Revoke Introduces New Feature As Users Report Fake Approval Scam

Approval management platform Revoke introduced a new feature to combat a new crypto scam. Users reported receiving “fake approval” requests leaving users with exuberant transaction fees.

Revoke, an approval management platform that helps users practice safer crypto wallet behaviour was forced to issue a fix after users reported a new crypto scam.

Yesterday, we received reports of people seeing unknown approval transactions in their transaction history.It turns out that this is a new scam where scammers use so-called gas tokens to steal money when victims revoke these “fake approvals”. pic.twitter.com/vpY2sGIv0T

— Revoke.cash (@RevokeCash) July 9, 2023

Revoke.com received complaints over the weekend of a new crypto scam which baits users into revoking “fake approvals,” leaving them with excessively high transaction fees. The platform posted on Twitter that it had received reports of users seeing unknown approvals in the transaction history.

Scammers Are Creating Fake Gas Tokens

Revoke explained the scam involves scammers using so-called “gas tokens” to steal funds when victims revoke so-called “fake approvals.” Gas tokens were developed after Ethereum network fees began increasing, allowing users to store “cheap gas” when network demand is low.

Revoke explained this feature allows users “to mint gas tokens when fees were low and burn them when fees were high, effectively “locking in” the lower fee.” The platform explained the scam operates by scammers creating fake gas tokens, which they airdrop with fake approvals to users, tricking them into thinking there are requests they need to revoke.

The scammer’s fake tokens are programmed to generate a lot of gas during the revoked transactions. The newly minted tokens are sent to scammers, leaving victims with high transaction fees.

Revoke said:

But the scammers programmed these fake tokens so that it mints a lot of gas tokens during a revoke transaction. These gas tokens are then sent to the scammers, who can sell them. This is scary because your wallet popup will not show that you’re sending funds, just a high fee.

Revoke Introduces Fix to Mitigate Scam

Revoke acts as a tool to help users practice safer wallet behaviour. The platform manages or revokes active approvals such as those no longer required by decentralised finance protocols.

In an effort to mitigate the fallout from the scam, Revoke added a check that disables revoking approvals if the gas fees are excessive, and urged users to ignore fake approvals. Revoke explained:

Best thing to do with these fake approvals / fake tokens is to ignore them. As long as you don’t interact with them, they can’t steal your funds.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.