☠️ • Have you heard of "poisoning scam"❓
If you are a micro or small business owner using blockchain for investments, operations, or an extremely active investor in the crypto market, even with years of experience, there is a sophisticated scam that could put you at risk.
🤔 • What is the poisoning scam ❓
Essentially, the scammer creates a wallet address that is very similar to one the victim frequently interacts with. For example, if your business or you, as an investor, regularly sends assets to the wallet 0xM13Digital…abc, the scammer, using sophisticated software sold on the dark web, can generate an address like 0xM13D181000…abc, with similar first and last characters but differences in the middle.
The exploiter then starts sending small transactions to your wallet, hoping that you, when copying the address or trusting your transaction history, will accidentally send funds to the scammer's address.
⚠️ • How to protect yourself from poisoning scam ❓
• Always verify the full address before sending a transaction, checking every character. Don’t rely solely on the first and last digits.
• Some wallets and exchanges allow you to maintain a secure list of addresses you regularly use. For businesses, set up processes that require double verification of addresses by different team members before large transfers.
• Use wallets with visual alerts, such as MetaMask or extensions such as Scam Sniffer, which allow you to configure notifications or display only previously saved addresses, reducing the risk of errors.
