How to Read a Transaction Before You Sign It

Updated 2026-10-29

Short answer: before you press Confirm, check four things: the website you're on, the network, what leaves your wallet, and whether you're giving anyone permission to spend your tokens. If the pop-up asks for an approval, a "permit" or "all your NFTs" when you only meant to claim or mint something, reject it. A signature can be as dangerous as a transaction.

Two kinds of request

Your wallet asks you to approve two different things:

Transactions change something on the blockchain: send coins, swap, claim, approve. They cost a small network fee and can't be undone once confirmed.
Signatures ("Sign message", "Signature request") don't cost a fee and seem harmless. Many are: logging in to a site often means signing a short message. But some signatures are orders or permits that let someone else move your tokens later, with no further click from you.

Check these four things

1. The website

Look at the address bar, not the design. Scam sites copy real ones perfectly and are bought as search ads. Open apps from a bookmark or from the project's official channels (our Community page lists many).

2. The network

The wallet shows which network the request is on (Ethereum, Base, Flare…). If it isn't the one you expected, stop. A wrong network can send coins somewhere you can't get them back from.

3. What leaves your wallet

Most wallets now show a preview ("estimated changes" or a simulation): what you send and what you receive. Read it.

Sending more than you meant, or receiving nothing back, is a reason to reject.
If the wallet can't preview it, or warns you it's risky, take the warning seriously.
For a send, compare the first and last several characters of the address with the one you meant. Scammers make look-alike addresses. Our address checker can tell you more about any address first.

4. Permission to spend

These requests don't move tokens now; they let someone else move them later:

Approve / spending cap. Lets a contract spend a token for you. Normal for swaps and lending, but check which contract and how much. "Unlimited" means it can take all of that token, now and in the future.
Set approval for all. Lets someone move every NFT in a collection. Real mints and claims don't need it.
Permit and Permit2 signatures. The same permission as an approval, given by signature. Free to sign, just as dangerous.
Increase allowance. Raises an existing permission.

If you didn't expect a permission, reject it. If you did, prefer a limited amount over unlimited when the app lets you choose.

Red flags

A "claim", "airdrop" or "mint" that asks for an approval, a permit or "all NFTs".
A signature full of unreadable code, or one your wallet labels as dangerous.
Pressure: a countdown, "last chance", or a stranger telling you which button to press.
A reward you didn't expect, from a token you never bought. These are lures: see why in our Portfolio's unknown tokens note.
A hardware wallet that can't show the details ("blind signing"). Find out what you're signing first.

After you sign

Check your approvals from time to time and revoke the ones you no longer use. See how to check and revoke token approvals.
If you think you signed something bad, revoke the approval at once, then move what's left to a new wallet. Speed matters.

Do this

Open apps from bookmarks, not search results or links in messages.
Before Confirm: right site, right network, what leaves, what permission.
Reject approvals, permits and "all NFTs" you didn't expect.
Read the hardware wallet's screen, not just the computer's.
Revoke old approvals regularly.