To avoid becoming a victim of an address poisoning attack, users of the Metamask wallet should abandon the practice of copying and pasting wallet addresses, the crypto wallet app’s support team has warned. Instead, Metamask users should “develop the habit of double-checking every character in an address” before sending a transaction.
Scammers exploiting user carelessness
Users of the Metamask cryptocurrency wallet should beware of a new scam tactic known as an address poisoning attack, which relies on the user’s “carelessness and haste above all else,” the team behind the cryptocurrency wallet has warned. of software. The Metamask team added that while the attack method may seem harmless, “it can easily result in a loss of funds.”
A new scam called ‘Address Poisoning’ is on the rise. Here’s how it works: after sending a normal transaction, the scammer sends a $0 token txn, ‘poisoning’ the txn history. (1/3)
— MetaMask Support (@MetaMaskSupport) January 11, 2023
On his January 11 declaration That explains how scammers use this new tactic to steal from unsuspecting users, the Metamask support team said that cybercriminals and scammers often exploit common behavior among cryptocurrency users, such as copy-pasting wallet addresses. While this ensures that funds are sent to the correct address, the team cautioned that scammers know that many users are unwilling to memorize their wallet addresses. The statement said:
“Since they are so long, crypto wallet addresses are usually shortened. You might only see the first batch of characters, or sometimes you might see the leading 5-10 or so and the trailing 5-10 or so, skipping the middle. This is how most people recognize addresses: not by knowing each character, but by becoming familiar with the beginning and end. This is the trend that addresses the poisoning of prey.”
Users must verify each character in a wallet address
According to the Metamask support team, scammers often start a poisoning attack by sending a negligible amount to a fictitious wallet address that closely resembles that of a Metamask wallet user. After this, the scammer will wait and hope that the targeted users “inadvertently copy your address from their transaction history and paste it somewhere else.”
Since transactions like these are said to be immutable or irreversible, when funds are sent to the wrong address, they are lost forever. Therefore, wallet users should take all precautions, including “checking each character”. The Metamask support team said that wallet users should try to end the practice of copying addresses from their transaction history.
Instead, wallet users should “develop the habit of double-checking every character in an address before sending a transaction.”
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