Phishing and look-alike sites

Phishing relies on imitation. A scammer builds a page that copies the logo, layout and wording of a known wallet or exchange, then sends people there through a message, a paid search result or a social media reply. The address of the page differs by a letter or uses an unusual ending, and a visitor who is in a hurry does not notice. Once there, the page asks for a recovery phrase, a password or a wallet connection that grants broad permissions. A related trick, address poisoning, sends a tiny transfer from an address whose first and last characters match one the victim often uses, hoping it gets copied from the history later.

Most of these attempts share a pattern: urgency, a reason to act at once, and a request for something a real service never asks for. Habits that interrupt the pattern are simple. Type the address of a service yourself or use a bookmark made earlier, instead of following a link in a message. Treat any request for a recovery phrase as proof of fraud. Compare the full recipient address, not only its ends. Be suspicious of strangers who offer help in a public chat. If something looks wrong, stop, close the page and check through a channel you already trust. Reporting the fake page to its host helps others as well.