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Drainer

Malicious airdrops and claim sites

A free token you did not ask for, and a claim page built to empty the wallet.

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Updated 2026-08-305 min read
The short answer

A free token you did not ask for, and a claim page built to empty the wallet. Tokens appear in your wallet, or an advert offers a claim for a project you actually use. The claim page asks you to connect and sign. The signature is not a claim, it is an approval that lets a contract move your tokens, or a transaction that transfers them outright.

What it is

Tokens appear in your wallet, or an advert offers a claim for a project you actually use. The claim page asks you to connect and sign. The signature is not a claim, it is an approval that lets a contract move your tokens, or a transaction that transfers them outright.

How it plays out

  1. The bait arrives

    An unrequested token, a reply under a real project’s post, or a paid search advert above the real site.

  2. The site looks correct

    Cloned front ends are cheap and the URL is one character out.

  3. The signature is the trap

    A blind signature, an unlimited approval, or a permit that authorizes a transfer without a further transaction.

  4. It empties in one go

    Drainer kits check what is worth taking first and take the most valuable thing in a single transaction.

What gives it away

  • Any airdrop you did not sign up for.
  • A claim window with a countdown.
  • A signature request you cannot read in plain language.
  • A search advert for a crypto site. Scroll past the ads, always.

How to not be caught by it

  • Claim only from the project’s own domain, typed by you or reached from a bookmark.
  • Use a burner wallet for claims, funded with only the gas needed.
  • Read what you are signing. A wallet that simulates transactions makes this realistic.
  • Never approve an unlimited allowance for a contract you do not know.
  • Check approvals periodically and revoke everything you are not actively using.
The hard part is not technical
None of these require technical skill to avoid. They require doing the boring check at the exact moment you feel most rushed, which is the whole difficulty.

If it already happened

  • Move remaining assets to a fresh wallet immediately. Speed matters more than tidiness.
  • Revoke approvals for the compromised wallet afterward, not before moving funds.
  • Assume the wallet is permanently untrusted, including for future airdrops.
  • Check whether a hardware wallet seed was ever entered anywhere. If so, that seed is burned too.
Recovery scams
Anybody who contacts you offering to recover lost crypto for a fee is running the second scam on the same victim. There is no recovery service that can reverse a blockchain transaction, because nobody can. Report it through official channels and ignore everyone else.

Common questions

How common is malicious airdrops and claim sites?

Common enough that it has a name and a playbook. The specific numbers move constantly, so rather than quote a figure that will be wrong next quarter: assume you will meet this one, and set your wallet up so meeting it is survivable.

Can the money be recovered?

Once a blockchain transaction confirms, no. What reporting can occasionally do is get funds frozen at the exchange where a thief tries to cash out, which is why reporting quickly is worth doing even when it feels pointless.

Does a hardware wallet stop this?

It stops anything that needs your keys, because the keys never leave the device. It does not stop you approving a malicious transaction on the device itself, so read what the screen says before you press confirm.

Where to go next

All attacksThe full list, side by side.Security checklistDo the fixes in order.Self custodyHolding your own keys properly.

Check your setup before you need to

An hour on a screen share, going through your wallets, your approvals, your backups and your recovery plan. You click everything and we never ask for keys.

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