Scammers exploit ENS domains to target victims, Uniswap founder alerts

Uniswap founder Hayden Adams warns of scammers exploiting ENS domains to manipulate user interfaces of crypto wallets and target victims.

Bad actors have come up with a new method to deceive individuals, convincing them that they are sending crypto to a legitimate address by manipulating user interfaces with Ethereum Name Service (ENS) domains.

In a recent X post on Feb. 14, Uniswap founder Hayden Adams alarmed the crypto community about a new scam targeting inattentive users, saying scammers are now purchasing ENS domains resembling legitimate addresses but substituting alphabetic characters with alphanumeric sequences. For instance:

• Legitimate Ethereum address: 0x11E4857Bb9993a50c685A79AFad4E6F65D518DDa.
• Scammer’s address: 0x11E4857Bb9993a50c685A79AFad4E6F65D518DDa.eth.

This tactic confuses unsuspecting users, as certain wallet interfaces display the scammer’s address as the top result when pasting a legitimate address. Adams emphasized the critical need for interfaces to implement filters to combat such scams and urged users to exercise caution.

ENS is a domain name system built on the Ethereum blockchain, which allows users to replace long, complex Ethereum addresses with human-readable names like “vitalik.eth.” Responding to the issue, ENS founder Nick Johnson stated that the team would advise against auto-completing names in the search bar, considering the feature “far too dangerous.”