What are Scam Airdrop Tokens on Binance Smart Chain and Why Are They So Prevalent?

Scam tokens continue to be airdropped to wallets, flooding the Binance Smart Chain crypto space with fake tokens.

New Scam Tokens Airdropped To Wallets

Recent developments have shown that scam tokens and scammers are now widespread throughout the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) network. In the last few days, reports of fake tokens being airdropped to wallets have appeared throughout Twitter and Reddit message boards, warning the inexperienced crypto investors to stay cautious. 

On August 24th, the leading blockchain security company PeckShield tweeted out a list of fake tokens and strongly advised users not to approve on the fake token websites. The repercussions for approving on scam websites have resulted in users having all their funds stolen from their wallets. 

“A bunch of scam tokens are identified. Please stay ALERT and do *NOT* Approve on the following phishing sites: ShibaDrop[.]io ($SHIB), AAExchange[.]io ($AAE), BSCTOKEN[.]IO ($BSCTOKEN), BestAir[.]io ($AIR), AirStack[.]net ($AIR), and BNBw[.]me ($BNBW).” wrote PeckShield in a recent Twitter post. 

At the current moment, airdrop scams and the scammers behind them are free to continue scamming without consequence. The only defense against their malicious efforts is to not engage in the faulty websites and understand what a scam token looks like. 

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What Are Airdrop Scam Tokens on Binance Smart Chain?

Airdrop scam tokens on the Binance Smart Chain are fake tokens that aim to lure users to scam websites by showing a massive USD exchange rate, but in reality these fake tokens have no value and cannot be exchanged or transacted upon.

A huge part of what makes a scam token ‘successful’ is that these scam tokens cannot be transacted or exchanged through PancakeSwap or other popular decentralized exchanges (DEXs).

This is the first red flag or sign of an airdrop scam token. In recent weeks, these fake tokens have been airdropped to wallets where users find the scam tokens in their wallet either through research, luck, or using a wallet monitoring website like Growing.fi. 

But How Do Scam Tokens Work? 

Once a user has a scam token, they will immediately try and exchange the new token that randomly showed up in their wallet. Users are incentivized to do so as the scam tokens show a high USD conversion rate.

Yet users are never able to transact or exchange out of the airdropped scam token. This is the first red flag, users should stay away from free tokens that cant be exchanged on a major DEX. Through not providing liquidity the tokens then attract users to utilize their malicous smart contracts.

Instead, when a user has a fake token and finds they cannot exchange, they are either directed or their curiosity leads them to a faulty / scam website corresponding with the scam token. Once a user is on the fake website, they are asked to connect their wallet and in return gain approval to exchange or transact the token. 

Some scam tokens, such as the recent MNEB and VELO scam, had users pay an expensive fee to exchange their worthless fake token. In a recent BSC NEWS interview with SafePal’s Tyler Zhou, these fake scam websites have reportedly stolen all the funds and money associated with a user’s wallet once the user approves access to the fake website.

This is why these airdrop scam tokens do not let you exchange them. Besides a complete lack of liquidity to do so, these scam tokens rely on users going to their fake websites to pay a high fee or expose their wallet to exploitation. 

Click here for more information on how to spot an airdrop scam token.

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Why Are Airdrop Scam Tokens So Prevalent?

As the Binance Smart Chian’s user growth continues to expand, so do the hackers, scammers, and those looking to exploit. It is now quite easy for scammers to create fake tokens with no value and then airdrop them to users wallets using BscScan or Etherscan.

The issue with the growing prevalence of scam tokens lies with the ease of creating fake projects whose only goal is to exploit users. Education and staying aware of fake tokens out in the Binance Smart Chain ether is the best way to avoid unnecessary risk and loss of funds. 

Scam airdrop tokens on the Binance Smart Chain show no signs of slowing down, and as scammers become more sophisticated, it becomes more important than ever to stay alert and informed on the newest scam tokens or projects landing on the BSC network. 

Source : bsc.news