Inferno Drainer
What is Inferno Drainer?
Inferno DrainerA 2022–2023 crypto-wallet-drainer-as-a-service that emptied tens of thousands of victims' wallets by phishing them into signing token-approval transactions on fake mint and airdrop sites, before shutting down in November 2023.
Inferno Drainer was a prolific 'wallet drainer' service operating from late 2022 through November 2023 — the canonical example of the 2023-era surge in Web3 phishing. Operators of the service paid Inferno's developers a percentage of stolen funds for access to a turnkey kit: a JavaScript-based drainer payload, a phishing-site template, integration with multiple wallet protocols, and laundering through mixers and cross-chain bridges. Victims arrived at lookalike NFT-mint or token-airdrop sites (often promoted via hijacked Twitter accounts, Discord scams, and Google Ads), connected their wallet, and were prompted to sign 'mint' or 'claim' transactions that were actually unlimited ERC-20 / ERC-721 `setApprovalForAll` or `Permit` calls. The drainer then drained the approved tokens to operator-controlled addresses. Chainalysis and ScamSniffer estimated Inferno stole at least $80 million from 100,000+ victims before its operators announced shutdown in November 2023. Successor and copycat drainers — Pink Drainer, Angel Drainer, MS Drainer, AngelX — picked up the same kit-and-affiliate model and remained active through 2024–2025.
● Examples
- 01
A user clicks a Twitter ad for a 'free mint', signs what looks like a mint transaction, and an Inferno-powered drainer empties their ERC-20 holdings within seconds.
- 02
An NFT-focused security firm publishes the public addresses associated with the Inferno Drainer kit and integrates them into a wallet-warning extension.
● Frequently asked questions
What is Inferno Drainer?
A 2022–2023 crypto-wallet-drainer-as-a-service that emptied tens of thousands of victims' wallets by phishing them into signing token-approval transactions on fake mint and airdrop sites, before shutting down in November 2023. It belongs to the Web3 & Blockchain category of cybersecurity.
What does Inferno Drainer mean?
A 2022–2023 crypto-wallet-drainer-as-a-service that emptied tens of thousands of victims' wallets by phishing them into signing token-approval transactions on fake mint and airdrop sites, before shutting down in November 2023.
How does Inferno Drainer work?
Inferno Drainer was a prolific 'wallet drainer' service operating from late 2022 through November 2023 — the canonical example of the 2023-era surge in Web3 phishing. Operators of the service paid Inferno's developers a percentage of stolen funds for access to a turnkey kit: a JavaScript-based drainer payload, a phishing-site template, integration with multiple wallet protocols, and laundering through mixers and cross-chain bridges. Victims arrived at lookalike NFT-mint or token-airdrop sites (often promoted via hijacked Twitter accounts, Discord scams, and Google Ads), connected their wallet, and were prompted to sign 'mint' or 'claim' transactions that were actually unlimited ERC-20 / ERC-721 `setApprovalForAll` or `Permit` calls. The drainer then drained the approved tokens to operator-controlled addresses. Chainalysis and ScamSniffer estimated Inferno stole at least $80 million from 100,000+ victims before its operators announced shutdown in November 2023. Successor and copycat drainers — Pink Drainer, Angel Drainer, MS Drainer, AngelX — picked up the same kit-and-affiliate model and remained active through 2024–2025.
How do you defend against Inferno Drainer?
Defences for Inferno Drainer typically combine technical controls and operational practices, as detailed in the full definition above.
What are other names for Inferno Drainer?
Common alternative names include: Inferno Drainer kit, Wallet drainer service.
● Related terms
- web3№ 1348
Wallet Drainer
Malicious software or a phishing kit that tricks crypto-wallet users into signing transactions or approvals that hand over all valuable tokens and NFTs.
- web3№ 912
Permit2 Phishing
Permit2 phishing tricks an Ethereum user into signing a Uniswap Permit2 off-chain message that grants an attacker the right to transfer the victim's ERC-20 tokens.
- web3№ 1155
Signature Phishing (Web3)
A Web3 phishing pattern that tricks a user into signing an EIP-712 or `personal_sign` message that authorizes the attacker to move tokens, transfer NFTs, or take wallet actions — without ever asking for a seed phrase.
- web3№ 017
Address Poisoning
Address poisoning seeds a victim's transaction history with attacker-controlled lookalike addresses so they later copy-paste the wrong one and send funds to the attacker.
- web3№ 1171
Smart Contract Security
The practice of designing, reviewing, and operating on-chain programs so they cannot be exploited to steal funds, freeze logic, or violate intended business rules.
- web3№ 1063
Rug Pull
An exit scam in which the developers of a crypto token, NFT collection, or DeFi protocol drain liquidity or treasury funds and disappear, leaving holders with worthless assets.
● See also
- № 413EIP-712 Signing