Security News > 2023 > January > MetaMask warns of new 'Address Poisoning' cryptocurrency scam
In a new post by MetaMask, the developers warn of a new scam called 'Address Poisoning' that relies on poisoning the wallet's transaction history with scammer's addresses that are very similar to addresses that a user recently had transactions.
The threat actor then sends the targeted sender's address a small amount of cryptocurrency, or even a $0 token transaction, from this new address so that the transaction appears in their wallet's history.
As the threat actor's address is very similar to a user's previous transaction, and as MetaMask shortens the addresses in the transaction history, it looks like it's from the same person.
This method effectively poisons the transaction history with multiple entries that look like they are between the same address but are using different ones - one address for the actual, legitimate transaction and the newer one from the attacker using a copycat wallet address.
The attacker then hopes that when a user needs to send cryptocurrency to someone they previously sent to, they will find the most recent transaction, which in this case is from the attacker, and sends the crypto to the scammer's address instead. "Since they're so long, crypto wallet addresses are typically shortened. You might see the first lot of characters only, or sometimes you may see the initial 5-10 or so and the final 5-10 or so, skipping the middle. This is how most people recognize addresses: not by knowing every single character, but by becoming familiar with the start and finish." - MetaMask.
MetaMask also recommends you use their built-in Address Book feature at 'Settings Contacts' to save known, valid cryptocurrency addresses for people or services you commonly send transactions.