What are fake airdrops?
Airdrop is a common practice in the cryptocurrency world that involves the distribution of free tokens as part of marketing campaigns, to expand the user base, or to build community. Legitimate airdrops typically reward early users, increase the visibility of tokens, or enhance activity on the network. To receive an airdrop, a user needs to complete some simple tasks, such as signing up, joining a community, or holding a specific token.
However, the popularity of airdrops has also attracted scammers who exploit users' greed and curiosity, promising them free tokens (fake airdrop) in exchange for sensitive actions such as sharing private keys, signing malicious contracts, or paying gas fees. Scammers may impersonate legitimate projects using fake domains or forged social media accounts.
These scams are often convincing, and even experienced users can fall victim to them. Therefore, one must maintain constant vigilance when interacting with airdrops.
In 2023, "Inferno Drainer" assisted scammers in stealing over $80 million through airdrop phishing campaigns. The "drainer-as-a-service" enables partners to use ready-made kits to run airdrop scam sites, targeting wallets across multiple blockchains
