Bait and Switch Scam

In the crypto world, a "bait and switch" scam is a fraudulent sales strategy used by a company to lure customers with the offer of low-priced products or services and then try to sell them higher-priced products instead. In the crypto market, such a practice could occur when the team behind a new project attracts you to reserve your spot for its token's pre-sale event but later tells you that you missed out on the opportunity.

 

Sometimes, scammers use such pre-sale announcements to send out fake links and camp off with your money, raking in the rewards of your inability to notice the subtle difference between the original project's event and a near-identical fake one. In such instances, bait-and-switch scams successfully take your crypto and do not give you the promised tokens, causing you to lose your investment. 

 

A crypto bait and switch scam often uses social media to reach out to gullible investors, e.g., Telegram. The scammers will create convincing and influential groups or social media profiles and advertise upcoming token sales for a genuine project, only to share a fake link to the event.