When making a transfer, many people habitually copy an address they used last time from their transaction history, glance at the first and last few characters, and hit confirm. Address poisoning targets exactly this habit.

Corresponding token: $ETH quote 2421.56 (24h -0.91%).

【What Is Address Poisoning?】

Attackers first target addresses that frequently send and receive stablecoins on-chain. They then use programs to generate large numbers of addresses and pick out “lookalike addresses” whose first and last few characters match those of an address you often use.

Next, the attacker sends a tiny amount—or zero-value tokens—from the lookalike address to you, making it appear in your transaction history. The next time you copy an address from your history, you might copy the fake one.

【Common Ways They Disguise Themselves】

Some token contracts allow zero-value transfers. Attackers exploit this to leave an on-chain record showing “0 tokens sent from your address,” making it look as if you sent tokens to that address yourself.

Others send counterfeit tokens with the same name as a popular stablecoin, in amounts close to what you usually transfer, to make the transaction look more convincing.

【Why It’s Easy to Fall for】

An address is a long string of characters. An Ethereum address alone has 40 hexadecimal characters, so most people only check the beginning and the end. But it’s not hard to generate an address with matching first and last few characters. Checking only those parts leaves you vulnerable.

This scam doesn’t require your private key or any authorization signature. It relies solely on you copying an address when making a transfer. Once an on-chain transfer is confirmed, it cannot be reversed, and assets sent to a lookalike address are generally impossible to recover.

【How to Protect Yourself】

Save frequently used recipient addresses in your wallet’s or platform’s address book or withdrawal whitelist, and select them from there each time instead of copying them from your transaction history. Check the full address before transferring, including the characters in the middle.

For large transfers, send a small amount first, then send the rest after confirming with the recipient that it arrived. Ignore small or zero-value transfers from unknown sources, and don’t treat the sender’s address as a frequently used address.

Some wallets and block explorers flag suspicious zero-value transfers or hide them by default. Pay close attention if you see such a warning.

【In Short】

Address poisoning doesn’t exploit a technical vulnerability—it takes advantage of a convenient habit. Replace “copy from transaction history” with “select from address book,” and check the middle characters too, and you can avoid it. The home page of my trading notes says: Understand it before you act. Don’t touch what you don’t understand; trying it with a small amount is safer.

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