Rug Pull
Plain English
A scam where developers create a token, hype it up, get people to invest, then suddenly drain all the money and disappear. Like pulling a rug out from under someone. Red flags: anonymous teams, locked liquidity for short periods, concentrated token ownership.
Technical
Exit scam where project creators abandon project after extracting value from investors. Types: (1) liquidity theft - removing DEX liquidity pool funds; (2) token dump - creators selling massive token allocations; (3) backdoor exploits - hidden smart contract functions enabling fund drainage. Due diligence: verify liquidity locks, check token distribution, audit contract ownership/mint authority.