Address Poisoning Attacks: Fake Wallet Addresses Target Bitcoin Holders

The scheme, called "address poisoning", tricks people into sending funds to the wrong wallet. It works by using wallet addresses that look very similar to the ones a person has already used—often matching the beginning and end of a real address—hoping the user doesn’t notice the difference.

In a report published on April 6, Lopp explained how this type of scam has developed over time.

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These scams were not seen on the blockchain until July 7, 2023, when they first appeared in block 797,570, with 36 matching transactions recorded. After that, no further activity was noticed until December 12, 2023, when block 819,455 marked the beginning of recurring incidents.

From that point through January 28, 2025—ending at block 881,172—these fraudulent transactions continued to appear in waves.

In total, Lopp noted that nearly 48,000 transactions over this 18-month period fit the behavior typically seen in address poisoning scams.

Lopp says these scams rely on users not checking the full wallet address before sending funds. He suggests people always double-check the full string of characters and that wallets should display the entire address more clearly to help prevent mistakes.

On March 30, SIR.trading, an Ethereum ETH $1,562.42 -based platform, lost all its user funds—around $355,000. How? Read the full story.