← Crypto · lesson 11 of 12
By the end of this one you'll know what a rug pull is, the red flags that show up before almost every crypto scam, and the one rule that beats most of them.
A rug pull is when the people who created a coin collect everyone's money, then pull the floor out, they sell everything or drain the pot and vanish. It's the freezer beef scam, a friendly stranger takes deposits for half a cow at a price too good to pass up, and the whole thing works because he collects up front and answers to nobody. The red flags travel in a pack, and they're the same at the county fair and on the internet. Nobody on the team uses a real name, that's a stranger with no address. You're promised a guaranteed return, and real life never guarantees returns, ever. There's a countdown clock, act now, only today, because pressure is how they stop you from thinking. And the classic, anyone who messages you first about money, or asks you to send crypto to get more back, is a scammer, one hundred percent of the time, no exceptions.
Same lesson, told by a hundred dollar bill. Tap to walk it one step at a time.
In this example, $100 goes into a brand new coin that strangers are hyping hard online.
What buyers can't easily see is that the creators kept most of the coins for themselves, and one afternoon they sell it all at once.
The pool of real money empties in minutes, the $100 is suddenly worth about $2, and there's no store, no manager, and no phone number to call.
A message pops up from an old high school friend you haven't talked to in years: she found a crypto giveaway where you send $100 and get $300 back, guaranteed, but it ends tonight. It reads a little off, but it's her name and her picture. Your thumb hovers.
Pick your move. Then peek at the other roads if you're curious.
Guaranteed returns, a countdown clock, and send money first are the same old freezer beef scam wearing a new face.