Etherscan, a block explorer for the Ethereum blockchain, announced the April 10th a feature that is designed to prevent users from falling victim to scams.
Etherscan to hide transfers of zero value
Etherscan said that to protect users from scams called address poisoning attacks, it will hide zero-value token transfers by default.
While the site previously grayed out zero-value transactions, those transactions are now hidden entirely under the new feature, as seen below.
During an address poisoning attack, a scammer creates a “spoofed” address that is nearly identical to one their target has previously transacted with. The scammer then sends zero value transfers from the spoofed address to the target address. The target may confuse the two similar addresses and direct the funds to the spoofed address by mistake.
Because this approach relies on user error and is a type of phishing, hiding transactions that contain no value can make the scam much less attractive to its victims.
Etherscan noted that preventing scams in a neutral way is “an endless game of cat and mouse” and said it recognizes the value of “uncensored” blockchain records. As such, users will be able to toggle the option in settings, he said.
Etherscan already includes other anti-scam features: for example, it flags addresses known to be involved in scams and attacks.
Zero value attacks are becoming more common
The type of scam in question has gained more attention in the cryptocurrency industry. Two blockchain firms, X-explore and WuBlockchain, estimated that zero-value transfer phishing and related attacks have resulted in up to $32 million in thefts in Ethereum.
Coinbase, meanwhile, suggested that this type of attack originated in November 2022 and led to $19 million in theft across various platforms for February 2023.
Ethereum-focused wallet Metamask also warned of address poisoning scams in January 2023 and provided users with ways to protect themselves.
Post-Ethereum block explorer Etherscan adds anti-scam feature, appeared first on CryptoSlate.
