https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/what-honeypot-crypto-scam
The honeypot is a smart contract whose design seems flawed on the surface, such that anyone who sends a certain amount of Ether to the contract can drain the Ether inside, Cointelegraph explains.
However, if a user tries to exploit this weakness, a secret trapdoor will open to prevent the Ether from failing to be drained.
In these honeypots, the user's coins are trapped and only the honeypot maker can retrieve them.
These honeypot attacks work because, as with other kinds of scams, people are often easily fooled.