Web3 Blockchain Game Free Mint Blind Box Scam: Inducing Unlimited Authorization to Drain Wallet Assets

Who Gets Targeted

The primary victims are young investors and cryptocurrency players keen on Web3 games and early-stage NFT projects. Driven by the speculative desire to enter early and profit, they are highly sensitive to free mints or airdrop incentives. Fueled by FOMO (fear of missing out), they often overlook the specific terms of smart contract authorizations, blindly clicking to sign, which ultimately leads to their high-value wallet assets being instantly wiped out.

骗局怎么运作

• Attackers first use phishing tactics to compromise the social media accounts of Web3 game projects or prominent influencers. They then post fake announcements for limited free mints or token airdrops on these high-credibility official accounts, accompanied by enticing promotional posters, to lure community users to designated links.
• The perpetrators create phishing websites that closely mimic the design and domain of official sites. Once victims connect their crypto wallets, they are presented with interactive buttons for free claims or blind box minting. Behind the scenes, a malicious smart contract is ready, waiting for the user to trigger a transaction signature request.
• When the user clicks the mint or claim button, the wallet signature request that pops up is not a standard transaction, but a request to grant the contract unlimited authorization to operate the user's assets. The website's messaging is typically framed as verifying identity or activating eligibility to mask the true nature of the authorization.
• After the user unknowingly completes the signature authorization, the malicious contract immediately gains control over all specified tokens in the user's wallet. The attacker's backend script automatically initiates transfer transactions within a very short time, moving all high-value tokens and NFTs from the victim's wallet to an attacker-controlled address.
• Assets are often laundered quickly through mixers or cross-chain bridges to obscure the flow of funds. Meanwhile, the attacker deletes the fake social media posts and disconnects the phishing site. Victims often only realize they have been scammed when they see their wallet balance is zero, at which point the possibility of recovery is extremely slim.

红旗信号（看到这些快跑）

• 🚩 A project or influencer account suddenly posts airdrop or free mint links that deviate from their usual style, pointing to unfamiliar domains or URLs with typos.
• 🚩 The wallet signature request displays a need to grant a third-party smart contract authorization for a large amount or all tokens, rather than a standard minting or trading request.
• 🚩 The website requests identity verification, but the actual pop-up is a full asset authorization request after connecting the wallet.
• 🚩 The official discussion forum shows numerous users reporting asset loss after clicking a link, or the comment section is completely muted to suppress warnings from victims.
• 🚩 The so-called free mint activity requires an unusually high gas fee, or requests multiple consecutive signature operations without clear explanation.

真实案例

• Yakkamon Official Social Account Compromise: Hackers stole the project's social media account to post fake token airdrop links, inducing users to connect wallets to a phishing site and sign malicious transactions, resulting in losses for multiple Web3 players.
• Pudgy Penguins Phishing Case: Security research institutions disclosed that attackers impersonated the well-known Web3 project to launch fake airdrop phishing sites, using similar free-claim mechanisms to trick victims into signing unlimited authorization contracts, stealing their NFTs and crypto assets.
• Gaming Platform Cryptocurrency Theft: The FBI arrested a Florida man accused of committing cryptocurrency theft through a gaming platform, involving $220,000, highlighting new risks where gaming ecosystems and crypto assets intersect.
• In August 2026, according to Web3 gaming media EGamers, the old social account of the Yakkamon project was compromised to post fake FLOWER token Solana airdrop links. The page was a wallet drainer disguised as an airdrop. EGamers warned that the active Trainer Point airdrop automatically distributes 5,000 monster NFTs based on a leaderboard, with the top 1,000 receiving legendary monsters and 1,001-5,000 receiving rare monsters; users connecting their wallets face the risk of having their assets drained. (Source: https://egamers.io/fake-flower-solana-airdrop-spreads-from-yakkamons-stolen-x-account/)
• In March 2026, according to Tencent Cloud Developer Community research, a large-scale phishing attack targeted the popular NFT project Pudgy Penguins' new game, 'Pudgy World'. Attackers deployed fake wallet connection interfaces using spoofed domains to attempt to steal users' wallet passwords, seed phrases, and private keys. The phishing site supported simulated logins for almost all mainstream crypto wallets, affecting users across dozens of wallet types. (Source: https://cloud.tencent.com/developer/article/2643705)

Official Stance

• Tencent Cloud Developer Community (2024 Technical Bulletin): Published research on the mechanisms of Web3 gaming phishing attacks, explicitly pointing out that spoofed airdrops have become a common means of stealing wallet authorizations.
• FBI (Case Alert): Issued an alert regarding cryptocurrency theft through gaming channels, warning of asset security risks at the intersection of gaming and cryptocurrency.
• Ministry of Public Security Cyber Security Bureau (2023 Security Warning): Reminded the public to be vigilant against free-claim scams in the NFT and virtual currency sectors, and to guard against property losses caused by malicious contracts.

How to Protect Yourself

• ✅ Verify the authenticity of any free mint or airdrop link. Only obtain links through official project websites or verified social media pages. Never click on short links posted by strangers in comment sections or group chats.
• ✅ When signing with a crypto wallet, carefully read the authorization details prompted by the wallet. If you see a request to authorize all assets to an unknown smart contract, refuse the signature immediately and disconnect.
• ✅ Use hardware cold wallets to isolate large assets, use small-balance hot wallets for daily interactions, and periodically use on-chain authorization management tools to clean up unnecessary contract authorizations to prevent long-term abuse of permissions.
• ✅ Install security verification plugins in your browser. These tools can automatically analyze contract code before you sign and flag potential malicious authorization risks, providing a secondary confirmation intercept.