A crypto scam that doesn’t need private keys: How does zero-value transfer work?

A crypto investor lost $2.6 million in hours, falling victim to a zero-value transfer scam, a type of address poisoning scam.

On May 26, 2025, a crypto investor fell victim to a series of onchain phishing attacks. Crypto compliance firm Cyvers announced that the victim lost a total of $2.6 million worth of cryptocurrencies.

It all started when the user sent 843,000 Tether USDt (USDT) to an address other than the intended recipient. Just three hours later, the user sent 1.75 million USDT more to the same address. The result: All of it was lost in hours.

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