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<p class="is-style-lead">A crypto user has lost nearly $1 million after approving a malicious Ethereum transaction that gave scammers access to drain almost the entire wallet balance, adding to hundreds of millions of dollars in phishing losses recorded this year.</p><div id="cn-block-summary-block_0351f6d98ce2645d72e464c14baae04f" class="cn-block-summary"><div class="cn-block-summary__nav tabs"><span class="tabs__item is-selected">Summary</span></div><div class="cn-block-summary__content"><ul class="wp-block-list"><li>A crypto user lost nearly $1 million after approving a malicious Ethereum transaction that allowed scammers to drain the wallet.</li><li>Phishing scams caused $723 million in losses across 248 incidents in 2025 as approval based attacks continued targeting crypto users.</li><li>The latest theft follows another multimillion dollar onchain loss, highlighting separate risks from phishing approvals and flawed transaction routing.</li></ul></div></div><p>According to blockchain security platform Scam Sniffer, the victim lost 999,999 Tether (USDT) in an Ethereum phishing token approval scam on Wednesday after signing a malicious approval request.</p><figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>🚨 Someone lost $999,999 in USDT after signing a phishing token approval on Ethereum. 🎣<br><br>victim: 0x8c949361b49320c48a51f4b1c6f9f83862530f89<br>tx: <a href="https://t.co/54YXrwiVBi" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">https://t.co/54YXrwiVBi</a><br><br>🧵 <a href="https://t.co/hnHPeQjNML" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">pic.twitter.com/hnHPeQjNML</a></p>— Scam Sniffer | Web3 Anti-Scam (@realScamSniffer) <a href="https://x.com/realScamSniffer/status/2075007064154452200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">July 9, 2026</a></blockquote></div></figure><p>On-chain data showed the attackers first attempted to withdraw a rounded $1 million through multicall transactions, but the transfer failed because the wallet held slightly less than that amount.</p><p>Seconds later, the attackers adjusted their script and successfully withdrew the wallet’s exact remaining balance.</p><p>“The script recalculated and pulled the exact remaining balance,” Scam Sniffer said.</p><h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="phishing-approvals-continue-draining-crypto-wallets">Phishing approvals continue draining crypto wallets</h2><p>Security researchers say approval phishing remains one of the most common social engineering attacks in crypto because users unknowingly grant unlimited spending permissions while believing they are approving a harmless transaction.</p><p>You might also like: <a href="https://crypto.news/nexo-launches-crypto-card-in-argentina-as-latin-america-push-grows/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> Nexo launches crypto card in Argentina as Latin America push grows </a></p><p>According to blockchain security firm CertiK, phishing scams <a href="https://www.certik.com/blog/hack3d-the-web3-security-report-2025" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">caused</a> $723 million in losses across 248 incidents during 2025. In these attacks, victims are typically tricked into signing malicious token approvals, allowing attackers to move funds from their wallets without requiring another signature.</p><p>The latest incident follows another major wallet compromise reported earlier this month. In that case, a crypto holder lost about $1.65 million after connecting to a fake exchange and signing a malicious smart contract.</p><p>“The approval gave attackers unlimited access, enabling an automated sweeper to drain funds,” researcher Ryan Coleman said on Friday.</p><figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-x wp-block-embed-x"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>A wallet holder lost $1.65M after connecting to a fake exchange and signing a malicious contract. The approval gave attackers unlimited access, enabling an automated sweeper to drain funds. Always verify contracts and revoke unused token approvals. <a href="https://t.co/MbwJx2CHSe" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">pic.twitter.com/MbwJx2CHSe</a></p>— Ryan C. Coleman (@RyanColeXBT) <a href="https://x.com/RyanColeXBT/status/2073172860034789620?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">July 3, 2026</a></blockquote></div></figure><p>The latest phishing loss comes only days after another high-profile onchain incident highlighted a different risk facing crypto users. Earlier this week, a trader <a href="https://crypto.news/2m-ether-swap-ends-in-14k-after-low-liquidity-routing-mistake/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">lost nearly $2 million</a> after a decentralized exchange routed an Ether swap through a low-liquidity pool, allowing a same-block arbitrage trade to extract most of the transaction’s value.&nbsp;</p><p>According to GoPlus Security, the loss was caused by transaction routing rather than phishing, prompting researchers to urge users to review execution paths carefully before confirming onchain transactions.</p><p>Scam Sniffer advised users to carefully review every signature request, avoid rushing approvals and use scam detection tools or browser extensions before signing wallet transactions.</p><p>Read more: <a href="https://crypto.news/tokenized-equities-surge-105-as-wall-street-joins-the-race/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> Tokenized equities surge 105% as Wall Street joins the race </a></p>

Ethereum phishing scam drains nearly $1 million from crypto wallet

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