The Ethereum ecosystem is innovative — and that's exactly why it's an attractive target for scammers. Compared to Bitcoin, smart contracts and token approvals create additional attack vectors. Here are the most important schemes you should know about.
1. Address Poisoning
Attackers send tiny token amounts from an address that looks confusingly similar to yours. If you later copy from your transaction history, you grab the scam address. Protection: always copy addresses from your address book or via ENS, never from transaction history.
2. Unlimited Token Approvals
Many DeFi protocols ask for "unlimited" approval so you don't have to re-approve each time. Problem: if the protocol gets hacked, attackers can drain all your tokens. Solution: only approve the amount you actually need, and revoke old approvals via revoke.cash.
3. Fake Token Airdrops
Suddenly valuable tokens appear in your wallet that you never bought. If you try to sell them, the smart contract triggers a malicious transaction. Rule: never interact with tokens you didn't expect.
4. Phishing Websites
Fake copies of Uniswap, MetaMask, or airdrop pages that ask for your private key or a malicious signature. Always verify the URL, bookmark frequently used dApps.
5. Social Engineering on Discord/Telegram
Scammers impersonate support staff and ask you to "verify" your seed phrase. No legitimate project will ever ask for your seed phrase — ever.
6. Honeypot Tokens
Tokens you can buy but cannot sell. The smart contract only allows buys, not sells. Check tokens before buying on honeypot.is or tokensniffer.com.
7. Clipboard Malware
Malware that replaces copied Ethereum addresses with the attacker's address. After pasting, always verify the address matches — at minimum the first and last five characters.
Protection Checklist
- Use a hardware wallet for larger amounts
- Verify every address before sending with our validation tool
- Revoke old token approvals regularly
- Save frequently used addresses in your address book
- Install a phishing guard like Wallet Guard
- Never interact with unknown tokens
Last updated: February 2026.