Ethereum 'Address Addiction Attack' Spreads... Damage Exceeds $740,000

Source: DigitalToday Original Title: Ethereum ‘Address Poisoning’ Attack Spreads… Damage Exceeds $740,000 Original Link: Ethereum(ETH) network is facing a large-scale ‘Address Poisoning(Address Poisoning)’ attack. The confirmed damages so far amount to approximately $740,000, indicating an organized spam campaign targeting individual wallets is ongoing.

Methods of Address Poisoning Attacks

Address poisoning attacks involve leaving fake addresses in a user’s transaction history, encouraging the user to send funds to recently used addresses without re-verification, which then transfers the funds to the attacker’s wallet. During this process, the attacker also sends a tiny amount of real tokens or stablecoins(Dust) to contaminate the wallet records.

Negative Impact of Lowered Fees

This attack coincided with a period of extremely low Ethereum network fees. On-chain researcher Andrei Sergeevkov analyzed that this campaign is “a result of lower Ethereum fees making spam transactions virtually costless.”

Especially after the Fusaka(Fusaka) update, the typical Ethereum transfer fee dropped below $0.01, creating an environment where attackers could execute大量的Dust transactions. As a result, the influx of new addresses on the Ethereum network increased more than threefold since January 12.

Over 67% of Stablecoin Transactions Are Dust Transactions

A significant portion of the increased transactions involved stablecoins. Sergeevkov stated that over 67% of all stablecoin transactions are ‘Dust transactions’ aimed at address tracking or wallet history contamination.

The problem is that small transfers of legitimate stablecoins are not flagged as suspicious transactions in most wallets. This causes users to unknowingly send funds to incorrect addresses, unaware of the attack.

Widespread Attack Scale

Researchers have identified three main sender addresses so far, which have sent spam transactions to over 1.5 million wallets. The attack is not limited to simple addresses but also occurs through smart contracts. As of January 19, a specific smart contract sent spam to over 580,000 wallets, consuming 2.5 ETH in fees over 24 hours.

The attack is ongoing, with new smart contracts being activated. Recent investigations show that over 78,000 wallets have been targeted by stablecoin dust attacks, and similar attacks using fake tokens or low-value tokens are likely to continue.