To avoid becoming victims of address poisoning attacks, Metamask wallet users should abandon the habit of copying and pasting wallet addresses, the Crypto Wallet app support team warns that Metamask users should instead “develop the habit of thoroughly checking every letter of the address” before sending a transaction.
Fraudsters Taking Advantage of User Carelessness
Metamask crypto wallet users should be aware of a new fraudulent tactic known as an address poisoning attack. It relies on the user’s “carelessness and haste above all else,” warns the software cryptocurrency wallet’s development team, and the Metamask team adds that while this method of attack may seem harmless, “it could just as easily result in the loss of funds.”
A new scam called “address poisoning” is on the rise. The way it works is that after sending a regular transaction, the scammer sends a $0 token and “poisons” the TXN history. (1/3)
– MetaMask Support (@MetaMaskSupport) is a January 11, 2023
statement fromon January 11describing how fraudsters use this new tactic to steal from unsuspecting users }, the MetaMask Support Team stated that cybercriminals and fraudsters often exploit common behaviors among crypto users, such as copying and pasting wallet addresses. This ensures that funds are sent to the correct address, but the team warned that scammers are aware that many users are reluctant to remember wallet addresses. The team issued a statement saying.
“Encrypted wallet addresses are typically shortened because they are so long. You see the first lot of letters, or sometimes you can skip the middle, see the first 5-10 or so and the last 5-10 or so. Thus, many people recognize addresses by familiarity with the first and last letters, rather than by knowing all the letters. This is the tendency that address poisoning preys on.”
Users need to check each letter of their wallet address”
According to the Metamask support team, fraudsters often launch a poisoning attack by sending a very small amount of money to a dummy wallet address that closely resembles the Metamask wallet user. After this, the scammer waits in hopes that the target user[s] will “accidentally copy their address from the transaction history and paste it somewhere else.”
Such transactions are said to be immutable or irreversible, so if funds are sent to the incorrect address, they are lost forever. Therefore, wallet users must take every precaution, including “checking every word,” and the Metamask support team says wallet users must put an end to the practice of copying addresses from their transaction history.
Instead, wallet users must “get into the habit of thoroughly checking each letter of the address before sending a transaction.”
{