This article is reprinted with permission from Mankun Blockchain Legal Services, author: Xu Qian, copyright belongs to the original author.

In recent years, Web3 has become a "new opportunity" in the eyes of countless young people. New positions, new narratives, and new wealth opportunities have led many to eagerly invest in this space.

However, as lawyers who have long dealt with compliance and criminal risk cases related to digital assets, we also see another side: some "innovative projects" are actually traps disguised in technical clothing. False recruitment, illegal projects, pyramid schemes, asset theft—these issues are rampant during the job search process. Some have lost their savings, some have become embroiled in criminal liability, and some have simply "tried it out of interest," only to find themselves in a quagmire.

So the issue is not that "Web3 is risky," but rather—do you know which are innovations and which are merely traps cloaked in innovation?

From the perspective of job types, Web3 industry recruitment is still concentrated in traditional roles such as technology, research and development, product, operations, marketing, and compliance, but the work content and skill requirements are often more in-depth and complex than in Web2. For example, technical positions may involve the development of underlying protocols for public chains and optimization of consensus algorithms; product and operations need to understand concepts like anti-MEV and impermanent loss; marketing personnel must understand on-chain user profiles and DAO governance logic.

These differences stem from the fundamental goal of Web3: to build a more open, fair, and user-driven internet, with its core mission being to "reshape the production relations of the internet."

To systematically clarify the core differences between Web2 and Web3 work, we provide a structured comparison in the following table.

A satisfying Web3 job should allow job seekers to create real value with their professional skills, rather than unknowingly becoming accomplices to scams or even victims. On the job search path, faced with a plethora of diverse Web3 recruitment information, job seekers must remain vigilant and carefully discern. To help everyone more intuitively identify risks, we have outlined several common recruitment scams.

1. False Recruitment, Information Theft

The common tactic of this type of scam is to fabricate a non-existent position or project. To gain the trust of job seekers, scammers will package themselves under the name of well-known institutions, use forged official email addresses for contact, and arrange seemingly professional online interviews, ultimately even issuing fake acceptance letters, step by step luring job seekers into traps. If during the job search process, the other party requests the following information, please remain vigilant:

• Charging fees under the guise of "training fees," "background check fees," "deposits," or "visa fees."
• Requiring job seekers to complete a large amount of substantive work for free under the name of "trial tasks," such as writing code, designing economic models, translating white papers, and then using "unsatisfactory" as an excuse to refuse payment and disappear.
• Requesting detailed personal information such as ID cards, passports, and bank account details.

Lawyer's Reminder:

Any behavior that charges fees before employment or collects sensitive information in advance should be regarded as a red line.

2. Illegal Projects, Employees "Taking the Blame"

A more hidden risk comes from those seemingly "operating" projects. Their business models or token designs may already be teetering on the edge of illegal activities. Once job seekers join, they may not only face financial losses but also bear joint criminal liability.

For example, some projects raise funds from the public through ICOs without disclosing the true use of funds, or the team intentionally manipulates the market and cashes out. Some NFT teams set up wash trading to manipulate prices; the legal risks of such projects are extremely high. Once investigated, not only the project leaders but also related marketing and technical personnel are often held accountable.

Web3 projects may be suspected of illegal activities primarily including:

• Crimes related to illegal fundraising (such as illegal absorption of public deposits, fundraising fraud): Some projects publicly raise funds through ICOs/IEOs, superficially promising high returns, but the actual use of funds is unclear, the team is fraudulent, or there is no real operation, leading to an inability to fulfill promises. Such situations are easily classified as illegal activities.

• Illegal business operations: It has long been clarified that virtual currency-related businesses are illegal financial activities in China. If you are involved in activities related to the exchange of legal tender and virtual currencies, or cross-border fund transfers during your job search, you may be suspected of this crime.

• Organizing and leading pyramid schemes: Some projects are complexly packaged but essentially involve "recruiting people," charging entry fees, and relying on later entrants to fill in early profits. For example, requiring the purchase of coins for staking to earn high returns and encouraging the development of downlines; such models are likely to be recognized as pyramid schemes.

• Money laundering and aiding crimes: If a project provides exchange or transfer services for funds of unknown origin (such as certain mixers or small exchanges), employees may be deemed accomplices. The threshold for recognizing such crimes is low; even being "possibly aware" may lead to prosecution, so caution is essential.

Once these projects are investigated, marketing, technical, and operational positions may all be implicated. In legal practice, there have indeed been job seekers who fell into criminal liability risks due to "accidentally entering illegal projects."

3. High Salaries as Bait, Luring People In

Some positions are labeled with seemingly legitimate titles like "Web3 Promotion Specialist" or "Blockchain Community Builder," but in reality, they are pyramid schemes disguised as recruitment.

These positions often masquerade as "community operations" or "marketing promotions," and they like to say:

• "The base salary is not high, but the promotion rewards are unlimited."
• "You are not just an employee; you are a project shareholder."

However, the actual work content is continuous "recruiting." Job seekers in such mechanisms often find themselves not only as "employees" of the project but potentially as carefully designed "prey." Scammers exploit job seekers' desire to make quick money, painting a picture during interviews of "investing to achieve financial freedom," and emphasizing that "promotional earnings" far exceed the base salary, allowing for quick returns.

The judgment criteria are simple:

If the job KPI revolves around "new members" or "referral numbers," rather than products or technology, then immediate caution is warranted.

4. Phishing Links, Information Theft

"Fake recruitment, real asset theft"—such cases are increasingly common in legal practice. Some impersonate recruiters and send emails or messages with links, claiming to be "viewing job details," "conducting online tests," or "scheduling interview times," enticing job seekers to click the links, but in reality, they are carefully designed phishing traps aimed at stealing job seekers' personal information, digital assets, and other core sensitive information.

Once a wallet is connected, or private keys or mnemonic phrases are filled in on a phishing site, assets are often transferred away in an instant—tracing is difficult, and losses are nearly irretrievable. Job seekers must be vigilant about these "identity verification" or "asset verification" steps, as they often represent the final stage of a scam.

1. Verify Project Background: Check Real Value and Compliance

Upon receiving recruitment information, first perform three verification steps, and do not trust a single source:

• Check the project’s official website domain and registration (whether the company is genuinely registered).
• Search for investment institutions and financing records to see if there is any public endorsement.
• Enter community groups to observe whether there are real users and development progress.

At the same time, it is recommended that job seekers actively search for or join relevant communities to understand the project's investment background, registered entities, and financing history. During the interview stage, pay attention to assessing the interviewer's professional capabilities and ask key questions about team structure, technical routes, economic models, and profit models to determine whether the project is creating real value and whether it involves illegal financial activities.

When evaluating, pay attention to the following five points:

• Is the project’s growth driven by real ecological demand (such as paying gas fees, purchasing services), or does it rely on subsequent investors' funding?
• Is there any explicit or implicit promise of "capital preservation and interest" or "high fixed returns"? Such promises are typical characteristics of illegal absorption of public deposits.
• Be alert to any signs of manipulation, pump-and-dump schemes, or "wash trading"?
• Is the use of funds transparent? Are there fund custody plans, usage plans, and public records?
• Has the team established compliance systems and implemented them in practice? Projects that avoid compliance issues carry higher risks.

1. Adhere to Two Principles: Zero Fees and Minimal Information Exposure

Zero Fees Principle:

Any behavior that requires payment under the guise of "training fees," "deposits," or "account activation fees" before employment is a high-risk signal. If the other party also requests core asset information such as private keys or mnemonic phrases, it can almost certainly be determined to be a scam. In a legitimate recruitment process, there should be no form of prepayment, nor should it touch the job seeker’s crypto assets.

Minimal Information Exposure Principle:

Even routine information such as ID cards, bank cards, and personal phone numbers should only be provided after formal employment and contract signing, based on the actual onboarding process. Companies that request personal information in advance during the interview stage have very low compliance and should be treated with immediate caution.

3. Recognize Wealth Traps: Rationally View Returns, Beware of Pyramid Scheme Language

The Web3 industry does have a certain salary premium, but high salaries do not equate to getting rich quickly.

A true employment relationship is essentially an exchange of expertise and time for compensation, not an investment for a position. Any request for "capital investment for employment" or "investment upon joining" is a serious warning sign and is likely illegal. The interview stage is a key point for identifying traps. Job seekers are advised to actively inquire about the core KPIs of the position—if the responses focus on "developing members," "community referrals," or "sales performance," rather than substantive goals like product, technology, or content development, then high caution is warranted.

Additionally, any mention of "investment combined with promotion," "returns higher than base salary," or "investing oneself, being one’s own boss" often indicates that this is a pyramid scheme disguised as a recruitment trap.

Lawyer's Special Reminder:

When understanding the salary structure, if it includes mechanisms such as "tiered rewards," "team management bonuses," or "infinite commissions," it can almost certainly be determined to involve pyramid scheme risks, and one should stop immediately.

4. Prevent Operational Risks: Cautious Authorization, Isolate Assets

For job seekers, preventing technical risks is equally important.

Be vigilant about unknown short links—access recruitment links through emails, Telegram, or WhatsApp. If the other party requests wallet authorization, private keys, or mnemonic phrases during the process, or demands payment for interview fees, account activation fees, verification codes, etc., these are all high-risk signals, and such recruitment is very likely a scam.

If it is necessary to use a wallet during the job search process, lawyers recommend implementing strict asset isolation measures: keep major assets in a cold wallet and only allocate a small amount of test funds in a hot wallet for necessary network connections and interactions to effectively control risks.

For every job seeker entering Web3, the smooth start of their career, continuous growth of their abilities, and the protection of their property and safety are three bottom lines that must be upheld.

Web3 is indeed filled with the passion of innovation and the temptation of wealth, but the more tumultuous the era, the more a clear mind is needed. True security does not come from promised high returns but from awareness of risks and adherence to bottom lines. Every job seeker should establish an independent value judgment system—do not blindly follow dazzling technical jargon, do not easily believe in readily available wealth stories; instead, understand the project's business logic, verify its compliance foundation, and judge whether it can truly create value.

In this era of information overload and emerging concepts, rationality and judgment are your most valuable protective charms in the Web3 job market.

Related Reading: Is there a risk of being arrested for engaging in remote Web3 work in China? (Chinese)

Original text: “Mankun Legal | Web3 Job Hunting Risk Analysis and Pitfall Avoidance Guide”

免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。