CryptoSlate
A Solana wallet first sent $10 in USDT to its Gate.io deposit address, then followed a dust transfer from a lookalike address with another $10 test and a 30,749.80 USDT payment to the scammer-controlled destination. Bitquery documented the Nov. 17, 2025 case in findings published Oct. 9, 2026.
Bitquery identified 4,497,798 Solana wallets targeted by lookalike addresses from Oct. 30, 2025, through Oct. 7, 2026. The campaign used small incoming transfers to place a misleading address near legitimate payments in wallet histories, creating an opportunity for users to copy the wrong recipient.
Why it matters
The small test payment did not protect the wallet. It confirmed that funds reached the selected address, but it could not confirm who controlled that address. When the wallet repeated the payment after receiving dust from the lookalike, the test became part of the loss.
The wider targeting figure does not mean 4.5 million wallets lost money. In a narrower subset of about 3.0 million wallets poisoned through July 9, Bitquery counted 1,104 qualifying payments totaling $940,106. Its rules excluded some payments and likely existing relationships, so the loss total is a floor.
Market impact
Address poisoning adds operational risk for users moving SOL, USDC or USDT, especially when they rely on transaction history instead of verifying the full recipient address. Receiving dust alone does not drain a wallet; the loss occurs when the owner authorizes a later payment to the lookalike.
Phantom advises users to avoid copying addresses from transaction history, verify the exact recipient and network before sending, and check the transaction status separately on an explorer. It also says transfers sent to the wrong address cannot be recovered.
Frequently asked questions
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How did the Solana wallet lose 30,749.80 USDT?
It sent $10 to a legitimate Gate.io deposit address, then sent another $10 test and 30,749.80 USDT to a lookalike address that had appeared in its payment history.
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What is address poisoning on Solana?
Scammers send dust or fake tokens from lookalike addresses so those addresses appear near legitimate payments in a wallet’s transaction history. Users may later copy the wrong address.
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Did all 4.5 million targeted Solana wallets lose funds?
No. Bitquery’s 4,497,798 figure counts targeted wallets, not confirmed losses. A smaller subset contained 1,104 qualifying payments totaling $940,106.
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Why did the $10 test transfer fail to protect the payment?
The test confirmed that funds reached the selected address, but it did not confirm who controlled that address. Repeating the payment to the copied lookalike repeated the mistake.
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How can Solana users reduce address-poisoning risk?
Users should avoid copying addresses from transaction history, verify the full recipient address and network before sending, and check transaction status separately on an explorer.
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