There are step i  do follow not to get scam by anyone and am always be extra ordinary careful and moreover you need to be wise when you trading or buying coins
Step 1) trust no one(that includes me). So don't just take someone's word for it do your homework. Also know what a scam looks like. Always ask yourself how does it benefit them. If they are offering you double what you send them it benefits them by keeping what you send and not sending anything back. If they are offering you penies worth of free crypto to retweet there post they get advertising for almost nothing. There is always a benefit to the person doing it. Even writing this post benefits me by hurting scammers and helping people be smart with crypto which helps adoption.

Step 2) only buy from companies that are reputable. Find a good exchange in your country to buy coins. Ignore every offer of cloud mining. If you want to mine you need cheap preferably green(because it's cheaper and better for planet) electricity and you need to buy the Best ASIC on the market. Don't even consider unless you got $20G to throw at it and live somewhere cold so you can use the excess heat to cover your heating requirements. Moreover
never buy on margins its a suckered bet with crypto expect to get your position liquidated when crypto falls for 2 min then doubles without you.

Step 3) don't keep your funds on an exchange. Anything you have on an exchange is an IOU not actual coins and they can be lost or stolen. Instead send your funds to a good standard compliant wallet.(I recomend Ledger and Coinomi)

Step 4) stop watching coin prices. People tend to panic sell when things drop. That's actually when you want to buy more. But know yourself and if you are like most just ignore your crypto think of it as a retirement plan and Ignore it.

Not a Step but always a good piece of advice. Never gamble something you can't afford to lose.