Ledger warns of new ‘address poisoning’ scam

As an experienced analyst with a background in cryptocurrency and cybersecurity, I strongly caution against falling victim to the dangerous scam known as “address poisoning.” This insidious tactic exploits users’ trust by disguising malicious wallet addresses as legitimate ones.


Ledger took to X to reveal how crypto users are targeted by a scam known as “address poisoning”. 

Scammers employ a deceptive tactic known as “poisoning the well” in the crypto world. In this scheme, they disguise themselves as reputable sources and send users small quantities of cryptocurrency or Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) under the guise of vouchers. The goal is to induce users into unwittingly transferring funds to the scammer’s wallet by copying their address from a previous transaction record. This, in turn, results in the user’s funds being sent to the fraudster instead of a legitimate recipient.

As a crypto investor using Ledger, I want to clarify that certain transactions labeled as “dummy” are intended to mislead you into thinking you’ve previously sent funds to specific addresses. However, it’s essential to remember that unless you initiate and personally sign a transaction using your Ledger wallet, no real value will be transferred from your account.

Fraudsters have been crafting deceitful wallet addresses by mimicking those of popular open-source software like Ledger. These addresses are engineered to resemble genuine ones by having identical initial and final character sequences, which can mislead unsuspecting users into transferring their assets to the wrong destination.

As a financial analyst, I’ve noticed that a significant number of crypto scams have targeted users of Ledger Live, a widely-used crypto wallet management platform.

How to avoid the scam 

If you suspect that a wallet might have been breached or notice a questionable transaction in your account, it’s advisable to disregard or overlook both the transaction and the connected addresses.

To avoid engaging with questionable NFTs or tokens that have been received, you can opt to conceal them from your view instead. Simply right-click on the specific NFT or token and choose the ‘Hide Collection’ option. By doing so, these assets will no longer be visible in your collection, reducing the likelihood of unintended interaction.

— Ledger (@Ledger) June 21, 2024

One way to rephrase the given statement in a natural and easy-to-read manner is: Simply clicking on or traversing a malicious NFT (Non-Fungible Token) link does not put your wallet at risk. However, be cautious about sharing or revealing the 24-word recovery phrase or using a Ledger device to sign a potentially harmful transaction.

It’s recommended to steer clear of interacting with any unwanted tokens or addresses. According to Ledger, you can conceal them by right-clicking and selecting ‘hide’ to make them invisible on your screen.

As a responsible crypto investor, I always take precautions to avoid clicking on suspicious links within my digital wallet. Such links could potentially redirect me to fraudulent sites designed to deceive users and steal sensitive data or authorize detrimental transactions.

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2024-06-21 20:56