Famous Rug Pull Examples and Losses: How Scammers Steal Millions in Crypto

When you hear about someone making a quick fortune in crypto, be careful. Behind every viral meme coin or flashy NFT project, there’s a real chance someone’s already planned to vanish with your money. This isn’t speculation - it’s happened over and over. Rug pull is the most common crypto scam, and it’s cost investors billions. Unlike hacking a wallet or stealing private keys, rug pulls are legal in the gray zone of decentralized finance - until the moment the developers drain the liquidity and disappear.

How a Rug Pull Works

A rug pull happens when a team creates a new cryptocurrency, convinces people to buy it, and then suddenly removes all the money from the trading pool. The token becomes worthless overnight. Investors can’t sell because the smart contract locks them in, or the liquidity is gone. It’s like building a house, inviting people to rent rooms, then burning it down the day after the last tenant pays.

There are two main types. The first is a DeFi rug pull, where the code itself is rigged. Developers set up smart contracts that prevent selling, let them mint unlimited new tokens, or charge 99% fees on trades. The second is an exit scam, where the team runs aggressive marketing - influencers, fake whitepapers, celebrity endorsements - then vanishes after raising millions.

Both types rely on one thing: trust. People invest because they believe in the story. The team looks legit. The Discord is active. The Telegram group has 10,000 members. But none of that matters if the code is a trap.

Thodex: The $2 Billion Exchange Heist

In April 2021, Thodex, Turkey’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, suddenly shut down. Its CEO, Faruk Fatih Özer, vanished with $2 billion in user funds. Over 390,000 people lost everything. The platform had been promoted as safe, regulated, and transparent. Users could withdraw anytime - or so they thought.

Investigators later found Özer had transferred funds to offshore accounts, bought luxury cars, and even booked a flight to Albania. He was arrested in 2022, but most of the money was gone. Thodex wasn’t a DeFi project - it was a centralized exchange. That made the scale of the theft even more shocking. No other single crypto scam in history has taken more than this.

Thodex proved rug pulls don’t need to be anonymous. Sometimes, the scammer is right in front of you - wearing a suit, giving interviews, and running ads.

AnubisDAO: A $58 Million Vanishing Act in 20 Hours

On October 28, 2021, AnubisDAO launched with a DOGE-style logo, no website, and no whitepaper. The team used pseudonyms. Their pitch? A decentralized currency backed by a basket of assets. Sounds vague? That’s because it was.

Within hours, investors poured in nearly $60 million in wrapped Ethereum (wETH). The ANKH token price surged. Then, 20 hours after launch, the liquidity pool was drained. Every single dollar was gone. The developers didn’t bother hiding. They just walked away.

What made AnubisDAO so dangerous was how fast it worked. Most scams take weeks to build hype. This one moved like lightning. It showed how easily a new token can trick people - especially if it’s tied to a trending theme (in this case, Egyptian mythology and meme culture). No audits. No team. No future. Just a quick cash grab.

Squid Game Token: A Meme Coin That Became a Nightmare

When Netflix’s Squid Game became a global hit, scammers saw their chance. In November 2021, a team launched the SQUID token - a play-to-earn game where you’d earn crypto by playing. It started at $0.01. Within days, it hit $2,861. Thousands rushed in.

Then came the crash. Investors tried to sell - and couldn’t. The smart contract was a honeypot: you could buy, but not sell. The developers had already pulled over $3.38 million. Their Discord and Telegram channels vanished. Their LinkedIn profiles? Deleted. The whitepaper? Full of impossible claims like “AI-powered staking” and “blockchain-based reality games.”

What made Squid Game different was the marketing. They used fake influencers. They built a full website. They even had a “roadmap.” It looked real. But every piece of it was a lie. This became the textbook example of how a rug pull can look like a real project - until it doesn’t.

Bored Bunny NFT: Celebrity Lies and Fake Endorsements

In December 2021, the Bored Bunny NFT project exploded. It promised branded merch, a private metaverse, and 10x returns in days. Even better - it claimed endorsements from Floyd Mayweather, Jake Paul, and David Dobrik. The NFTs sold out in hours, raising 2,000 ETH (worth over $7 million then).

But here’s the truth: the celebrities never owned those NFTs. Blockchain sleuths traced the wallets. All the “celebrity” NFTs were bought by wallets linked to the developers. The whole thing was a front. The project had no team, no roadmap, and no plan. Within months, the floor price dropped from 1.5 ETH to 0.085 ETH. Investors were left holding digital art with no value.

This case showed how NFT rug pulls use social proof. People don’t buy art - they buy status. And scammers know it.

Froggy (FROGGY) and Hawk Tuah: 2024’s Latest Scams

The scams haven’t stopped. In early 2024, FROGGY - a meme coin with a frog logo - rose quickly on X and Reddit. Investors thought it was community-driven. Then, the liquidity vanished. The token crashed 99.95%. It’s now worth less than a penny - and barely trades.

Then came Hawk Tuah. In December 2024, social media influencer Hailey Welch promoted a meme coin named after her viral catchphrase. Within 20 minutes, the token’s market cap dropped from $500 million to $60 million. The U.S. law firm Burwick Law filed a federal lawsuit against Welch and three others. The HAWK token now trades at $0.00064 - down 71% from its peak.

These cases prove something: rug pulls are getting smarter. They use TikTok, X, and YouTube shorts to spread fast. They target new investors who don’t know how to check smart contracts. And they’re getting more brazen - even using real people’s names to make scams look legit.

How to Spot a Rug Pull Before It’s Too Late

You can’t avoid every scam - but you can avoid the big ones. Here’s how:

• Check the liquidity pool. If the devs haven’t locked liquidity for at least a year, run. Use tools like Unicrypt or Team Finance to verify locks.
• Read the smart contract. Use Etherscan or BscScan. Look for functions like setSellFee or mint - if they’re uncontrolled, it’s a trap.
• Verify the team. Do they have LinkedIn profiles? Real names? Past projects? If they’re anonymous or use fake names, it’s a red flag.
• Watch for celebrity hype. If a TikTok star is pushing a token, they’re likely getting paid. They don’t care if you lose money.
• Ask: Who benefits? If the devs own 30%+ of the supply, they can dump anytime. If the token has no use case - no utility, no product - it’s just a bet.

Remember: If it sounds too good to be true, it is. Crypto doesn’t guarantee 10x returns. Real projects take years to build. Scams take hours.

Why Rug Pulls Keep Winning

Over 300,000 scam tokens have been created since 2020. Why? Because it works. Most investors don’t know how to audit code. They follow influencers. They trust Discord mods. They don’t check the blockchain.

Regulators are catching up. The Hawk Tuah lawsuit is a sign. But crypto is global. Scammers operate from countries with weak enforcement. And new investors flood in every day - young, curious, and eager to get rich.

The truth? Rug pulls aren’t going away. They’re evolving. But you can protect yourself. Know the signs. Ask questions. Don’t invest what you can’t afford to lose. And never, ever trust a project that promises easy money.