Originally published on: September 04, 2024
Reports have emerged of scammers discovering a new method to exploit Solana users by burning tokens from their wallets within seconds of purchase. This alarming trend was highlighted by Slorg, a member of Solana-based Jupiter’s Core Working Group, who revealed that scammers are utilizing an in-built Solana token extension to stealthily delete users’ crypto holdings.
In a post on X, Slorg shared the unfortunate experience of a Jupiter Community Member who fell victim to this scheme just 4 days ago. The user swapped for a token named “RED” with a “Permanent Delegate” extension, allowing scammers to burn all tokens in the transaction a mere seven seconds after completion.
The Permanent Delegate extension in Solana’s Token 2022 standard enables unrestricted delegate privileges over all Token Accounts for that mint, providing scammers with the ability to burn or transfer tokens without limits. While intended for legitimate use cases like token retrieval or automatic payments, this feature can also be exploited for malicious purposes.
According to Slorg, scammers may burn tokens to cause chaos, manipulate tokenomics, or deceive users into thinking a token’s circulation remains unchanged. This nefarious activity underscores the importance of due diligence and caution when transacting with new tokens.
Entities like Jupiter and RugCheck have developed indicators to detect when this extension is activated, but users are urged to remain vigilant and thoroughly review all details before making any swaps. As the crypto landscape evolves with new capabilities, staying informed and exercising prudence is essential to avoid falling prey to such scams.
In a related development, the emergence of crypto bots and auto memecoin rug pulls has raised concerns about the integrity of the crypto market. Stay informed and stay safe in the ever-changing world of cryptocurrencies.
