Every time you send crypto or interact with a smart contract, like swapping tokens, you'll see a confirmation screen asking you to review and approve the transaction. This is your last chance to catch a mistake before it becomes permanent. Once a transaction is confirmed on the blockchain, there's no undo button. If the recipient address is wrong, or belongs to a scammer, that crypto is gone for good. That's exactly why a quick, careful review of this screen before you confirm anything is one of the most useful habits you can build.

Look at the recipient address in full, not just the first and last few characters. Check that the token and the network match what you intended, since sending the right token on the wrong network can be just as costly as sending to the wrong address. And if the wallet shows a security warning, stop and look into it before proceeding rather than dismissing it and moving on.

If you're prompted to sign a message rather than approve a transfer, that's a different kind of signature with its own risks. We cover that in detail in our article on the risks of signing blockchain messages.

Scammers will sometimes send a tiny, near-worthless amount of crypto to your wallet from an address that closely mimics the first and last few characters of an address you use often. They're betting that next time you go to send crypto, you'll copy the fake address from your transaction history out of habit instead of checking it carefully.

A few habits make this much harder to fall for. Use the filter in Binance.US Wallet to hide small or spam transactions from your history, so a poisoned address doesn't end up sitting in your recent activity. Save the addresses you use often in your wallet's address book, and use those saved entries instead of copying from history. Always copy an address directly from its original source, the person or platform you're actually sending to, rather than from a past transaction. For any large transfer, send a small test amount first and confirm it arrived before sending the rest. And when you do paste an address, compare the full string character by character rather than just the ends.

A Ponzi scheme pays early participants using money from newer participants, rather than from any real underlying activity. It works only as long as new money keeps coming in, and it collapses once that stops. Consistent, guaranteed high returns are the clearest warning sign here. If a crypto opportunity promises that, treat it as a red flag rather than a rare find.

Do your research before connecting your wallet to anything new, including the project itself, its team, and whether it's been through a credible audit. Avoid copying and pasting addresses when you can, since malware that swaps out clipboard contents is a real risk, and lean on your address book instead. Before you confirm any transfer, compare the recipient address to the one you intended to send to, in full, not just a glance at the start and end. Stay alert to pressure tactics and unsolicited offers, since most scams rely on urgency and trust rather than technical tricks. And take a moment to actually understand what you're approving each time you connect a wallet or sign something, rather than clicking through out of habit.

The confirmation screen is your last checkpoint before an action becomes permanent. Reviewing it carefully, verifying addresses in full, and staying alert to scams like poisoned addresses and unrealistic return promises go a long way toward keeping your assets where you intend them to be.