Crypto investor transferred $3 million in PYTH to a fake address

An unknown crypto investor mistakenly transferred over $3 million worth of PYTH tokens to a scammer's wallet. The error occurred due to carelessness when copying the address from the transaction history. This was reported by the analytics platform Lookonchain.

What happened

According to experts, the scammer carefully planned the scheme by creating a wallet with the same first few characters as the legitimate deposit address. They then sent a minimal amount — 0.000001 SOL — to the victim’s wallet so that their address would appear in the list of recent transactions.

The victim, noticing that the first few characters of the address matched, did not verify it in full. As a result, they copied the fake address and transferred 7 million PYTH tokens, equivalent to $3.08 million.

Lookonchain highlighted that this type of fraud is not new but remains effective due to users’ lack of attention. This scheme is commonly referred to as address poisoning or wallet spoofing.

Experts remind users that even the slightest carelessness can lead to significant losses. While using the transaction history to copy addresses may seem convenient, it is extremely risky. Specialists recommend always manually verifying the address before sending funds, even if it appears familiar. This is especially crucial when dealing with large sums, where a mistake can cost a fortune.

For instance, a trader previously lost $68 million in Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) due to an address poisoning scheme.