Investment and crypto fraud · Also called approval phishing, wallet drainer, malicious signature request
Crypto wallet drainer
A crypto wallet drainer is a scam site or app that tricks you into connecting your wallet and approving a transaction or signature. That approval quietly gives the scammer permission to move your tokens, and the wallet can be emptied at once or later. Some drainers simply ask for your seed phrase.
How it works
- The victim is lured to a fake site through a search ad, a social media post, a hacked account, or a message about a mint, airdrop, or urgent wallet problem.
- The site asks the victim to connect their wallet, which looks routine.
- A pop-up asks the victim to approve a transaction or sign a message that actually grants spending permission over their tokens, or the site asks for the seed phrase.
- The scammer uses that permission or phrase to transfer the victim's assets, sometimes long after the approval.
Red flags
- A website, message, or support agent asks for your seed phrase or recovery phrase.
- A site you reached from an ad, reply, or direct message asks you to connect your wallet.
- A wallet prompt asks you to approve spending or sign a message you do not understand.
- There is urgency: a limited mint, a claim window, or a warning that your wallet will be locked.
If you are targeted
- Stop contact with the site, disconnect the wallet, and do not send more money or tokens to fix it.
- Move any remaining assets to a new wallet with a new seed phrase on a clean device, and revoke token approvals you did not intend.
- Record the site address, wallet addresses, and transaction hashes.
- Report it. Our Report a scam page lists where to report in your country, such as ic3.gov and ReportFraud.ftc.gov in the US.
- Expect recovery scams: anyone who contacts you offering to get your money back for a fee, including people claiming to be lawyers, regulators, or the FBI, is running a second scam.
Prevention
For individuals
- Never share or type your seed phrase into any website, form, or chat. No real service needs it.
- Reach crypto sites from your own bookmarks, not from ads, replies, or direct messages.
- Read every wallet prompt before approving, and keep long-term holdings in a separate wallet or hardware wallet that never connects to new sites.
By the numbers
Figures are for the reporting category this scam falls under, not this scam alone.
| Losses involving cryptocurrency reported to the FBI IC3 in 2025 (overlaps other categories, never summed) | $11.37B | US, 2025, FBI IC3 |
| Phishing and spoofing losses reported to the FBI IC3 in 2025 | $215.8M | US, 2025, FBI IC3 |
Real cases
2022-11 · Location not reported · Alleged · $80M estimate
Inferno Drainer crypto wallet drainer-as-a-service, 2022 to 2023Unconfirmed by a primary source
Delivered through: Malvertising and SEO poisoning, Social media ads and posts, Email phishing
How official datasets classify it
Questions
- How do wallet drainers steal crypto?
- They trick you into approving a transaction or signing a message that gives the scammer permission to move your tokens, or they ask for your seed phrase directly.
- Should I ever enter my seed phrase on a website?
- No. Anyone with your seed phrase controls your wallet, and no legitimate website, support agent, or airdrop needs it.