1 month age, >50% botted engagement.
Telegram mods disappear after launch; pinned messages deleted.
Domain registered <14 days, no company details, fake team avatars.
“KYC” badges from unknown vendors reused across multiple rugs.
Your Defensive Playbook
Check renounce, blacklist/whitelist, tax caps before entry.
Require LP lock screenshots with on-chain link; verify holder of LP token.
Set alerts for LP remove, tax change, and owner calls.
Treat anonymous teams with identical socials as recycled rug crews.
Favor projects with audits from recognizable firms and time-locked upgrade keys.
Tips to Find Better Coins
Older socials with consistent organic engagement and real replies.
Docs/whitepaper, public roadmap, and verifiable team or multisig governance.
Stable pairing plus locked LP, with public lock references.
No unrestricted owner functions; taxes capped and immutable; renounce where possible.
Are new socials always bad?
Not always, but new + botted engagement + no docs is a red flag cluster. Combine signals, never rely on one.
What alert thresholds should I set?
LP remove, tax change, owner calls, and whale sells >3% supply. If multiple fire in minutes, exit.