GlossaryBeginner
Phishing
An attempt to trick someone into revealing credentials or approving a harmful transaction, often by impersonating a trusted source.
Phishing is a social-engineering attack that tries to trick a person into revealing sensitive information, such as a private key or seed phrase, or into approving a transaction they wouldn't approve if they understood what it actually did. It often impersonates a legitimate service, contact, or support agent.
In crypto specifically, phishing frequently targets seed phrases, wallet approvals, and login credentials, because obtaining any of these can give an attacker direct control over funds — often with no way to reverse the resulting transaction.
Examples
- A message claiming to be wallet support and asking for a seed phrase is a phishing attempt.
- A link that looks like a familiar exchange but has a slightly altered domain name is a common phishing technique.