If some "opportunity," "support agent," or "mentor" is pressing you right now and you can't tell whether it's real, don't decide in a hurry. The 7 questions below are the red flags that show up most often across every kind of crypto scam. Answer them honestly, read your result, and then decide whether to send money, click a link, or hand over a code.
- Answer each question against the situation you're actually in right now — don't guess from memory.
- Tap "See my result" when you're done, and you'll get a three-tier verdict plus next steps based on the flags you hit.
- Everything runs in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, and nothing is recorded.
How this self-check works, and why these particular questions
Crypto scams change their skin every year: this month it's a "USDT yield group," next month an "AI quant copy-trading bot," the month after a "fake exchange airdrop." The packaging shifts constantly, but the underlying moves that make any scam work are only a handful — approaching you first, manufacturing urgency, getting you to hand over money or access, and dangling guaranteed returns as bait. This check doesn't try to guess which specific scam you're facing. It checks directly for those shared signals, because once they line up, the risk is already high no matter what costume the thing is wearing.
Each of the seven questions targets a real, high-frequency risk point. "Did they approach you first?" covers the support agents, mentors, and "account managers" who DM you out of the blue — genuine good opportunities don't chase down beginners. "Are they rushing you with 'now, immediately, limited time'?" covers the urgency weapon scammers lean on hardest, because the thing they fear most is you cooling down and verifying. "Do they want you to transfer money, post a deposit, or pay a fee?" and "Are they promising guaranteed, high returns?" cover the core hooks of Ponzi schemes and pig-butchering scams. "Do they want your verification code, private key, or seed phrase?" is a near-foolproof red line — no legitimate platform will ever ask you for these. "Was the app you're told to install or the link you're told to open sent to you by someone else?" covers the entry point for fake sites and cloned apps, and "They claim to be official but only talk over a private chat" covers fake support and impersonated admins.
This self-check helps — it isn't the final word
This tool quickly puts the red flags on the table for you, but it can't make the final call for you, and it can't catch every new scam variant. Even if the result comes back green, if anything still feels off, stop right there: don't transfer, don't sign an approval, don't share a code. What a scam fears most is you saying "let me wait a bit and check one more time." When you're unsure, doing nothing is always the safest move.
Want a more thorough read? Pair it with the 7-step anti-scam framework
This self-check is a quick screen — good for running on the spot when you can't tell what's going on. If you want to assess an "opportunity" or a platform more systematically, walk through our universal 7-step anti-scam framework next: it takes you through who reached out, whether they're rushing you, what you're being asked to hand over, and whether you can verify it through official channels. Used together, you screen fast first, then double-check carefully.
It also helps to understand the psychological playbook scammers rely on — why urgency, authority, and scarcity work so well on people. We break that down in detail in why crypto scammers target you: 9 psychological manipulation tactics. Once you can see the pattern, you'll catch the same scripts much faster the next time they show up.
Common questions
If the result is green, does that mean I'm definitely safe?
No. Green only means "none of these common signals were triggered" — it doesn't rule out every risk. A newer scam might sidestep these typical traits. Treat it as "no obvious problem found for now," not "confirmed safe." Anything involving a transfer, an approval, or a verification code still needs another round of checking.
Are my answers uploaded or stored?
No. The whole self-check runs locally in the page in your browser. We don't collect, upload, or save any of your choices or your result. Refresh the page and the record is gone.
I hit several flags — what should I do right now?
First, one thing: stop. Don't transfer, don't sign, don't hand anything over. Then use the links in your result to check your situation against the matching scam breakdown. If you've already paid money or shared a code, follow the recovery steps as fast as you can — change passwords, revoke devices, move your assets — and see what to do after you've been scammed for evidence-gathering and reporting. In the U.S., you can report the loss to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and file a complaint with the FBI's IC3.
Instead of fielding "opportunities" over and over, start from an official channel
The first step in many scams is catching a beginner who doesn't know where the legitimate entry point is. If you're planning to start trading, go straight to a major, reputable exchange through its official channel. OKX is one such mainstream exchange, and its official domain is okx.com.
Related reading
- The universal 7-step anti-scam framework — the routine to run on any "opportunity" before you act.
- Official domain checker — compare a web address character by character when you can't tell if it's real.
- The full scam field guide — the 12 scams beginners hit most, taken apart one by one.