What does rug pull mean in crypto and how to avoid it A lot of crypto investors have fallen prey to a lot of scams that placed a bad reputation on the industry. A lot of dubious crypto entities ‘pull the rug’ underneath the unsuspecting users that lead to financial catastrophes. A rug pull is a type of crypto scam that happens when a crypto developer suddenly abandons a project. This leaves users empty-handed while all their investments get stolen.