Rugpull Radar

How to Spot Shady Farms Before They Ruffle Your Feathers

Introduction

Welcome to Rugpull Radar, your premier crash-course in sniffing out malicious DeFi projects (“rugpull farms”) before they make off with your hard-earned crypto. Whether you’re a casual “chickadee” or a hardened “Cluck Army” raider, these modules will sharpen your radar to keep your tokens—and your feathers—intact.

Define what a rugpull is, and why “farming” projects are especially at risk.
Recognize the anatomy of a scam farm—from tokenomics tricks to fake audits.
Apply a red-flag checklist when browsing new yield farms, LP pools, staking dApps, and NFT launches.
Use on-chain explorers, code-audit reports, and social-listening tools to validate legitimacy.
Protect your portfolio with defensive strategies, exit-liquidity plans, and community due diligence.

Course Content

Module 1: Rugpull 101

What Is a Rugpull?
- Exit scamming vs. liquidity drains
- Types: honeypot, stealth-rug, dump on holders
Why Farming Projects Are Vulnerable
- Illiquid pairs, single-owner LP tokens
- Incentive misalignment: APY promises vs. real value
Real-World Case Studies
- Anatomy of a famous DeFi rugpull
- Lessons learned and community fallout

Module 2: Team & Tokenomics Due Diligence

Anonymous Teams vs. Reputable Devs
Token Distribution Red Flags
- Large team allocations, vesting cliffs, private sale dumps
- “Fair launch” vs. pre-mint strategies
Ownership & Control
- Who holds the mint key, who can pause contracts

Module 3: Smart-Contract & Audit Analysis

Reading an Audit Report
- Severity levels: critical/major/minor/info
- Common weaknesses (reentrancy, mint backdoors)
Verifying on-Chain Code
- Etherscan/BscScan verification status
- Proxy vs. non-proxy contracts
DIY Quick-Checks
- OpenZeppelin libraries, testnet deploys, immutable parameters

Module 4: Liquidity & Market Mechanics

LP Token Ownership
- Locking vs. non-locked LP tokens
- Time-locked contracts and vesting schedules
Slippage & Price Impact
- Spotting manipulation in “farm” pools
- Dead-zone trades: front-running risks
Impermanent Loss Traps
- How dangling APYs can mask IL danger

Module 5: Community & Social Signals

Discord/Telegram Red Flags
- Excessive promo, private channels, ghost mod teams
Social-Proof vs. Sock Puppets
- Bot-driven engagement, fake followers
Transparency Practices
- Regular dev updates, open-source GUIs, governance forums

Module 6: Automated Tools & On-Chain Scanners

Rug Sniffers
- How to use RugDoc, Token Sniffer, and DeFi Safety
On-Chain Explorers
- Filtering large transactions, tracking token flows
Custom Alerts
- Setting up Dune dashboards and wallet-watcher bots

Module 7: Defensive Strategies & Exit Planning

Position Sizing & Staggered Entry
- Don’t farm with your max allocation all at once
Stop-Loss & Take-Profit Tactics
- When to pull LP vs. hold for long-term yields
Community Governance
- Voting locks, multisig proposals, on-chain referenda

Quiz

1. What is the defining characteristic of a “rugpull”?

A. Low APY farming pool
B. Project team abandoning liquidity and user funds
C. High slippage trades
D. Token burns

2. True or False: A project with a fully verified contract on Etherscan can never rugpull.

True
False

3. Which token distribution pattern is most suspicious?

A. 60% community, 20% team (vested), 20% treasury
B. 90% team wallets unlocked at launch, 10% community
C. 100% fair-launch via public sale
D. 50% marketing, 50% liquidity

4. What audit severity level indicates a potential backdoor?

A. Informational
B. Minor
C. Major
D. Critical

5. LP tokens locked for 1 year are a good sign because:

A. They guarantee profits.
B. They prevent instant liquidity drains.
C. They increase slippage.
D. They allow higher APY.

6. Which tool is specifically designed to flag common DeFi rugpull patterns?

A. MetaMask
B. RugDoc
C. Uniswap
D. Etherscan

7. A sudden whale dump right after launch could signal:

A. Organic profit-taking
B. A rugpull in progress
C. Improved tokenomics
D. Successful marketing

8. True or False: High social-media engagement always indicates a safe project.

True
False

9. Which of the following is NOT a typical smart-contract red flag?

A. Mint function accessible by anyone
B. OnlyOwner modifiers for critical functions
C. Immutable variables for tax rates
D. Verified source code

10. Impersonator accounts in Discord or Twitter are a sign of:

A. Healthy growth
B. Poor branding
C. Potential scam community
D. Good governance

11. Drip schedules and vesting cliffs best relate to:

A. Liquidity locking
B. Token distribution
C. Audit reports
D. Slippage controls

12. Which metric helps you spot impermanent loss risk?

A. TVL-to-market-cap ratio
B. Slippage tolerance
C. Token burn rate
D. Discord member count

13. An Audit Report that lists “no issues found” should be:

A. Trusted blindly
B. Treated with healthy skepticism
C. Shared on social media
D. Deleted

14. True or False: You can set up on-chain alerts to notify you of large sell orders.

True
False

15. A “honeypot” contract typically:

A. Prevents selling once you buy
B. Locks liquidity
C. Burns tokens continuously
D. Rewards holders

16. Which defensive strategy helps mitigate rugpull loss?

A. Investing 100% of portfolio in one farm
B. Using staggered entry and exit orders
C. Ignoring community warnings
D. Setting max slippage to 50%

17. Time-locked multisig wallets are useful because they:

A. Speed up rugpulls
B. Require multiple signers and delay fund movement
C. Increase APY
D. Automate token burns

18. True or False: A project that never updates its GitHub repo is automatically a rugpull.

True
False

19. Which on-chain explorer feature is most useful for tracing token flows?

A. Price charts
B. Transaction filtering by addresses
C. Meme galleries
D. Social feeds

20. Before depositing into any new farm, you should always:

A. Read the smart-contract code or audit summary
B. Follow the project’s influencers only
C. Increase your slippage to 70%
D. Skip due diligence and dive in