Address poisoning: the scam that hides in your transaction history

Crypto addresses are long and hard to read, so people usually check only the beginning and the end. Address poisoning exploits exactly this habit.

How the attack works

1. The attacker watches the blockchain and sees that you often send funds to a certain address.
2. They generate a new address whose first and last characters match that address.
3. They send you a tiny transfer — or even a zero-value token transfer — from the look-alike address.
4. The fake address now appears in your wallet's history next to the real one.
5. Next time you copy an address "from history", you may pick the fake one and send your funds to the attacker.

The attack is common with stablecoins such as USDT on TRON and Ethereum, because those transfers are frequent.

How to protect yourself

• Never copy addresses from your transaction history. Use the address from the source: the deposit page of the service, your saved contact, or the recipient directly.
• Use an address book in your wallet for addresses you use often.
• Compare more than the edges: check characters in the middle too.
• Send a small test transfer before a large one to a new address.
• Ignore unexpected tiny transfers and unknown tokens.

On XFasil

Each deposit request shows its own payment address — always take it from the current request. Your withdrawal address is saved in Account → Settings; check it carefully once when you set it. See How to deposit USDT.