Etherscan has reconfigured its default blockchain viewing settings in a move to protect users against a common type of phishing scam, the company tweeted on Monday.
The blockchain explorer will now hide zero-value token transfer displays on its website by default. The setting aims to prevent users from becoming victims of “address poisoning” hacks, in which attackers send virtually valueless tokens to a user’s wallet addresses to bait them into sending tokens to a scam address.
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“In recent times, address poisoning attacks have phished unsuspecting users and spammed everybody else,” said Etherscan. “Preventing scams and attacks in a neutral and scalable way is an infinite cat-and-mouse game.”
Zero-value token transfers have drained $19 million from victims’ wallets between late November 2022 and Feb 13, 2023, according to Coinbase. To view zero-value token transfers, users will have to disable the feature in the website’s setting page.
