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What is a fake airdrop?
A fake airdrop is a scam that sends unrequested tokens or NFTs to your wallet, or advertises free tokens, to lure you to a website where you "claim" them. The claim page asks you to connect your wallet and sign, or to enter your seed phrase, and then empties the wallet.
What it means for you
Tokens that appear in your wallet uninvited can sit there harmlessly; the risk starts when you try to claim, swap or sell them through a link. Signing on a claim site can grant spending permission over your real assets. A real airdrop never needs your seed phrase.
A common mistake: “Free tokens appeared in my wallet, so selling them quickly costs me nothing.”
In fact: Selling or claiming usually means visiting the scammer's site and signing. The unsolicited tokens are harmless while left alone; the signature is what puts your real assets at risk.
How it works
Scam projects send tokens or NFTs to wallets that are likely to hold the real asset, using the same name and symbol, because anyone can create a token with any name. The token, its description or its image points to a website for claiming or swapping. That site asks you to connect a wallet and approve a transaction, which can grant spending permission over your real assets or send them straight to the scammer. Other versions promise to double any ETH you send. Contract addresses published on the real organisation's website are the way to tell a real token from a copy.
Sources: ethereum.org: Ethereum security and scam prevention, ethereum.org: How to identify scam tokens · checked 4 October 2026
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Educational content, not financial advice. Written by hand and checked against the source named above. Something wrong? Tell us and we reply within two business days.