Token Approval Scam

Overview

Token Approval Scam is a fraud scheme that tricks a wallet holder into signing an approval, permit, or authorization that lets an attacker-controlled contract or address transfer tokens. The victim may not send assets in the initial transaction; the loss occurs when the attacker later uses the granted permission. It should be interpreted alongside Approval Phishing, which may affect the same workflow without representing the same control, event, or risk.

Deceptive websites, fake airdrops, impersonated support, malicious signatures, compromised front ends, and unlimited allowances can expose multiple token balances.

Organizations should show human-readable permissions, verify domains and contracts, limit allowances, simulate transactions, use phishing-resistant browsing controls, monitor approvals, and revoke suspicious access quickly.

Retain the signed message or transaction, token, spender, allowance, domain, wallet, subsequent transfers, attacker addresses, user report, revocation, and recovery actions.

Operational review of Token Approval Scam should reconstruct a fraud scheme that tricks a wallet holder into signing an approval, permit, or authorization that lets an attacker-controlled contract or address transfer tokens using the identities, communications, devices, and transaction records available for the affected case. Investigators should separate confirmed facts from hypotheses about permit, authorization that lets an attacker-controlled contract, and address transfer tokens, preserve the original evidence, and document why the event was cleared, escalated, or treated as a loss. Containment, recovery, and customer communication for the Token Approval Scam context should match the harm indicated by permit, authorization that lets an attacker-controlled contract, and address transfer tokens.

Quality review for Token Approval Scam should compare expected and actual outcomes involving permit, authorization that lets an attacker-controlled contract, and address transfer tokens, then track false positives, repeat attempts, linked losses, and unresolved remediation.