How the pattern usually works
- A site, video, advert or message promotes a giveaway using a name you trust — a well-known person, brand or event.
- You are told to send cryptocurrency to an address to 'verify' your wallet or 'claim' the reward.
- Small amounts are sometimes returned at first to build confidence, and then a larger payment is requested.
- The address is fresh, the site is new, and the whole thing disappears within days.
The rule that never changes
No genuine giveaway, prize or airdrop ever requires you to send cryptocurrency to receive something. If money has to move from your wallet to theirs before anything is promised in return, it is not a giveaway — whatever the branding says.
If you already sent funds
- Stop all further payments immediately, including any 'tax' or 'release fee' requested after the first payment.
- Save the transaction hash, the address you paid, the site address, and screenshots of the offer with visible dates.
- If the funds came from a bank account, contact your bank straight away.
- Report to Action Fraud online or on 0300 123 2040 (Police Scotland in Scotland).
Can giveaway payments be traced?
They can be followed on the public record like any other transfer. In practice these payments are often moved quickly — sometimes straight to an exchange deposit address — which is why the exchange report matters most in the first day. A trace establishes where the funds went and whether a service able to act holds them; it cannot reverse the transfer.
If you are looking at your own case rather than reading generally, our cryptocurrency investigation service explains how a case is scoped and worked, the asset tracing hub covers the network-specific work, and our overview of cryptocurrency scam recovery in the UK sets out what is realistic. Asset pages: USDT tracing, Bitcoin tracing and Ethereum tracing. You can also contact the investigations team directly.
Common questions
- I received a small payment back at first. Is that normal?
- No — and it is a classic trust-building step. Early returns are designed to encourage a larger payment that is never returned.
- The offer came from an account I follow. Is it real?
- Accounts and sites impersonate real people and brands constantly. Treat any giveaway asking you to send funds first as fraudulent regardless of where it appears.
Have a case you want reviewed?
We scope at intake and tell you honestly whether the onchain data supports a traceable case.
Key terms in this guide
Plain-English definitions from the Wallsec glossary.