“Address Poisoning” Scam Netted Hackers $1.2M in Three Weeks

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Since early March, victims of cryptocurrency address poisoning scams have unknowingly sent over $1.2 million to fraudsters, according to analysts at Cyvers.

“Victims receive small transactions mimicking frequently used wallet addresses. When users copy an address from their transaction history, they may mistakenly send funds to scammers,” experts explained.

Cyvers CEO Deddy Lavid told Cointelegraph that such cases are on the rise. He attributed this trend to the increasing sophistication of attackers and the lack of pre-transaction security measures.

“Unlike traditional fraud detection methods, many wallets and platforms lack real-time transaction screening, which could flag suspicious addresses before funds are sent,” he added.

In late February, a user lost over $760,000 in a single transaction due to address poisoning.

In May 2024, cryptocurrency exchange Binance introduced a mechanism to combat this type of scam. The algorithm detects fake addresses by identifying suspicious transfers, such as near-zero value transactions or those involving low-value tokens.