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Fake bridges and bridge scams: how to spot them
Most bridge losses for ordinary users come from fake sites, fake support and dangerous approvals, not from hacked protocols. A few habits stop almost all of them.
Fake sites that copy real bridges
Scammers copy the look of popular bridges and buy search ads above the real result. The address differs by a letter, an extra word or a different ending.
Open bridges from a bookmark, from the project page on this site, or from the project's official X account or documentation. Do not click sponsored search results or links in replies and DMs.
Fake support and recovery services
If you post that a transfer is stuck, accounts posing as support will message you within minutes. They send you to a form or a site that asks for your seed phrase, or ask you to connect your wallet to fix it.
Real support never messages first, never asks for a seed phrase and never needs you to sign anything to release funds.
Drainer signatures and unlimited approvals
A fake site does not need your seed phrase. It asks you to approve a token or sign a permit message, which lets it take your tokens later. Messages called Permit, Permit2, setApprovalForAll or increaseAllowance are the common ones.
Read what your wallet shows before signing. A bridge needs approval only for the token and amount you are sending. If a site asks to approve something unrelated, close it.
Look-alike tokens and airdrops
Tokens with the same name and logo as USDC, USDT or ETH can be created by anyone. Always check the contract address against the issuer or the bridge. Unknown tokens that appear in your wallet are often bait that leads to a drainer site when you try to sell them. Ignore them.
Quick safety checklist
Before every new bridge or route:
- Check the site address character by character.
- Read every approval and signature, and approve only the amount you send.
- Send a small test first.
- Use a separate wallet with limited funds for new apps.
- Never share your seed phrase, with anyone, for any reason.
If you already signed something bad
Act fast. Revoke approvals with a tool such as Revoke.cash or your wallet's built-in permission manager. Move any remaining funds to a new wallet with a new seed phrase if you entered your seed phrase anywhere.
Report the site to your wallet provider and the project it imitates. Be careful with anyone who offers to recover funds for a fee: they are almost always a second scam.
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