“This is going to create a lot of FOMO and a lot of urgency around investing in bitcoin and paying with bitcoin,” said Eva Velasquez, president and chief executive of the Identity Theft Resource Center. Scammers “love, love, love to leverage external events, create confusion, create that sense of urgency and steal your hard-earned money.”
The stakes are particularly high given that the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crime Complaint Center received more than 69,000 complaints last year related to cryptocurrency fraud, with estimated losses topping more than $5.6 billion. The losses associated with these complaints accounted for nearly half of the total fraud losses reported.
With this in mind, here’s how to recognize and avoid the latest crypto scams:
‘Elon Musk is not going to double your money’
Prevalent scams today include fake bonuses in exchange for an initial investment, bogus coin promotions, phishing emails or texts that appear to come from reputable crypto companies or exchanges, Ponzi and pyramid schemes, or “Pig butchering” scams that involve fraudsters building trust over time, often posing as friends or romantic partners, before convincing victims to invest in fake crypto platforms.
Schemes also commonly invoke well-known names like crypto enthusiast and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Scammers have been broadcasting fake video of Elon Musk including fake livestreams, making it seem as if he were speaking about specific cryptocurrency opportunities. In one such scam, the thieves tried to lure investors to scan a QR code before the “livestream” ended. Investors were promised double the amount of cryptocurrency they deposited, according to a report by Engadget.
“Elon Musk is not going to double your money if you send him crypto,” said Merrick Theobald, vice president of marketing at BitPay, a cryptocurrency payment service.
These types of scams are likely to proliferate with Musk, who is always in the headlines, figuring even more prominently in President-elect Trump’s orbit and picked to co-lead the proposed Department of Government Efficiency. The Trump administration is also expected to serve as tailwind for crypto with pro-crypto legislation expected to be one of the first legislative efforts taken up in a new Congress.
Coinbase warns scammers will prey on your fear
Fraudsters also use fear to ensnare victims.
Coinbase is seeing several scams in which cyber thieves send a text claiming a crypto owner’s account has been compromised. If the user responds to the text, scammers try to pry additional information such as the crypto owner’s seed phrase, which allows the thieves to empty the account, said Jeff Lunglhofer, chief information security officer of Coinbase. People fall for this because it all seems plausible and the scammers convince them their assets are at risk, he added.
If you get a text or an email claiming there’s a problem with your crypto account, don’t respond or click on any links. Instead, go directly to your provider’s website or call the phone number you know is attached to the provider to inquire about your account, Theobald said.
Be skeptical of one-time promotional offers
Scammers sometimes send emails or place ads on social media, offering one-time promotions for investing in crypto. These ads often look like legitimate offers from reputable companies that people may be familiar with, or have done business with in the past, said Howard Greenberg, president of The American Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Association, a non-profit trade association.
But there might be a letter missing in the URL and if you click on it, you’ll see something that looks very much like the homepage of the reputable site, confusing people more, Greenberg said. In reality, crypto owners are plugging in their credentials on a fraudulent site. “Before you realize you’ve signed on to a fake site, your money is gone,” Greenberg said. “There’s no way to do a dispute like you can with a credit card.”
To avoid this problem, he recommends people bookmark the websites of the legitimate providers they use. This way, investors can go there directly to purchase crypto and they don’t accidentally fall for a scam by clicking on someone else’s link. In addition, he recommends people only buy crypto on reputable exchanges, which include Coinbase and Gemini. “You don’t want to be using a fly-by-night exchange out of Liechtenstein,” Greenberg said.
How families get defrauded
There’s the adage, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” but when it comes to crypto scams, people still take the bait. Sometimes it’s because they don’t recognize the warning signs. These include offers that seem too good to be true, pressure tactics or unrealistic promises for returns. A little homework can save a lot of money and headaches, industry professionals said.
Yaya Fanusie, director of policy for anti-money laundering and cyber risk at the Crypto Council for Innovation, had a family member recently defrauded by a crypto scammer. The company, supposedly founded by a well-known mathematician, advertised a guaranteed investment return of 150%. Fanusie did some digging on the relative’s behalf and found the supposedly famous mathematician had only a few dozen followers on LinkedIn. Fanusie was also suspicious due to the lofty investment guarantee and because his relative was being asked to communicate with the company on What’sApp, which is end-to-end encrypted and offers scammers extra protection.
Another red flag is if an organization asking for money claims crypto is the only payment option, Velasquez said. “I would be very, very leery about any transaction where the only way you can pay is through cryptocurrency.”
Do detailed research on new tokens and cryptocurrency companies
Fanusie recommends that prospective investors search the internet for background on any company they are considering doing business with, including where it was registered and when. He also urges would-be investors to check Fincen’s website to determine whether the provider they’re considering is regulated as a money service business. If a company claims to be an investment company, it’s worth checking with the SEC to see if it is registered, he said.
“You can’t take what they say on faith,” he said.
Prospective investors should also take the time to ensure any digital coin they are considering buying is legitimate. If the token isn’t listed on a mainstream site, it might not be legitimate or it might be obscure and thus riskier. One way to verify a token’s legitimacy is by looking it up on price-tracking sites such as CoinGecko or CoinMarketCap.
“Often if you do a little bit of verification … you find out that things aren’t always what they seem to be,” Fanusie said.
Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir Technologies, speaks on a panel titled Power, Purpose, and the New American Century at the Hill and Valley Forum at the U.S. Capitol on April 30, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images
Palantir CEO Alex Karp offered up another batch of colorful commentary to investors alongside the data analytics company’s first-quarter earnings.
In a letter to shareholders, Karp quoted his own book and some significant historical figures — including St. Augustine and President Richard Nixon — and the New Testament as he touted the company’s artificial intelligence-fueled growth and commitment toward equipping and enhancing U.S. defense interests.
“Our financial performance, that crude yardstick by which the market attempts to measure worth in this world, continues to exceed many of our greatest expectations,” he wrote.
The eccentric technology billionaire has become widely known over the years for his energetic interviews and flowing shareholder letters that often incorporate philosophy, ethics and unconventional language.
His letters often read like an essay or dissertation, broken down into parts.
Tech and military
“We, the heretics, this motley band of characters, were cast out and nearly discarded by Silicon Valley. And yet there are signs that some within the Valley have now turned a corner and begun following our lead. We note only that our commitment to building software for the U.S. military, to those whom we have asked to step into harm’s way, remains steadfast, when such a commitment is fashionable and convenient, and when it is not.”
St. Augustine
Karp quoted philosopher and theologian St. Augustine in his case for defending the U.S.
“All men are to be loved equally,” he wrote. “But since you cannot do good to all, you are to pay special regard to those who, by the accidents of time, or place, or circumstance, are brought into closer connection with you.”
Weltanschauung
In highlighting the company’s culture, Karp likened the environment to a Weltanschauung “nation that is bound together by a short but evolving history and patterns of discourse and shared beliefs” and quoted the New Testament.
“There is no question that both cultures and companies, including the one we have built, must over a long period of time be judged ‘by their fruits.’ Matt. 7:16,”
‘Cultural elites’
Karp cited French author Michel Houellebecq in a section about the “entrenched and resilient” cultural aristocracy of the learned class.
“Nobility had nothing to explain their right to stay in power, apart from their birth. … Contemporary elites claim intellectual and moral superiority.”
President Nixon
Karp concluded his letter with a call to action for rooting out the “cynics and the skeptics,” quoting an excerpt from President Nixon’s 1974 resignation speech.
“Always remember, others may hate you. But those who hate you don’t win, unless you hate them. And then, you destroy yourself.”
Alex Karp, chief executive officer of Palantir Technologies Inc., speaks during the AIPCon conference in Palo Alto, California, US, on March 13, 2025.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Palantir boosted its revenue guidance Monday as the artificial intelligence software company saw commercial and government revenue boom.
Shares fell about 5% after the bell.
Here’s how the company did compared with LSEG consensus estimates:
Earnings per share: 13 cents adjusted vs. 13 cents expected
Revenue: $884 million vs. $863 million expected
“We are delivering the operating system for the modern enterprise in the era of AI,” CEO Alex Karp wrote in an earnings release Monday, adding that the company is in the “middle of a tectonic shift in the adoption” of its software.
The defense technology company said that its commercial revenues grew 71% from a year ago to $255 million, while its government segment sales jumped 45% to $373 million. The company is forecasting that U.S. commercial revenues will top $1.178 billion this year.
Karp attributed Palantir’s government sector growth to greater U.S. defense sector adoption of its tools. He said that demand for large language models and the software supporting it has “turned into a stampede.”
Palantir’s revenues grew 39% from $634.3 million in the year-ago period. Net income rose to about $214 million, or 8 cents per share, from roughly $105.5 million, or 4 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. U.S revenues jumped 55% to $628 million, Palantir said.
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The company, which provides AI software and technology solutions for governments and corporations, also hiked its full-year revenue outlook to between $3.89 billion and $3.90 billion. During its last earnings report, Palantir projected that full-year revenues would range between $3.74 billion and $3.76 billion. The company expects revenues to range between $934 million and $938 million in the current quarter.
“We believe our results are indicative of a revolution sweeping across our business and industry,” Karp wrote in a letter to shareholders.
Palantir shares have defied 2025’s broad downtrend in technology stocks. The stock is up 64% this year, benefitting from its key defense contracts and President Donald Trump’s effort to cut federal spending with the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency. Palantir is also the best performer in the S&P 500.
The company also boosted its adjusted free cash flow outlook for the year to between $1.6 billion and $1.8 billion. Adjusted income for operations is expected to range between $1.711 billion and $1.723 billion.
Palantir said it closed 139 deals totaling at least $1 million during the period, 51 of which topped at least $5 million. Palantir said 31 deals exceeded $10 million.
A Waymo self-driving vehicle seen in Phoenix, Arizona, on Feb. 27, 2025.
Leslie Josephs | CNBC
Alphabet-owned Waymo and the auto manufacturing giant Magna International plan to double robotaxi production at their new plant in Mesa, Arizona, by the end of 2026, the companies announced Monday.
The “Waymo Driver Integration Plant,” a 239,000 square foot facility outside of Phoenix, will assemble more than 2,000 Jaguar I-PACE robotaxis, the Alphabet company said in a statement. Waymo will add those self-driving vehicles to its existing fleet that already includes around 1,500 robotaxis.
The plant will be “capable of building tens of thousands of fully autonomous Waymo vehicles per year,” when it is fully built out, Waymo said. The company also said it plans to build its more advanced Geely Zeekr RT robotaxis that feature its “6th-generation Waymo Driver” technology later this year at the plant.
Waymo and Magna opened the Mesa plant in October, Forbes reported Monday.
The Alphabet-owned company started its commercial robotaxi service in Phoenix in 2020 and now calls the area its domestic manufacturing home.
Already, Waymo is conducting 250,000 paid, driverless rides per week across its service areas in Austin, the San Francisco Bay area, Los Angeles and Phoenix, and the company is planning to begin serving the Atlanta; Miami; and Washington, D.C., markets in 2026.
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai last month said Waymo has not strictly defined its long-term business model yet, and there is “future optionality around personal ownership” of vehicles equipped with Waymo’s self-driving technology. A week later, Waymo and Toyota announced a preliminary partnership to potentially bring the self-driving tech to personally owned vehicles.
A would-be Waymo competitor, Tesla has said it plans to launch a robotaxi service in Austin in June using the company’s Model Y SUVs and its Unsupervised Full Self-Driving technology.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has criticized Waymo’s approach to driverless tech, saying the cars by his competitor cost “way more money” than his company’s.
Waymo systems employ more sophisticated and expensive sensors than Tesla vehicles do. Waymo vehicles rely on radar and lidar sensors alongside cameras and sonar to get around. Tesla’s systems mostly rely on cameras.
However, Waymo has beat Tesla to the market with its robotaxis, and now stands to more than double its U.S. fleet by the end of 2026. Tesla does not yet offer vehicles that are safe to use without a human at the wheel ready to steer or brake at any time.