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How to tell if a crypto airdrop is a scam

Short answer: Treat free tokens you didn’t sign up for as bait. Don’t click the link in the token’s note or in the message, don’t connect your wallet, and never type your seed phrase. The FBI says to check any free-token offer with the crypto provider itself, using its official website or customer service number, before you accept anything.

By Agent Lane Editorial · Page dated 3 November 2026

What is a crypto airdrop?

An airdrop is when tokens are sent to many wallets for free, often to promote a new coin or reward a project’s users. Real ones exist. Scammers copy the idea because “free tokens” gets people to click.

How do fake airdrops work?

  • A note on tokens you didn’t expect. The FBI describes tokens appearing in a wallet with a note (a “memo”) telling you to visit a link to accept them. The link connects your wallet to the scammer’s site, which may ask for your login details or seed phrase, and then moves your crypto out.
  • Posts and emails. The FBI also warns about fake airdrop offers on social media, on other websites and in phishing emails. The link asks you to connect your wallet or enter a password to “claim” the tokens.

Once the scammer has your seed phrase, or your approval to move tokens, they can empty the wallet. See crypto wallet drainers for how those approvals work.

What are the warning signs?

  • You never signed up for a rewards program, but you’re being offered free tokens.
  • Claiming needs you to click a link in a note, a post, a direct message or an email.
  • The site asks you to connect your wallet, approve something you can’t read, or type your seed phrase. No real airdrop needs your seed phrase.
  • You have to pay a fee or send crypto first to get the free tokens.
  • Pressure to claim fast, before the offer “ends.”

The FTC puts it simply: scammers promise free money, and free money promises are always fake. Not sure? Run it through the 10-question crypto scam checklist.

How do I check if an airdrop is real?

  1. Don’t use any link that came with the tokens or the message.
  2. Go to the project’s or wallet provider’s official website by typing the address yourself, and look for an announcement there. The FBI says to verify the offer with the provider before accepting it or giving any information.
  3. If someone claiming to be a representative calls or emails, start a new call yourself using the company’s verified customer service number.
  4. If you can’t confirm it, ignore it. Tokens you don’t touch can’t approve anything on their own; leave them alone and don’t try to sell or move them through a site you don’t know.

For checking any crypto website, see how to check if a crypto website is real.

What if I already clicked or connected?

  • If you typed your seed phrase, treat the wallet as lost: move what’s left to a new wallet with a new seed phrase right away.
  • If you connected and approved something, follow the steps in crypto wallet drainers to revoke approvals and move your funds.
  • Change passwords on any accounts you entered, and watch for logins and transactions you don’t recognize, as the FBI advises.
  • Report it to the FBI at ic3.gov and the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Ignore anyone who then offers to recover the crypto for a fee; see crypto recovery scams.

Do real airdrops count for taxes?

They can. The IRS lists receiving digital assets from an airdrop related to a hard fork among the things that mean you answer “Yes” to the digital asset question on your tax return. See is it safe to use an AI chatbot for crypto taxes? and check with a tax professional.

Sources

Checked 3 November 2026 on each organization’s own site.

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