Security researchers are warning Ethereum users after a sharp rise in dust attacks, with stablecoin transactions such as USDT and USDC experiencing major spikes.
An analysis comparing the ninety days before and after the December 3 Ethereum Fusaka upgrade shows a significant increase in address poisoning scams across the network. Stablecoin transfers on Ethereum appear to be among the most affected by this growing threat.
Dust Transfers Rise After Lower Fees
According to researcher Wise Crypto, dust attacks have increased significantly across the Ethereum ecosystem. In a post shared on X on March 13, the researcher noted that the surge has been particularly noticeable in stablecoin transactions.
Transfers of USDT worth less than one cent increased by 612 percent, rising from roughly 4.2 million transactions to about 29.9 million. USDC showed a similar trend, with transactions growing from 2.6 million to 14.7 million, representing a 473 percent increase. Dust transfers involving ETH and DAI also climbed, rising by 470 percent and 62 percent respectively, with ETH alone recording about 65.2 million additional transfers.
Address poisoning attacks work by inserting fraudulent wallet addresses into a user’s transaction history. These fake addresses are designed to closely resemble legitimate ones by matching the beginning and ending characters. Since many wallet interfaces display shortened addresses, users may mistakenly copy and send funds to the wrong address.
One such case was reported by on chain investigator Specter, who revealed that a victim lost 50 million dollars in an address poisoning attack in late December 2025. Another blockchain user responding to Wise Crypto’s post described a separate incident in which a single wallet address lost more than 388 thousand dollars to similar attacks.
Analysts at Etherscan link the rise in these scams to Ethereum’s Fusaka upgrade. The update improved the network’s scalability and lowered transaction fees, which also reduced the cost of sending dust transactions. This has allowed attackers to launch campaigns at a far larger scale than before.
Organized Scams Focus on High Value Wallets
A study covering the period from July 2022 to June 2024 found more than 17 million phishing attempts targeting approximately 1.3 million Ethereum users. These attacks resulted in losses exceeding 79 million dollars.
The strategy behind dust attacks depends more on volume than precision. Analysts have observed that in some cases dozens of poisoning transactions appear within minutes of a legitimate stablecoin transfer. An X user known as Nima reported receiving more than 89 notifications after making just two stablecoin transactions, demonstrating how automated scripts can rapidly generate large numbers of attacks.
Research cited by Etherscan suggests that only one out of every ten thousand dust transfer attempts is successful. However, by sending millions of these transactions, attackers rely on probability and scale to achieve results over time.
Etherscan explained that a single successful attack involving a large transaction can easily cover the cost of thousands of failed attempts.
Wise Crypto advises that the best protection is simple caution. Users should always verify the full wallet address before sending funds and avoid copying addresses directly from their transaction history.#crypto#cryptonews https://t.me/coinsignalpublic https://coinsignals.net
