Crypto-assets and financial scams

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Published on 05/01/2026

European financial regulators have issued a joint communication warning about the growing risk of crypto-asset scams amid rapid expansion of digital assets. The European Supervisory Authorities (ESMA, EBA, EIOPA) highlight that the accessibility, speed, anonymity, and often irreversible nature of crypto transactions make them attractive to fraudsters, leading to various scam types targeting investors.

The communication describes common fraud schemes including:

• Phishing - fake messages impersonating legitimate crypto services to steal credentials.
• Pump-and-dump - artificial price boosts followed by sudden sell-offs that wipe out value.
• Ponzi schemes - promises of high, low-risk returns funded by new investors.
• Impersonation scams - fraudsters posing as bank staff or relatives, sometimes using AI to mimic voices, to extract password/keys.
• Romance-linked investment fraud - attackers build trust on dating/social sites then push crypto "opportunities".
• Address poisoning and fake giveaway offers - tactics that trick users into sending assets to scam wallets.

Regulators stress key red flags (unsolicited links, urgent claims, unverified sites) and recommend: never sharing private keys/passwords; verifying sources; pausing and thinking before acting on investment offers.

This guidance is intended to help consumers recognize and avoid crypto fraud as digital-asset use increases across Europe.