Anyone Can be a Crypto Fraud Target-Part 2

In our Financial Training Academy blog series, “Anyone Can Be a Crypto Fraud Target,” we continue examining how cryptocurrency creates opportunities not just for innovation, but also for costly mistakes that many individuals don’t recognize until it’s too late.

In Part 1, I discussed the evolution of financial crime and how cryptocurrency changed the landscape for both criminals and victims. In this episode, I want to shift gears and share a more personal perspective my own introduction to cryptocurrency trading and the lessons that came with it.

They say all education comes with a price. When it comes to cryptocurrency, triple that price and add a sign that says “all sales are final.”

Early on, I thought I had captured lightning in a bottle. It turned out it missed the bottle and hit me instead.

My first real crypto purchase was Shiba Inu. I got in early, invested approximately $400, and watched it grow to nearly $30,000. For a brief period, everything felt easy. I was confident. I was optimistic. Like many others, I believed I had figured it out.

I even found myself encouraging friends and colleagues to get involved, telling them the same thing many new investors hear, “The water is nice and warm.”

What I didn’t understand at the time was that much of the “education” in the crypto space doesn’t come from experienced professionals. It often comes from individuals whose interests are directly opposed to yours.

If you’ve heard the terms “diamond hands” and “paper hands,” you’ve already seen this dynamic in action. In the alt-coin and meme-token space, these phrases are used to influence behavior. The idea is simple hold your position no matter what. In reality, that strategy often benefits the people encouraging you to hold, not the ones following the advice.

Over time, I began to recognize a pattern. Many individuals promoting tokens on social media or in chat groups were doing so while quietly selling their own positions. They encouraged others to hold while they exited with profits.

By the time most people realize what’s happening, the momentum is gone. Gains disappear. What was once a promising investment becomes another stagnant or declining asset sitting in a digital wallet.

That was my first real lesson.

I watched a $30,000 position slowly disappear because I followed the same advice being pushed online. I held on, believing it would return. Like many others, I convinced myself that patience would fix the problem.

It didn’t.

Looking back, “HODL”commonly interpreted as “Hold On for Dear Life” felt more like holding on to declining value while opportunities to exit passed by.

I stood there watching the value drop, holding on to something I believed would recover, long after the warning signs were clear.

There’s a saying: “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”

In the next episode, I’ll walk through what I refer to as the “fool me multiple times” phase of my crypto education and how repeated mistakes reinforce the same core lesson: anyone can become a target.

Until next time, stay safe out there.

Justin Hanson, Owner Hanson Security Group

Retired U.S. Secret Service Agent Protecting Your Family, Business and Financial Assets