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What is phishing?
Phishing is a scam in which someone pretends to be a company, service or person you know, usually by email, text or a fake website, to trick you into handing over information. In crypto the target is often your seed phrase, your login, or a signature from your wallet.
What it means for you
A real wallet app or exchange never asks for your seed phrase; anyone who has it can empty the wallet. Phishing sites copy real ones, so check the exact web address before connecting a wallet or typing a password. Crypto sent or signed away on a fake site usually cannot be reversed.
How it works
A phishing message tells a story built to make you act before you check: suspicious log-ins that never happened, a problem with a payment, a prize or a deadline. It borrows a real company's logo and look and carries a link to a lookalike site or to malware. In crypto the lookalike is usually a wallet or exchange page that asks you to type a seed phrase or password, or to connect a wallet and sign. Real wallet apps never ask for a seed phrase, so any page that does is the trap. Typing a saved bookmark instead of following a link avoids the copied address.
Sources: FTC: How to recognize and avoid phishing scams, ethereum.org: Scam help and reporting · checked 4 October 2026
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