Etherscan Hides Zero-value Token Transfers

Etherscan will now be hiding zero-value token transfers by default to protect investors, the platform announced Monday. 

In a tweet, Etherscan said the update was designed to alleviate concerns about ‘address poisoning’ attacks, which “have phished unsuspecting users and spammed everybody else.”

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Address poisoning attacks occur when scammers send a very small (or zero-value) amount of crypto to an address they wish to exploit. Once the transaction is recorded, fraudsters hope that the wallet owner will accidentally copy the wrong address and send funds to their scam account by mistake. 

Wallet addresses used in these attacks often begin and end with the same values as the address used in the owner’s most recent legitimate transaction. These phishing scams do not compromise a user’s assets or private keys, wallet provider Trezor notes in a warning about this type of attack. 

The new feature is optional and can be disabled, Etherscan added, noting that transparency is a primary concern. 

The platform, launched in 2015, said it is open to public feedback about the updates.

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