Fake IPO / Token Pre-Sale
You're offered 'exclusive' early access to a company's IPO or a crypto token pre-sale that doesn't exist or is worthless.
Think a message like this reached you? You can check it right now.
What this scam is
Scammers pitch a rare chance to invest before a hot company goes public or to buy a new crypto token at a 'pre-sale' discount. The company or token is fake, insolvent, or the tokens are worthless and unsellable. Fabricated hype, countdowns, and 'allocations running out' push fast decisions and irreversible payments. Genuine pre-IPO and token sales are heavily regulated and are not sold via cold DMs promising guaranteed upside.
What it usually looks like
- 'Exclusive' pre-IPO or token pre-sale access.
- Promises of huge, near-certain gains at launch.
- Countdown pressure and limited 'allocations.'
- Payment by crypto or wire to an unknown party.
Common warning signs
- Cold offers of exclusive early-investment access.
- Guaranteed or 'can't-miss' returns.
- Urgency about running-out allocations.
- Irreversible payment to strangers.
Example wording scammers use
“Get in before the IPO — allocations are almost gone, guaranteed 5x at listing.”
“Token pre-sale live now: buy at $0.01 before it hits exchanges at $1.”
These are illustrative examples written by ScamSplain, not real messages.
What the scammers want
- Irreversible crypto/wire payments.
- To exploit fear of missing out.
- To sell worthless or nonexistent assets.
What to do
- Distrust exclusive pre-IPO/pre-sale offers pushed to you.
- Verify offerings and sellers with regulators.
- Never send crypto/wire on hype and countdowns.
- Walk away from guaranteed-gain claims.
What to do if you already responded
- Preserve records; crypto/wire may be unrecoverable.
- Report to the SEC and reportfraud.ftc.gov.
- Watch for recovery scammers.