Most crypto-investment fraud follows the same script, and the warning signs are visible before you ever deposit. Here are nine checks our investigators run on any platform a client asks about.
1. Verify the licence yourself
If a firm claims to be regulated, look up the registration number on the regulator’s own website — not a link the company sends you. Then confirm the phone, email and domain match the official record. Fraudsters clone real licence numbers and rely on you checking the number but not the contact details.
2. Search the company name plus “scam” and “withdrawal”
Look for victims reporting blocked withdrawals. Cross-check our Blacklisted Brokers database for the exact name and any aliases.
3. Test a small withdrawal early
Deposit a small amount and immediately try to withdraw it. Scam platforms either delay it or invent a fee. A real exchange pays out without conditions.
4. Beware the friendly daily “account manager”
A personal coach who calls every day and celebrates your gains is a sales tactic, not a service. Regulated brokers do not assign you a hype man.
5. Check how you were contacted
Cold calls, “wrong number” texts that turn friendly, WhatsApp groups full of profit screenshots, and romance-then-investment pivots are all funnels, not opportunities.
6. Look for impossible returns
Fixed daily percentages, “guaranteed” profits, and arbitrage bots that never lose do not exist. Real markets move both ways.
7. Inspect the withdrawal terms
If withdrawing requires a “liquidity fee,” a “tax pre-payment,” or an “account upgrade” first, the platform is designed to take, not return.
8. Confirm the crypto address is yours
If you cannot move your funds to a wallet you control, you do not actually own them — you own a number on someone else’s dashboard.
9. Trust the friction
Pressure to act now, to deposit more to “unlock” a tier, or to keep the opportunity secret are all manufactured urgency. Slow down and verify.
Any one of these is a yellow flag; two or more is a stop sign. When in doubt, get the platform checked before you send anything.
Think you have been targeted? IntelliCtech traces stolen crypto on-chain and helps victims pursue recovery. Submit your case for a free review, browse our recovery case studies, or search the Blacklisted Brokers database.