Scam Alert: A Fraudulent Basic Attention Token (BAT) is Circulating on Uniswap

With the DeFi craze still on, scammers are always looking for ways to exploit and steal from unsuspecting crypto traders. 

For instance, someone recently created a fraudulent version of Basic Attention Token (BAT), and the token is currently circulating on the popular decentralized exchange, Uniswap.

The warning first published on Reddit today revealed that the perpetrators launched the fake BAT token about five days ago. 

Additional data found on the Etherscan explorer confirms that the fraudulent token already has nine addresses, with 81 transfers primarily on Uniswap exhibiting traces of ingenuine data collections.

The difference

The real BAT token listing often reflects a valid “fully diluted market cap” amount with a specific price per token, which usually attracts a larger number of address holders of the token. It also has voluminous transfer numbers on the blockchain. 

However, the fake BAT token in circulation holds relatively fewer addresses than usual, with a significantly lower number of transfers on the block.

Moreover, one can always trace the real BAT token’s contract address to an official website. The fake BAT token has no traceable official website.

The pitfall of DEX?

Although decentralized exchanges have played a significant role in keeping users’ identity confidential and other benefits such as reducing the risk of hack that centralized crypto exchanges are always a victim of, DEXes are not entirely free of drawbacks. 

Downsides of decentralized exchanges include a high risk of losing funds in trades where inattentive DEX users are fooled into buying fake coins, which does more harm than good to traders.