Crypto scams: Rug pulls largely dominate, followed by honeypots

According to the latest data from Web3 Antivirus, rug pulls account for 54% of all crypto scams detected to date. Behind their façade of promising projects, these scams rely on hidden contractual mechanisms, activated once investors are trapped. AI now amplifies the phenomenon: distribution channels multiply, targeting becomes more precise.

Rug pulls, the primary threat in the crypto market

Rug pulls clearly dominate the crypto scams landscape. In an analysis published on June 9 on X, Web3 Antivirus places them far ahead of honeypots (22%), fake tokens (12%), and fraudulent airdrops (close to 12%).

The platform has thus recorded more than 425,000 rug pulls, 172,000 honeypots, and over 94,000 fraudulent distributions since launching its Scam Pulse tool.

What makes these scams frightening is their ability to mimic the normal activity of a bullish market. Rising prices, increasing trading volumes, a noisy community: everything seems legitimate. Then comes the tipping point.

“A token may appear promising, its price climbing and the community growing louder, but a single action by a holder can change everything in seconds“, writes Web3 Antivirus. 

The same contract control mechanisms, invisible during the rise phase, can suddenly prevent users from selling, cause a liquidity shortage, and the price collapse.

Fake tokens operate under the same pattern. Creators artificially inflate the value via fake transactions, attract investors, then block any resale via the underlying contract. Result: funds are drained, scammers disappear.

AI makes scams harder to detect

Beyond the blockchain, the way these scams reach investors is also evolving. Web3 Antivirus notes that AI now enables the production of phishing emails, fake support conversations, and fraudulent social media posts that are convincing enough to pass quick visual verification.

Email accounts for 53% of recorded distribution vectors. One incident illustrates the scale of the phenomenon: in May 2025, a fake site imitating Uniswap siphoned at least $400,000 before being reported. 

David Schwartz, distinguished technical director of Ripple, also warned XRP holders against a fake distribution campaign targeting XRPL users that same month.

Additionally, Web3 Antivirus’s weekly ranking reveals an increase in contract identity theft: Ethereum has 291 detections of fake tokens, Tether 270, USDC 225.

These numbers are increasing for almost all assets tracked compared to the previous week, a warning signal to watch, especially for investors focused on the security of their crypto wallets.

In sum, data from Web3 Antivirus paint a worrying picture. More than half of crypto scams exploit seemingly legitimate smart contracts, the production of fraudulent content is industrializing thanks to AI, and distribution vectors are diversifying. 

Faced with this evolution, investors benefit from systematically verifying contractual permissions before any token purchase, notably relying on on-chain analysis tools available on the market. Vigilance remains the only effective defense.