GlossaryIntermediate
Address Poisoning
Sending transactions from a lookalike address hoping a victim copies it by mistake.
Address poisoning involves an attacker generating a wallet address that closely resembles one a victim frequently transacts with, then sending a transaction from it, hoping the victim later copies the fake lookalike address from their transaction history by mistake.
Carefully verifying a full recipient address before sending funds, rather than just its first and last few characters, is a practical defense against this.
Examples
- An address-poisoning attempt might leave a lookalike address in a victim's transaction history hoping it's copied later.
- Verifying a full recipient address, not just its start and end, helps avoid address-poisoning mistakes.