Nine warning signs an exchange may not be safe

The warning signs that matter most are: no named legal entity, no licence you can verify on a regulator's own register, guaranteed returns, withdrawals that get harder as balances get larger, and pressure to act quickly. One of these is a reason to look closer; several together is a reason to stay away.

1. You cannot tell which company you are dealing with

No registered company name, no registration number, no address. A legitimate exchange tells you which entity holds your money, because it has to.

2. The licence cannot be found on the regulator's own site

Regulator logos on a marketing page are not evidence. The register is. If the entity name on the register does not match the entity in the terms of service, ask why before depositing.

3. Returns are guaranteed

Fixed daily or monthly returns on a crypto balance are not a product, they are a promise someone else has to keep. No regulated venue guarantees a yield on a volatile asset.

4. Withdrawals get harder as the balance gets bigger

Small withdrawals clear; larger ones need a fee, a tax payment, an upgrade or a manager's approval. This is the most common pattern in deposit scams, and the extra payment never releases the balance.

5. You were introduced to it by someone you met online

An investment platform arriving through a new contact on a dating app or social network is the standard shape of this fraud. The relationship comes first, the platform second.

6. There is a deadline

Limited windows, bonus expiry, "the price moves at midnight". Urgency exists to stop you checking. Nothing safe requires you to decide in ten minutes.

7. Support only exists in a chat app

No company email, no published address, everything through a messaging group. It also means there is no record anyone can subpoena.

8. The order book is thin or the price is off

Compare the price and depth against a major venue. If the book is empty but reported volume is huge, the volume is not real trading.

9. A regulator has already named it

Several regulators publish lists of operators serving local residents without registration, or of entities they have warned about. Being on such a list is not proof of fraud, but it is a documented fact worth knowing before you deposit.

If you have already deposited

• Stop sending money. A further payment to release a balance is part of the same pattern.
• Save everything: URLs, wallet addresses, transaction hashes, chat logs, the names used.
• Report it to your national police and financial regulator. Wallet addresses are traceable and reports do get pooled.
• Be careful of "recovery" services that contact you afterwards. That is frequently the same operation returning for a second payment.

Takame publishes the licence records and regulator warnings we find, with a link to each source, so these checks take a minute instead of an afternoon.