cryptosafety

into a simple but very dangerous scam. This type of scam is called address poisoning. It does not break any code and it does not hack a wallet. It only tricks people by using habits that many users follow every day.
The incident happened when the user wanted to move a large amount of funds. First the user sent a small test transfer of fifty USDT to check that the address was correct. This is a normal habit and many people do it to stay safe. The test transfer went through without any problem.
Soon after that a scammer noticed the transaction. The scammer created a wallet address that looked almost the same as the real destination address. It matched the starting and ending letters. Most wallets only show the first and last part of an address. Because of this the fake address looked real at a quick glance.
The scammer then sent a very small dust amount to the user wallet. This dust transfer was only meant to appear in the transaction history. When the user later opened the wallet and copied the address from the history they unknowingly copied the scammer address instead of the real one.
Believing everything was correct the user then sent nearly the full balance. Around forty nine million nine hundred ninety nine thousand nine hundred fifty USDT was sent directly to the scammer wallet. The funds were lost in a single action.
Security experts explain that this method is very common. Bots scan the network and look for wallets with large balances. They send tiny dust amounts to poison the transaction history. They hope that one user will copy the wrong address. In this case the plan worked perfectly.
After receiving the funds the attacker quickly moved the money across several wallets. The goal was to make tracking harder and delay any recovery attempts. This kind of movement is often done very fast and with automation.
The victim later posted a public message on chain. In the message the victim demanded the return of most of the funds within forty eight hours. The offer included a one million dollar reward if the attacker returned the assets. The message also warned that legal action would follow if the funds were not returned.
The victim stated this was the final chance to solve the issue peacefully. They warned that international law enforcement would be contacted if there was no response.
This case shows that address poisoning is not a technical failure. It is a human mistake. It relies on speed habit and trust in visual checks. The safest way to avoid this scam is to always verify the full address. Users should save trusted addresses and avoid copying from transaction history.
In crypto one small habit can make a huge difference. This loss is a strong reminder that caution matters every single time.
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