Safety guide

How to stay safe claiming airdrops

Free tokens attract scammers like nothing else in crypto. Almost every airdrop loss comes down to a signature approved on a fake site or a seed phrase typed where it never should have been. Both are preventable.

Reviewed by the airdrops.io research team

The six rules

The rules we follow ourselves, based on what we have seen since 2017.

  • Your seed phrase stays offline. No airdrop, support team or “verification bot” ever needs it.
  • Never send crypto to get crypto. “Send 0.1 to get 1 back” was a scam in 2017 and still is.
  • Claim only from official links. Use the project’s own channels or our guide’s link. Fake claim sites drain more farmers than anything else.
  • Farm with a burner wallet. Keep your holdings in a separate wallet, ideally a hardware wallet.
  • Read every signature. If you don’t understand what a request does, reject it.
  • Use app-based 2FA. SMS codes can be stolen through a SIM swap.

The 30-second check before you claim

Tick each one. Your ticks stay in this browser only.

  • I found this claim on the project’s official site or X account, not in a reply, DM or ad.
  • The same airdrop is on airdrops.io, and I opened the claim link from there.
  • I checked the URL letter by letter before connecting a wallet.
  • I’m connected with a burner wallet, not my main one.
  • The signature request matches what I’m doing, and my wallet shows no warning.
  • Nobody is rushing me with a countdown.

All six checked. Go ahead, and still read the signature.

Scams that catch people

How each one works, and the sign that gives it away.

Fake claim sites

A clone of the real claim page, pushed through search ads and lookalike replies. Never claim from a search result or a reply.

The tell: the URL is the only difference.

Drainer signatures

One signature can empty a wallet: a token approval, a permit or a setApprovalForAll for NFTs.

The tell: an “approve” or “permit” when you expected a simple claim.

Account “upgrade” requests

Since Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade (May 2025), a wallet can sign an authorization that hands its account to a smart contract. Drainers abuse it.

The tell: a site asks you to upgrade, delegate or “enable smart account” while claiming.

Address poisoning

A tiny transfer from an address that looks like one you use, hoping you copy it from your history. Always copy addresses from the source.

The tell: a near-identical address you never sent to.

Scam tokens in your wallet

Tokens you never claimed are bait. Selling them leads to a phishing site or a malicious approval. Hide them.

The tell: a token you don’t recognise, often with a link in its name.

Fake verification bots

A Telegram group asks you to “verify you’re human” by pasting a command into your computer or logging in with your phone number. Both hand over your device or your account.

The tell: a “verification” that wants a pasted command or your phone number.

Hacked official accounts

Even verified accounts get taken over and post a “surprise claim”.

The tell: a drop out of nowhere with a short countdown.

Fake support

Nobody legitimate DMs you first. Not admins, not wallet support, not us.

The tell: a stranger offering help in your DMs.

Recovery scams

After a drain, “recovery experts” offer to get funds back for a fee. On-chain transactions can’t be reversed, so this is a second scam.

The tell: anyone promising to get funds back.

Read what you sign

Four requests a claim site can show you, and what to do with each.

example.xyz

Sign-in message

Sign in to example.xyz
Nonce: 8f2a91
No token, no amount

Usually fine

claim-exarnple.xyz

Approval or permit

Spender: 0x9a3…f01c
Token: USDC
Amount:

Unlimited

Stop

nft-claim.app

Set approval for all

Operator: 0x51d…77ae
Approved for:

All your NFTs

Stop

upgrade-wallet.io

Account delegation

Delegate account to
contract 0x7c0…e3b2

Full control

Stop

Most wallets now preview what a transaction will change. If the preview shows assets leaving and you expected to receive, reject it.

A wallet setup that limits the damage

Vault wallet

Holds
Everything you want to keep
Type
Hardware wallet
Connects to
Almost nothing
If drained
You lose your stack

Burner wallet

Holds
Gas money and fresh claims
Type
Any hot wallet
Connects to
Airdrop and quest sites
If drained
You lose lunch money

Write your seed phrase on paper and keep it offline. Never photograph it or save it in a cloud note. Every few weeks, review your token approvals with revoke.cash and remove the ones you no longer use.

If you think you’ve been drained

Speed matters. Do these in order.

  1. From a clean device, create a new wallet and move what’s left to it.
  2. Revoke every approval on the drained wallet.
  3. If assets left without you signing anything, assume the seed phrase is exposed and never import it again.
  4. Report the address and the site on Chainabuse and to the project’s official channel.
  5. If the link came from an airdrops.io page, tell us so we can pull it.

Ignore anyone who offers to recover your funds. They are scammers too.

Only trust these accounts

We never DM you first, never ask for your seed phrase and never ask you to send crypto.

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