Spotting fake and scam tokens

A name and a symbol prove nothing

On every chain, anyone can mint a token and give it any name or symbol they want. There can be a hundred tokens all called "USDC" or "ETH" or the name of whatever project is trending. Most are worthless. Some are traps.

The ticker you see in a token list is just a label the creator chose. It does not mean the token is the real one. The only thing that identifies a token is its contract address.

Match the contract address

Before you trade an unfamiliar token, confirm you are trading the exact contract you intend to. Do not rely on the name in a dropdown.

1. 1
   Find the official address

   Get the contract address from the project's own site or its verified account. Do not trust an address someone sends you in a chat or a reply.

2. 2
   Paste it into roodswap

   Paste the full contract address to select the token. This pins you to that exact contract, not to whatever else shares its name.

3. 3
   Check the chain

   The same address can point to different tokens on different chains. Make sure the address is the one for the chain you are trading on.

Check liquidity before you commit

A real, tradable token has liquidity behind it. A scam or dead token often has almost none. Thin liquidity means you may not be able to sell later, and it means a small trade can move the price hard against you.

roodswap aggregates prices across dozens of DEXs and bridges and shows you the minimum you will receive before you sign. If that minimum is far below what the token is supposedly worth, or if no route exists at all, treat that as a warning, not a bargain.

Beware honeypots and tokens you cannot sell

A honeypot is a token you can buy but cannot sell. The contract is written so that only the creator can move it out, or so sells silently fail or get taxed to nothing. Your balance looks fine; the exit is locked.

The tell is that buys work and sells do not. If a token has no viable sell route, if the quote to sell is absurd, or if a sell keeps failing, stop. Do not send more money in trying to "unlock" it. There is nothing to unlock.

Never blindly approve unknown spenders

To trade an ERC-20 token, your wallet grants an approval that lets a contract move that token on your behalf. Approvals are powerful. A malicious contract can drain a token you approved.

roodswap is non-custodial. Funds never touch roodswap; they move from your wallet straight to the destination token or address, and every transaction is signed by you. That also means you are the last line of defense. Read what you are signing.

• Approve only the token and amount you are actually trading right now.
• Do not approve a contract you reached from a random link, airdrop, or DM.
• If your wallet shows an unlimited approval you do not recognize, revoke it.
• Crypto transactions are irreversible. roodswap cannot freeze, reverse, or recover funds once they move.