How to spot crypto airdrop scams

Airdrops are real, and so are the scammers copying them. Read this before connecting a wallet or joining anything.

Golden rules: never share your seed phrase or private key. Never send crypto to "unlock" or "claim" a reward. If it sounds too good to be true, it is.

Red flags

It asks for your seed phrase / private key. No real airdrop needs this. Ever.
It asks you to send crypto first ("pay a small gas fee to receive 10 ETH").
Fake urgency such as "only 10 minutes left" or "only first 100 users".
Look-alike websites with small spelling changes. Always type or bookmark the official address.
Unsolicited DMs on Telegram, Discord or X from "admins" or "support". Real teams do not DM you first.
Unlimited token approvals. A site asking to approve spending of all your tokens can drain your wallet.
Guaranteed profit or "double your crypto" promises.
No real team or product, anonymous founders with no history, copied whitepapers.
Tokens that suddenly appear in your wallet and push you to visit a website to sell them. Do not interact with unknown tokens.

Safe-checking checklist

Find the project's official website via CoinGecko / CoinMarketCap, not via a link someone sent you.
Check the announcement on the project's official X (Twitter) account, and that the link matches.
Search the project name plus "scam" and read recent results and community threads.
Use a separate wallet with little or no funds for airdrops. Keep your main savings in another wallet.
Before signing any transaction, read what it does. Reject anything you do not understand.
Revoke old token approvals regularly using a reputable approval-checker tool.
Keep your seed phrase offline. Do not store it in photos, notes apps or cloud drives.

If you think you were scammed

Move any remaining funds to a new wallet immediately and revoke approvals.
Contact the exchange if the funds went through one, with the transaction details.
In India, report cyber fraud at cybercrime.gov.in or call the helpline 1930 as soon as possible.

Our approach

We mark an airdrop "verified" only when we have checked it against the project's official channels. That is not a guarantee, and nothing here is financial advice. Always do your own research.