How to verify a site, a contract and a person
Almost every scam depends on you accepting that something is what it claims. Verification is a habit, and it takes under a minute.
Verifying a website
- Never arrive from a search advert. Paid results for crypto brands are routinely bought by impersonators.
- Get the domain from the project's own social profile, its documentation, or a listing on a reputable aggregator.
- Bookmark it once verified, and use the bookmark from then on.
- Check the URL character by character for lookalikes: rn for m, l for I, a hyphen that should not be there.
- Before connecting a wallet, ask whether this page needs your wallet at all. Reading rarely does.
Verifying a contract address
- Take it only from the project's own website or its official documentation.
- Open it on the block explorer and confirm the token name and symbol match.
- Check the contract is verified, meaning the source code is published and readable.
- Cross check the same address on a second independent source.
- Paste it into your wallet manually. Never click a token that appeared in your wallet unprompted.
Verifying a person
The rule is simpler than people expect: direction of contact decides everything. If they contacted you, treat it as an attack regardless of how plausible it is. Real support does not open conversations. Founders do not message strangers about opportunities. Friends whose accounts have been taken over sound exactly like your friends.
Verifying an app
- Go to the official website first, then follow its download link to the store.
- Check the developer name matches the company, not something similar.
- Check the review count. A real wallet has tens of thousands of reviews, not hundreds.
- Be extra careful with browser extensions, which are a common vector for fakes.
BEFORE YOU MOVE ON
Common questions
How do I know a crypto website is legitimate?
Reach it from the project's own verified social profile or documentation rather than a search result, check the URL character by character, and bookmark it once confirmed. Search adverts impersonating crypto brands are common.
A friend messaged me about a crypto opportunity. Is that safe?
Contact them through a different channel and ask before doing anything. Account takeovers are common and the message genuinely comes from their account.
Risk warning: crypto is highly volatile and largely unregulated. You can lose everything you put in. Nothing here is financial, investment or tax advice.