Key takeaways
In 2024 and 2025, fake airdrop scams targeting Hamster Kombat, Wall Street Pepe and others led to millions in user losses, contributing to over $9.9 billion in global crypto scam damages.
Fake airdrops impersonate legitimate projects, tricking users into revealing private keys, signing malicious contracts or paying upfront fees that lead to irreversible crypto theft.
Warning signs include no official announcement, suspicious URLs, requests for private keys, grammar errors and unrealistic reward promises.
Future airdrops are shifting toward activity-based, retroactive and AI-monitored models that reward genuine user engagement while reducing exploitation.
While cryptocurrency airdrops are a legitimate way for projects to gain publicity and users, scammers exploit this hype, draining wallets through fake campaigns. In 2024 and 2025, fake airdrop scams around projects like Hamster Kombat and Wall Street Peepe cost victims millions. According to Chainalysis, the global estimated losses in 2024 from cryptocurrency scams and fraud,