Am I Being Scammed? A Diagnostic Checklist

The fact that you're asking is already important. Trusting that instinct is the single most protective action you can take right now.

This checklist is designed to give you a clear yes/no within five minutes. Work through each section in order. A single "yes" in the hard-stop section means you should stop sending funds immediately.

Part 1: The Hard-Stop Checks

Any single "yes" here means you are being scammed. No exceptions. Skip to the last section for what to do next.

Have you been asked to pay fees to withdraw YOUR OWN funds?

This is the single most reliable scam signal in crypto. If a platform is telling you that your balance is real, that you've made profit, that the funds are yours — but you need to pay a "tax," "insurance fee," "IRS clearance," "anti-money laundering deposit," or any other charge before withdrawing — it is a scam. Full stop.

No legitimate exchange works this way. Withdrawal fees are tiny and deducted from the withdrawal itself, not paid upfront. Any other structure is designed to extract escalating payments from a victim who believes they are close to accessing fabricated profits.

Is the "platform" one you discovered through a private message, dating app, social media DM, or a "mentor"?

If your introduction to a trading platform, arbitrage bot, investment opportunity, or broker came through an unsolicited message — on WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram, a dating app, WeChat, Facebook Messenger, LinkedIn, or even a "wrong number" text that turned friendly — you are almost certainly in a pig butchering operation.

These scams are characterized by a long relationship-building phase before any money is discussed. The person you've been talking to for weeks is a scripted operator, usually working from a fraud compound in Southeast Asia. The platform they referred you to is fake, even if your account shows a balance and "profits."

Does the person helping you have a complex personal story that makes direct contact impossible?

Common patterns: military deployment overseas, oil rig worker, working in a hospital in a remote country, UN peacekeeper, international doctor. These stories are designed to explain why they can't meet in person, can't video chat convincingly, and eventually need you to send money or crypto for "equipment," "medical emergencies," or "opportunity investments."

Were you recruited to a "job" that involves buying crypto to complete tasks, then getting a commission?

This is a task scam. You're told to deposit crypto to "complete product reviews" or "boost ratings," promised a bonus plus return of your deposit, then pressured to deposit more to "unlock" the bonus. Everything you send is gone. There's no product, no commission, no bonus — just a loop designed to extract increasing payments.

Have you been asked for your seed phrase, private key, or wallet recovery words?

Nobody legitimate ever needs your seed phrase. Not support. Not exchanges. Not investigators. Not "wallet audit" services. Not hardware wallet manufacturers. If anyone has asked you for your seed phrase, they are stealing from you.

Part 2: High-Probability Scam Signals

Two or more "yes" answers here is a strong scam indicator. Proceed with extreme caution.

Did the platform or opportunity promise guaranteed daily returns?

"Earn 3% per day." "Guaranteed 15% monthly ROI." "AI trading bot earns 2x per week." No legitimate investment produces guaranteed returns. Every guaranteed-return platform in crypto is a Ponzi scheme or direct theft, with no exceptions.

Is the platform's website a near-clone of a legitimate exchange, with a slightly different URL?

Scam platforms frequently clone interfaces from Binance, Coinbase, OKX, and others to appear familiar. Check the URL character by character. Look for substitutions like "0" for "O," "l" for "i," or different top-level domains (.io, .co, .app, .pro instead of .com).

Does the platform refuse to let you withdraw a small test amount?

This is the single best test to run EARLY if you're unsure. Deposit a small amount. Try to withdraw a portion of it. A legitimate platform processes the withdrawal. A scam platform invents reasons you can't withdraw yet — minimum thresholds, KYC delays, pending verification, "system upgrade." Do not deposit more until the small withdrawal completes to your wallet.

Is all communication happening exclusively through one encrypted channel?

Telegram-only, WhatsApp-only, WeChat-only. Legitimate crypto businesses operate through email, support tickets, and phone. Single-channel communication on encrypted messaging is a strong scam indicator.

Is the domain less than a year old?

Check the domain registration date at whois.domaintools.com. Legitimate exchanges have years of history. Most scam platforms are registered within the last few months, spun up for specific campaigns, and abandoned when burnt.

Are there fake customer service representatives appearing helpful in public chats?

A hallmark of pig butchering and fake exchange scams: "other users" in group chats who post constant success stories, share fake withdrawal screenshots, and praise the "mentor" who introduced them. These accounts are all operated by the scam team.

Part 3: Softer Warning Signs

Individually these don't confirm a scam, but combined with any Part 2 signal they strongly indicate one:

• You discovered the platform through a sponsored ad on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok featuring a celebrity "endorsement."
• Your contact speaks poor English or uses translator-style phrasing, but has a picture that doesn't match.
• The platform uses a celebrity's name or photo to claim endorsement (Elon Musk, Warren Buffett, various crypto founders).
• You've been added to a group chat with multiple "successful traders" sharing gains screenshots.
• Your contact is unwilling or unable to video chat — or when they do, the video feels "off" (common with deepfake video used in pig butchering).
• Customer support responses use copy-pasted template replies that don't address your specific question.
• The platform has no identifiable physical business address or registration.
• Login issues, verification loops, or "compliance holds" happen repeatedly at the exact moment you try to withdraw.

The Verification Steps You Can Take Right Now

If you're unsure, the following checks take 10 minutes and will resolve most uncertainty:

1. Small-withdrawal test. Try to withdraw $50 to your personal wallet. If it goes through, that's a positive signal (though not conclusive — some scams allow small withdrawals early to build trust). If it doesn't, you have your answer.
2. Domain registration check. Search the platform's domain at whois.domaintools.com. Under a year old = suspicious.
3. Reverse-image search on "your contact." Right-click their profile photo, reverse search on Google Images or TinEye. Stock photo or stolen photo? Confirmed scam.
4. Independent search for the platform name. Google the platform name plus "scam" or "review." Don't trust the platform's own review pages — check Reddit, BitcoinTalk, and independent scam-tracking sites.
5. Check the company registration. Legitimate exchanges have public business filings. Search the company name in the business registry of whatever country they claim to operate in.
6. Independent video call. Ask your contact to video chat on a different platform than the one you've been using. Scam operators refuse or produce low-quality video that doesn't match the photos.

If You Think You're Being Scammed

Take the following actions in order:

1. Stop all further payments immediately. No matter what you're told will happen, no matter what threats are made, no matter how close to withdrawal you believe you are. Every additional payment is lost.
2. Screenshot everything. All chat history, all platform screens showing your supposed balance, all transaction confirmations, all URLs, all payment addresses. Save all of this locally — don't rely on the platform retaining it.
3. Save all transaction hashes. Every crypto transaction you've sent has a hash (a long string of letters and numbers). These are the most important records for an investigation.
4. Do not delete the apps or chats. Evidence preservation comes before emotional cleanup. You can delete after documentation is complete.
5. Do not confront the scammer. This often results in fabricated "final fees to save your account" or threats. Simply stop responding.
6. Report to law enforcement. File a complaint with the FBI's IC3 (if in the US) or the equivalent cybercrime body in your country.
7. Get a free consultation with a blockchain forensic investigator before paying for any "recovery service." See our article on verifying legitimate recovery firms first.

The Hardest Part

The most common response from victims, even after seeing the evidence, is "but they seemed so real." That's not a flaw in you. It's the product of an industrial-scale operation that employs people full-time to build convincing relationships. The emotional work is the scam.

If the checklist points to scam and you're still not sure, talk to someone outside the situation — a family member, a friend, a consultation with a forensic investigator, a local law enforcement intake line. An outside perspective almost always confirms what the checklist is telling you.

The cost of pausing to verify is zero. The cost of one more deposit is everything you send. Pause.