Introducing BlockWallet Phishing Protection

BlockWallet
4 min readMar 18, 2022

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DeFi is now accessible to everyone, but until we champion this newfound financial freedom, consider another side of this story — security is still lagging behind massively.

In just 2021 alone, we had a record-breaking year — it is reported that scammers stole $14 billion worth of funds. This is nearly twice as much as the $7.8 billion stolen in 2020. A significant part of this sum is due to phishing scams. What’s scary is that no one is invincible, whether you’re just getting into the space or a seasoned professional. Take Todd Kramer as an example, an art gallery owner with $2.2 million worth of Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs stolen from his wallet. Or Larry Lawliet, who lost $2.7 million in NFTs from a phishing scam. Crypto is plagued with thousands of gut-wrenching stories just like this.

Phishing scams usually work by tricking victims with fake error messages or impersonating well-known brands and asking you to verify your credentials. They will then lead you to unofficial websites or extensions asking to enter a wallet seed phrase or similar information.

As we onboard more users into Web3, we don’t expect everyone to stay updated on the latest phishing tactics, nor should we. So, everything we build is based on privacy and security by default approach, which means we should protect users without them even knowing about it or provide seamless access to privacy and security features. This approach often forces us to innovate, and what we present today is truly unique to BlockWallet.

Meet our phishing protection feature. We combat a well-known scam where users are tricked into logging into a fake wallet, which is a mirror of a real one. Now, BlockWallet will generate a unique piece of artwork on your wallet’s “Login” & “Import/Export Account” pages, so you will always know if it’s a real deal.

How This Feature Helps You

This feature is fully integrated into the wallet, so you don’t have to do anything more than keep it on and remember what your unique artwork looks like. Make sure to check your artwork every time you need to enter the password.

It’s important to note that if you interact with your BlockWallet and it doesn’t display your unique anti-phishing artwork, you are very likely a victim of a phishing attempt and that you should avoid using the wallet. Instead, contact our community managers on Telegram or Discord for further guidance.

We hope this will help you navigate the crypto world more safely, but please note that ultimately the safety of your funds lies in your hands. Please make sure you become familiar with your unique artwork and always check it when you need to enter your password.

Manage Phishing Protection settings

The feature is enabled by default. To access the “Phishing Protection” menu, click on a settings wheel on the main screen, head to preferences, and click on Phishing Protection.

Read the helpdesk article for more detailed instructions.

About BlockWallet

BlockWallet is a privacy-focused non-custodial browser extension wallet, where you can store, send or receive crypto and interact with your favorite blockchain apps privately.

As crypto sees mainstream adoption, blockchain’s lack of privacy poses real security risks. BlockWallet is here to ensure that on-chain privacy does not lag behind. The wallet provides a set of advanced privacy tools wrapped in a familiar and user-friendly wallet experience, eliminating the friction and making privacy accessible for everyone.

BlockWallet protects your financial data. When you make transactions or interact with blockchain apps, the requests are sent through BlockWallet Privacy Proxies by default, concealing the IP address and other metadata, which can be used to identify the user. You can also use the Privacy Pools feature, powered by zk-SNARKs technology, to deposit and mix funds in a smart contract. This allows transferring funds without links to your history and identity on the blockchain, effectively rendering them untraceable.

BlockWallet is not a compromise. It’s privacy-first, but it still packs all features you would expect from a wallet. With full Web 3.0 support, the wallet allows you to connect to any dApp and harness the power of the decentralized web.

Reclaim your financial privacy on blockchain. Get BlockWallet.

Join the BlockWallet community today:
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BlockWallet

The most private, non-custodial browser wallet. Reclaim control of your financial privacy. Get BlockWallet. https://blockwallet.io/