Crypto Scams To Watch Out for in 2025

All the rage in many circles right now, cryptocurrency is still a hotly debated topic on many levels. Many swear to its being the currency of the future, while others still view it as more gambling than investing.

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But what about the security of a decentralized currency? No oversight means more potential for scams. Many investors are cautious about potential losses due to highly intelligent hackers, scammers and even wielders of AI systems that can tear down firewalls, steal data and, yes, scurry away with currency.

GOBankingRates talked to experts in the fields of crypto, currency and cybersecurity to gain insight into what kinds of crypto scams to watch out for in 2025. Here’s what they had to say.

Also, learn which signs you should watch for that indicate a crypto coin is a scam.

Pump and Dump Schemes

Times may change, but scams stay pretty much the same. They just become more sophisticated as technology advances. Such is the case with good old pump-and-dump schemes.

Dyma Budorin, CEO and co-founder of Hacken, said, “Pump-and-dump schemes from AI agents are the biggest threat to the crypto industry.”

This scheme is, essentially, the classic case where a group of investors promotes a stock until the price rises due to increasing interest. Then, once the price reaches a certain point, the group of investors sells its stock, making off with the cash invested by unsuspecting citizens.

In the modern, AI-driven world, Budorin said, “Scammers will create hundreds of thousands of agents that make different predictions. Once the AI agent performs well in terms of good ROI on his calls, scammers will submit them to such platforms, and they will get to the top charts. The rest is easy for professional scammers — old pump-and-dump schemes for coins owned by the same creators.”

The Bottom Line: Be suspicious when a particular currency is doing extremely well all of a sudden, with no history of stellar performance. Don’t be the investor that gets duped, or dumped.

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Copycat Tokens

Another scam that is as old as currency itself is now affecting crypto investors. Just like criminals who create fake dollar bills or gold coins, now there are AI agents that can create fake tokens or, in this case, copycat tokens.

John Cahill, an attorney at the national law firm Wilson Elser’s Emerging Technologies Practice Group, compared meme coins to the gold rush: “Being ‘first’ is everything.”

However, he said, “This environment invites scammers who set up misleading tokens, link them to legitimate projects and then reap undeserved profits. Most recently, AI agent tokens have taken the majority of the crypto mind share. They are simply integrating ChatGPT into their websites and promoting themselves as some new novel technology. Since everyone wants to get in on the ground floor, many take the risk of purchasing the token only to find out the project really has no tech, or community, behind it.”

He pointed out two problems that arise with this scam: The buyers invest in a fraudulent token, and the project the scam was branched off of cannot control the scam token.

So, you think you’re investing in a startup, which may actually exist, only to find you’ve been scammed. The problem, of course, is that you want to get in on the ground floor and make a lot of potential profit. But far more people have lost by rushing to the ground floor than have won.

Crypto is an essentially risky business on its own. Rushing to be first in line as an investor only adds more risk you might not be willing or able to take on.

The Bottom Line: Do your due diligence every single time you invest. Research the company, the tech behind it, the community and even get in touch with the founder. Any head of a startup company will be eager to discuss their concepts with new investors. And, of course, never invest more than you’re willing to lose.

AI-Driven Impersonations

Finally, Industry Wired chimed in on 2025 crypto scams, and at its forefront is the concern over AI-driven impersonations, particularly as they relate to celebrities. An AI can impersonate a celebrity to present fake investment opportunities to unsuspecting investors. “The rise of DeFi platforms only added to the challenges, as many fraudulent projects emerged under the guise of promising high returns but disappeared with investor funds,” Industry Wired wrote.

It’s so easy now to impersonate anyone online, especially a celebrity. Scammers are finding it increasingly easy to fake a celebrity endorsement of crypto and then take off with fans’ money.

This is one of the blessings and curses of the rise of AI. It’s possible to do so much now and learn so much faster than ever. But it’s also easy to be fooled by impersonations. And when it comes to crypto, once you lose the money, there’s no tracking it down and getting it back.

The Bottom Line: Be wary of celebrity endorsements in the world of crypto. If you’re going to invest in a new meme coin, make sure you talk to a financial advisor you trust to ensure your investment is legitimate, going to the right place and you can sell if and when you’re ready.

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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Crypto Scams To Watch Out for in 2025

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