# Address poisoning

Address poisoning is a scam in which the attacker plants a look-alike wallet address in the victim's transaction history so the victim copies it for the next payment.

## How it works

Wallets and explorers shorten addresses to the first and last few characters. The attacker generates an address that matches those characters and sends the victim a zero-value or dust transfer from it, so it appears in the history right next to the real counterparty.

The next time the victim copies an address from the history instead of the address book, the funds go to the attacker.

## How to protect yourself

- Never copy a payment address from transaction history; use a saved contact or the original source.
- Compare the whole address, not only the first and last characters, before sending.

## Related tools

- [Address Poisoning Checker](https://phishdestroy.io/developer-tools/address-poisoning-checker)
- [Address Checksum Validator](https://phishdestroy.io/developer-tools/address-checksum)
- [Phishing Wallet Lookup](https://phishdestroy.io/developer-tools/phishing-wallet-lookup)

## Related terms

- [Wallet drainer](https://phishdestroy.io/glossary/wallet-drainer/)
- [Ice phishing](https://phishdestroy.io/glossary/ice-phishing/)

## Further reading

- [Crypto Security: Wallets, Approvals, Drainers](https://phishdestroy.io/crypto-security)
- [Crypto Wallet Drained? Emergency Guide](https://phishdestroy.io/critical-action)

## Glossary

- [All terms](https://phishdestroy.io/glossary/)

Canonical: https://phishdestroy.io/glossary/address-poisoning/