Academy guide
Academy courses applied to real scam cases
Each GACS Academy course teaches skills used on real incidents. Below, every course is matched to reviewed case studies from the GACS scam registry, with the course topic that applies and how.
Every case linked here is a published case study built from registry reports and cited sources. Courses without a closely matching published case are listed without examples.
Online Intelligence Analyst (OIA)
Course topic: SOCMINT — verifying an account
Copycat accounts posing as a real person or brand
The account copies a real person or brand, builds credibility with followers and replies, then moves targets into direct messages.
How the course applies: Check account age, follower quality and posting history, and capture the profile with URL and timestamp before it disappears.
- @G0tzeWeb3 (X) — case study
- @hailey_cryptoo (X) — case study
- @Y0llo (X) — case study
- @cryptocupra (X) — case study
- @ItsNessaOnX (X) — case study
- @ifwraviel (X) — case study
- @zandyor (X) — case study
- @cryptoxxxcoffee (X) — case study
- @civilianweb3 (X) — case study
- @WhaleEverything (X) — case study
- @0xsubwayjared (X) — case study
Course topic: SOCMINT — account analysis
Lookalike handles copying a real account
Near-identical usernames (one letter changed or added) copy a real person's name and photo to message their followers.
How the course applies: Compare creation dates, follower quality, posting history and handle spelling to separate a copy from the real account.
Course topic: Infrastructure intelligence
Fake customer-support accounts
Accounts posing as wallet or exchange help desks reply to people asking for help, then push them to a 'verification' link or ask for a recovery phrase.
How the course applies: Check the domains these accounts link to: registration date, hosting and lookalike spellings of the real brand.
- @MetaMask_Helpdesk — case study
- @LedgerSupport_Help — case study
- Binance Customer Care — case study
- @CoinbaseSupport_24h — case study
- @PhantomWallet_Verify — case study
- @TrezorWallet_Recover — case study
- OpenSea Support Helper (Discord impersonator) — case study
- MetaMask Helper Bot (Discord) — case study
- Facebook "Meta Verification Help" — case study
Certified Fraud Prevention Specialist (CFPS)
Course topic: Social engineering & victim psychology
Fake customer-support accounts
Accounts posing as wallet or exchange help desks reply to people asking for help, then push them to a 'verification' link or ask for a recovery phrase.
How the course applies: These scams target people at a stressful moment (a stuck transaction) and use urgency and fake authority.
- @MetaMask_Helpdesk — case study
- @LedgerSupport_Help — case study
- Binance Customer Care — case study
- @CoinbaseSupport_24h — case study
- @PhantomWallet_Verify — case study
- @TrezorWallet_Recover — case study
- OpenSea Support Helper (Discord impersonator) — case study
- MetaMask Helper Bot (Discord) — case study
- Facebook "Meta Verification Help" — case study
Course topic: Scam typologies
Fake mining, trading and 'lifestyle' investment pitches
Accounts promise fixed daily returns from 'cloud mining' or copy-trading, often showing luxury lifestyles to build trust before asking for deposits.
How the course applies: Fixed 'guaranteed' returns and lifestyle bait match the investment-fraud pattern library.
Course topic: Scam typologies — advance fee
Fake exchange 'listing team' offers
Accounts posing as exchange listing staff contact crypto project founders and ask for an upfront 'listing fee'.
How the course applies: A fee paid now for a promised benefit later is the classic advance-fee structure.
Crypto & Blockchain Investigator (CBI)
Course topic: UTXO and account chains — tracing
Fake live streams and 'send 1, get 2 back' giveaways
Fake live events using famous names promise to double any crypto sent to a wallet address shown on screen.
How the course applies: Giveaway wallet addresses are public; incoming payments can be counted and onward flows traced to exchanges.
Course topic: Account chains — token approvals
Fake airdrops and free mints
'Claim your tokens' pages ask the visitor to connect a wallet and sign an approval that lets the attacker move their tokens.
How the course applies: Wallet drainers rely on approvals. Reading the approval transaction shows what the attacker can move and how to revoke it.
Master Intelligence & Counter-Fraud Analyst (MICA)
Course topic: Integrated operations
Fake live streams and 'send 1, get 2 back' giveaways
Fake live events using famous names promise to double any crypto sent to a wallet address shown on screen.
How the course applies: These cases combine fake video channels (OSINT) with wallet flows (blockchain forensics) — the integrated view MICA teaches.
Course topic: Fraud intelligence & financial crime
Fake mining, trading and 'lifestyle' investment pitches
Accounts promise fixed daily returns from 'cloud mining' or copy-trading, often showing luxury lifestyles to build trust before asking for deposits.
How the course applies: Deposits often move through many wallets and accounts, a layering pattern covered in the financial-crime chapter.
Surveillance & Counter-Surveillance Specialist (SCS)
Course topic: Digital pattern-of-life & the soft-target problem
Lookalike handles copying a real account
Near-identical usernames (one letter changed or added) copy a real person's name and photo to message their followers.
How the course applies: Public profiles give impersonators the name, photos and audience they copy; reducing exposure lowers the target value.
SCS Advanced — Protective Operations
No published registry case closely matches this course yet. The registry currently centres on online and crypto scams; this course's skills are covered in the study book.
Large Language Model Engineering (LLM)
No published registry case closely matches this course yet. The registry currently centres on online and crypto scams; this course's skills are covered in the study book.
Every published case and its course
All 40 published case studies, each with the course that best covers that scam type.
- @OfficialTravlad (X)
Lookalike handles copying a real account
Online Intelligence Analyst (OIA): OIA's social media chapter teaches comparing handles, creation dates and follower quality to tell a copy from the real account.
- @G0tzeWeb3 (X)
Copycat accounts posing as a real person or brand
Online Intelligence Analyst (OIA): OIA's social media intelligence chapter covers verifying an account's history and audience before trusting it, and documenting it as evidence.
- @hailey_cryptoo (X)
Copycat accounts posing as a real person or brand
Online Intelligence Analyst (OIA): OIA's social media intelligence chapter covers verifying an account's history and audience before trusting it, and documenting it as evidence.
- @Y0llo (X)
Copycat accounts posing as a real person or brand
Online Intelligence Analyst (OIA): OIA's social media intelligence chapter covers verifying an account's history and audience before trusting it, and documenting it as evidence.
- @cryptocupra (X)
Copycat accounts posing as a real person or brand
Online Intelligence Analyst (OIA): OIA's social media intelligence chapter covers verifying an account's history and audience before trusting it, and documenting it as evidence.
- @saracrypto_eth (X)
Lookalike handles copying a real account
Online Intelligence Analyst (OIA): OIA's social media chapter teaches comparing handles, creation dates and follower quality to tell a copy from the real account.
- @ItsNessaOnX (X)
Copycat accounts posing as a real person or brand
Online Intelligence Analyst (OIA): OIA's social media intelligence chapter covers verifying an account's history and audience before trusting it, and documenting it as evidence.
- Coinbase Listing Team
Fake exchange 'listing team' offers
Certified Fraud Prevention Specialist (CFPS): CFPS covers advance-fee fraud: a fee paid now for a promised benefit that never comes.
- @btc.queen.empire
Fake mining, trading and 'lifestyle' investment pitches
Certified Fraud Prevention Specialist (CFPS): CFPS's scam pattern library covers guaranteed-return and 'cloud mining' investment fraud and its trust-building scripts.
- @ifwraviel (X)
Copycat accounts posing as a real person or brand
Online Intelligence Analyst (OIA): OIA's social media intelligence chapter covers verifying an account's history and audience before trusting it, and documenting it as evidence.
- @MetaMask_Helpdesk
Fake customer-support accounts
Certified Fraud Prevention Specialist (CFPS): CFPS covers impersonation of trusted help desks, urgency and fake-authority tactics, and the rule that real support never asks for a recovery phrase.
- @zandyor (X)
Copycat accounts posing as a real person or brand
Online Intelligence Analyst (OIA): OIA's social media intelligence chapter covers verifying an account's history and audience before trusting it, and documenting it as evidence.
- Tesla Crypto Event 2026 (fake live)
Fake live streams and 'send 1, get 2 back' giveaways
Crypto & Blockchain Investigator (CBI): CBI teaches reading the public giveaway wallet: counting incoming payments and tracing where the money moves next.
- @SOL_Airdrop_Claim
Fake airdrops and free mints
Crypto & Blockchain Investigator (CBI): CBI explains token approvals on Ethereum-style chains — how drainers use them and how victims revoke them.
- MetaMask Helper Bot (Discord)
Fake customer-support accounts
Certified Fraud Prevention Specialist (CFPS): CFPS covers impersonation of trusted help desks, urgency and fake-authority tactics, and the rule that real support never asks for a recovery phrase.
- @LedgerSupport_Help
Fake customer-support accounts
Certified Fraud Prevention Specialist (CFPS): CFPS covers impersonation of trusted help desks, urgency and fake-authority tactics, and the rule that real support never asks for a recovery phrase.
- OpenSea Support Helper (Discord impersonator)
Fake customer-support accounts
Certified Fraud Prevention Specialist (CFPS): CFPS covers impersonation of trusted help desks, urgency and fake-authority tactics, and the rule that real support never asks for a recovery phrase.
- USDT Mining Bot Official
Fake mining, trading and 'lifestyle' investment pitches
Certified Fraud Prevention Specialist (CFPS): CFPS's scam pattern library covers guaranteed-return and 'cloud mining' investment fraud and its trust-building scripts.
- SpaceX BTC Live 2026
Fake live streams and 'send 1, get 2 back' giveaways
Crypto & Blockchain Investigator (CBI): CBI teaches reading the public giveaway wallet: counting incoming payments and tracing where the money moves next.
- @crypto_pump00 (X)
Fake mining, trading and 'lifestyle' investment pitches
Certified Fraud Prevention Specialist (CFPS): CFPS's scam pattern library covers guaranteed-return and 'cloud mining' investment fraud and its trust-building scripts.
- Binance Customer Care
Fake customer-support accounts
Certified Fraud Prevention Specialist (CFPS): CFPS covers impersonation of trusted help desks, urgency and fake-authority tactics, and the rule that real support never asks for a recovery phrase.
- @PhantomWallet_Verify
Fake customer-support accounts
Certified Fraud Prevention Specialist (CFPS): CFPS covers impersonation of trusted help desks, urgency and fake-authority tactics, and the rule that real support never asks for a recovery phrase.
- @CZ_Binance_Official2
Fake live streams and 'send 1, get 2 back' giveaways
Crypto & Blockchain Investigator (CBI): CBI teaches reading the public giveaway wallet: counting incoming payments and tracing where the money moves next.
- Ripple XRP Live (fake)
Fake live streams and 'send 1, get 2 back' giveaways
Crypto & Blockchain Investigator (CBI): CBI teaches reading the public giveaway wallet: counting incoming payments and tracing where the money moves next.
- @sarahcrypto_eth (X)
Lookalike handles copying a real account
Online Intelligence Analyst (OIA): OIA's social media chapter teaches comparing handles, creation dates and follower quality to tell a copy from the real account.
- @trader.lifestyle.miami
Fake mining, trading and 'lifestyle' investment pitches
Certified Fraud Prevention Specialist (CFPS): CFPS's scam pattern library covers guaranteed-return and 'cloud mining' investment fraud and its trust-building scripts.
- @ARB_Airdrop_Round2
Fake airdrops and free mints
Crypto & Blockchain Investigator (CBI): CBI explains token approvals on Ethereum-style chains — how drainers use them and how victims revoke them.
- Binance Listing Manager
Fake exchange 'listing team' offers
Certified Fraud Prevention Specialist (CFPS): CFPS covers advance-fee fraud: a fee paid now for a promised benefit that never comes.
- @TrezorWallet_Recover
Fake customer-support accounts
Certified Fraud Prevention Specialist (CFPS): CFPS covers impersonation of trusted help desks, urgency and fake-authority tactics, and the rule that real support never asks for a recovery phrase.
- Ethereum Foundation Airdrop
Fake airdrops and free mints
Crypto & Blockchain Investigator (CBI): CBI explains token approvals on Ethereum-style chains — how drainers use them and how victims revoke them.
- @cryptoxxxcoffee (X)
Copycat accounts posing as a real person or brand
Online Intelligence Analyst (OIA): OIA's social media intelligence chapter covers verifying an account's history and audience before trusting it, and documenting it as evidence.
- @CoinbaseSupport_24h
Fake customer-support accounts
Certified Fraud Prevention Specialist (CFPS): CFPS covers impersonation of trusted help desks, urgency and fake-authority tactics, and the rule that real support never asks for a recovery phrase.
- @civilianweb3 (X)
Copycat accounts posing as a real person or brand
Online Intelligence Analyst (OIA): OIA's social media intelligence chapter covers verifying an account's history and audience before trusting it, and documenting it as evidence.
- @WhaleEverything (X)
Copycat accounts posing as a real person or brand
Online Intelligence Analyst (OIA): OIA's social media intelligence chapter covers verifying an account's history and audience before trusting it, and documenting it as evidence.
- @OfficalTravlad (X)
Lookalike handles copying a real account
Online Intelligence Analyst (OIA): OIA's social media chapter teaches comparing handles, creation dates and follower quality to tell a copy from the real account.
- Bored Ape Free Mint (fake)
Fake airdrops and free mints
Crypto & Blockchain Investigator (CBI): CBI explains token approvals on Ethereum-style chains — how drainers use them and how victims revoke them.
- @Uniswap_v4_Airdrop
Fake airdrops and free mints
Crypto & Blockchain Investigator (CBI): CBI explains token approvals on Ethereum-style chains — how drainers use them and how victims revoke them.
- USDT Cloud Mining 2026
Fake mining, trading and 'lifestyle' investment pitches
Certified Fraud Prevention Specialist (CFPS): CFPS's scam pattern library covers guaranteed-return and 'cloud mining' investment fraud and its trust-building scripts.
- @0xsubwayjared (X)
Copycat accounts posing as a real person or brand
Online Intelligence Analyst (OIA): OIA's social media intelligence chapter covers verifying an account's history and audience before trusting it, and documenting it as evidence.
- Facebook "Meta Verification Help"
Fake customer-support accounts
Certified Fraud Prevention Specialist (CFPS): CFPS covers impersonation of trusted help desks, urgency and fake-authority tactics, and the rule that real support never asks for a recovery phrase.
Authoritative sources
Independent primary sources used to check and corroborate the guidance on this page.
FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)Official US channel for reporting internet-enabled fraud and cybercrime.
US Federal Trade Commission — ReportFraudConsumer fraud reporting and published enforcement data.
UK Report FraudUK national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime.
Canadian Anti-Fraud CentreCanada's central repository for fraud reports and scam alerts.