Dusting attack

"Dust" is an amount of crypto so small that it is worth less than the fee needed to spend it. In a dusting attack, someone sends dust to many addresses, either to track the owners or to lure them into a scam.

On Bitcoin, the tracking version works like this: if you later spend the dust together with your other coins, the transaction links your addresses, which helps analysts or attackers map your wallet and possibly your identity. On Ethereum, Tron and other chains, dust often comes as a worthless token whose name contains a website link promising a reward, which leads to a wallet-draining phishing site.

The best response is usually to do nothing. Do not visit links in token names, do not try to sell or swap unknown tokens, and do not approve any contract they point you to. Bitcoin wallets with coin control, such as Sparrow, let you freeze dust so it is never spent alongside your other coins.