Approval phishing scams have been used to steal at least $1bn in cryptocurrency since May 2021, according to a new report by Chainalysis.
The researchers estimates that this technique, which is frequently used by romance scammers, has led to crypto users losing at least $374m so far in 2023.
Approval phishing is a type of crypto scam in which attackers attempt to trick targets into signing a malicious blockchain transaction that gives their address approval to spend specific tokens inside the victim’s wallet. This allows the scammer to drain the victim’s address of these tokens at will, with some targets losing tens of millions.
Once the victim signs the transaction, generally the phisher sends the funds to a separate wallet from the one they approved.
The technique is less well-known than typical crypto scams, which usually involve a phony investment opportunity or impersonation.
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