The encryption circle has recently seen a frightening case.

A user with a large amount of assets followed the regular procedure to make a transfer, copying what seemed to be a familiar address from the transaction record. With this one action, nearly 50 million USDT flew directly into the hacker's wallet. The incident occurred within 13 minutes—from a successful small-scale test to a failed large transfer, the entire process was so fast that there was no time to react.

This is not an isolated case. The attackers' strategy is actually very simple: they first send a small transaction to your wallet, allowing their phishing address to enter your transaction history. And then? They exploit the similarity of addresses that start and end the same to lure you into copying the wrong address. Such a low-tech operation can result in huge financial losses.

The problem is that many people think that small amount tests equal safety. In fact, that's not the case at all.

**The first pitfall: Don't rely on historical addresses**

The black market specializes in this - generating phishing addresses that look similar. The last few digits may really be the same, while the middle part is replaced. You glance at it and click or copy directly from the recent records, completely unaware of the anomaly. How common is this vulnerability? Much more common than you think.

**The second pitfall: false sense of security with small amount testing**

Are you at ease after a successful test? This is exactly what hackers want. They will keep an eye on your operational rhythm and strike when you transfer large amounts. The case of 50 million mentioned above went from a small success to a loss in just 13 minutes. You had no reaction time at all.

**Third pitfall: Clipboard contamination**

Some malicious browser plugins or malware can tamper with your copy-paste actions. The address you copied may be correct, but when you paste it, it turns into the attacker's address. Some people have suffered losses because of this, with their assets disappearing directly. So, you must check carefully before pasting—ensure the address is complete and that there are no abnormal characters.

**The protection plan is actually not complicated, the key is to execute it properly**

Step one, create your own address book, don't rely on transaction records. Add clear notes to each address and select from the address book when transferring. This can greatly reduce the probability of errors.

Step two, repeatedly verify the address before transferring. Prefix, suffix, the entire length, not a single one missing. Especially for large transfers, checking multiple times is not a hassle.

Step three, if you're really unsure, you can transfer in batches. But batching is not an excuse – every transfer must be done with the same caution.

The black market has now become industrialized. They no longer randomly target individuals, but instead deploy phishing addresses on a large scale, waiting for someone to fall into the trap. This is no longer a low-probability event, but a systemic risk.

**Final words: The security of transfers completely depends on your operational habits each time.** Copying, pasting, verifying, any mistake at any step can lead to irreversible losses. No technology can fully replace your caution because, in the end, it is you who holds the private key and makes the decisions.