CoinucationPhishing
Phishing is a scam that tricks you into revealing your seed phrase, approving a malicious transaction, or logging into a fake site to steal your crypto.
Phishing in crypto takes the same form as phishing elsewhere, with higher stakes because transactions cannot be reversed. A scammer impersonates a wallet, an exchange, a project, or a support agent and tries to get you to hand over your seed phrase, enter your password on a fake login page, or sign a transaction that grants them control of your tokens.
Common variants include fake airdrop sites that ask you to connect a wallet and sign, direct messages on Discord or X from accounts posing as support, ads for wallet downloads that lead to counterfeit apps, and emails warning that your account will be locked. Wallet drainers, which are malicious contracts that empty a wallet once approved, stole hundreds of millions of dollars in 2023 and 2024 according to security firms.
Defenses are mostly habits. Never share a seed phrase. Bookmark the real sites and avoid links from messages. Read what a transaction does before signing, and be suspicious of any request for unlimited token approval. Legitimate support will never contact you first or ask for your keys.
What is a private key? covers this in 6 minutes, with a quiz at the end.