Phantom Chat Under Fire: $264K Address Poisoning Loss Sparks Security Concerns

The crypto community is still shaken by a phishing attack that resulted in the loss of $264,000 in Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) from a Phantom wallet user. The case is a serious lesson on the risks of address poisoning scams.

What is address poisoning?

Address poisoning is a phishing technique whereby fraudsters send a few small transactions to the wallet of their target and then hope that the victim will copy and paste the attacker’s address from their transaction history. In this case, the scammer sent 3.5 WBTC from address 0x85c to address 0x4b7.

This address was indicated as a “high balance” one on Nansen. ZachXBT, a blockchain investigator, warned that the messenger feature of Phantom, Phantom Chat, is a “new modus operandi for people to get drained” and he requested the company to enhance its user interface so as to be able to filter out spam transactions.

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Security Experts Take a Stand

Some of the most prominent figures in the crypto space, including Binance co, founder Changpeng Zhao, have urged for the implementation of stronger wallet security measures along the lines of a phishing prevention strategy.”It is a no-brainer for every wallet to check if a receiving address is a ‘poison address, ‘ and block the user, ” Changpeng Zhao penned in a blog post.

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Conclusion

Cybersecurity specialists continue to stress that conducting risk checking before a transaction, detecting address similarity, and issuing a proper warning before the user signs the transaction are essential. Rabby Wallet, Zengo Wallet, and Phantom Wallet are some of the wallets that offer preemptive detection mechanisms for filtering out malicious transactions.

Use only one trusted source of recipient addresses, such as an Address Book or a List, to avoid mistakes and ensure accuracy.

Be cautious of any tokens or NFTs that you are receiving in your wallet unexpectedly, as this might be a tactic to lure you into a scam. Also, do not click on any links on paid ads from Google or social media that promise free airdrops, as these are mostly attempts at phishing.

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