Ethereum Poison Address Scam Drains $636K From Single Victim, Weekly Losses Hit $1.6M

An address poisoning scam has cost Ethereum users over $1.6 million in one week. Victims inadvertently copied fake addresses seeded into their wallet histories, triggering costly transfer errors. One trader sent 140 ETH (worth $636 000) to a poisoned address after mistaking it for a trusted contact. Security firm ScamSniffer documented this case, highlighting how scammers exploit copy-paste habits and truncated address displays in popular wallets. The scam involves attackers sending small or zero-value transactions to victims to pollute their transaction history. Over seven days, losses rose past March’s total of $1.2 million, with other victims losing $880 000, $80 000 and $62 000 respectively. Experts warn that as crypto adoption grows, address poisoning scams will become more prevalent, underlining the need for rigorous address verification before transfers.