Honeypot scam, the kind of scams or tricks used by dishonest people to steal small amounts of crypto from many unsuspecting users. Adding up to a large sum over time. Recently, Dechat, a Web3 communication protocol, mistakenly connected to a honeypot PancakeSwap pool during its token launch announcement on Feb 26. This error was highlighted by ZachXBT, an on-chain researcher, who pointed out the risks of such scams.
What did Dechat do?
During the launch of its new token, Dechat made a mistake in sharing a link. As a result of this mistake, some people have fallen victim to what’s called the “honeypot crypto scam.” Basically, it’s where a smart contract steals people’s money. A researcher named ZachXBT pointed out this error on Feb 26. He said, “You clowns literally linked a honeypot for your own token launch.”
fter ZachXBT’s discovery, Dechat fixed the problem. They deleted the wrong post and shared a new one with the correct link for PancakeSwap. Their new token, DECHAT, started trading on Feb. 26 on various exchanges like KuCoin and Bybit.
However, people were upset in the community. One person, Varun4243, said they lost money because of the wrong link. They asked Dechat if they would compensate for the losses. Varun4243 said, “You guys posted the wrong contract address and link for Pancakeswap!! I lost money because of that!! Will you compensate me for that?”
Previous scams and safety measures
Honeypot scams are a growing worry because they can pop up quickly. CertiK, a blockchain security firm, says a single bad actor can make a new honeypot contract in just 30 minutes.
One famous example is the Squid Game honeypot token scam from November 2021. The people behind the SQUID token scam made off with around $6.38 million in untraceable BNB. They used a cryptocurrency mixer called Tornado Cash to move the stolen money.
It’s a good thing there are tools like Web3 Antivirus (W3A) to help protect you from these scams. W3A is a browser extension that checks smart contracts and tokens in real time. Works with Chrome, Firefox, Brave, and Edge. This helps crypto users stay safe when using decentralized finance (DeFi) and Web3 apps.
W3A is always updating to keep up with scammers. In its 0.10 version it got even better at spotting honeypots. A honeypot’s type can be accurately identified now, so users won’t lose money.
