How to avoid falling for scams like the "Solana Airdrop" fake giveaway

What is a fake "Solana Airdrop"?

Our team has inspected the email and found that it promotes a fake cryptocurrency giveaway (airdrop). Its purpose is to trick recipients into opening a deceptive site and connecting their crypto wallets. Falling for this scam can result in the theft of cryptocurrency. Thus, this email should be ignored and deleted if ever received.

More about the fake "Solana Airdrop" scam email

This scam email claims that the recipient is eligible for an exclusive Solana (SOL) airdrop and urges them to claim the reward immediately before it expires. It provides instructions on participation, including restrictions for new wallets and details about allocation based on staking activity.

The message presents itself as coming from the Solana Foundation, but it is designed to trick recipients into clicking the included link (the "Claim Your SOL Now" button). Clicking that link leads to a fake Solana website instructing visitors to connect their wallets to "claim" SOL tokens.

When users do so, they inadvertently trigger a cryptocurrency drainer that can transfer the entire balance from the connected wallet to the attacker's wallet. Because blockchain transactions are irreversible, any stolen funds cannot be recovered, and financial loss is permanent.

Thus, it is important to know how to recognize scam emails and websites to avoid falling for them and losing money or experiencing other issues.

Conclusion

This email is a cryptocurrency scam designed to trick users into connecting their wallets to a fake site, allowing threat actors to steal cryptocurrency. Clicking links or following instructions can result in permanent financial loss. Users should be cautious, carefully verify emails and websites, and never connect their wallets while on shady pages.

More examples of scam delivered via email are "Encrypted Fax Document Received", "DHL - Package With Air Waybill Has Been Delivered", and "Exodus Wallet Verification". It is important to note that scam emails can also be used to distribute malware.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Malware often spreads through email. Attackers hide it in files attached to messages, like executables (.exe), Office documents, PDFs, scripts, or compressed files. The malware can start running when recipients open the file, or if the file asks them to do something, like enable macros, and they do it.

Some deceptive emails can lead recipients to malicious websites. These sites might automatically try to download malware or trick visitors into downloading and running it. Usually, a computer only gets infected if recipients click the link or open the attachment.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Avoid pop-ups, ads, links, and buttons on untrusted websites. Do not open attachments or click links in unexpected messages, including emails, from unknown senders. Block notifications from suspicious sites. Only download software and apps from official stores or trusted websites.

Do not use pirated programs, cracking tools, or keygens. Keep your operating system and apps up to date, and run regular scans with trustworthy antivirus or anti-malware tools.

The appearance of the fake "Solana Airdrop" website (GIF):

Text presented in the "Solana Airdrop" scam email:

Claim Your SOL Airdrop Now!

Congratulations! You're eligible for the SOL airdrop!

You've been chosen to receive an exclusive SOL reward from the Solana Foundation!

Claim your reward now before it expires!
Claim Your SOL Now
Rules to Participate:

New wallets are NOT eligible to prevent system abuse.
Airdrop calculated based on transactions across supported staking chains.
Long-term stakers receive a higher allocation in the distribution.

© 2025 Solana Foundation, All rights reserved.

You are receiving this email because you are a user of Solana.

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Quick menu:

• What is Fake Solana Airdrop?
• Types of malicious emails.
• How to spot a malicious email?
• What to do if you fell for an email scam?

Types of malicious emails:

Phishing Emails

Most commonly, cybercriminals use deceptive emails to trick Internet users into giving away their sensitive private information, for example, login information for various online services, email accounts, or online banking information.

Such attacks are called phishing. In a phishing attack, cybercriminals usually send an email message with some popular service logo (for example, Microsoft, DHL, Amazon, Netflix), create urgency (wrong shipping address, expired password, etc.), and place a link which they hope their potential victims will click on.

After clicking the link presented in such email message, victims are redirected to a fake website that looks identical or extremely similar to the original one. Victims are then asked to enter their password, credit card details, or some other information that gets stolen by cybercriminals.

Emails with Malicious Attachments

Another popular attack vector is email spam with malicious attachments that infect users' computers with malware. Malicious attachments usually carry trojans that are capable of stealing passwords, banking information, and other sensitive information.

In such attacks, cybercriminals' main goal is to trick their potential victims into opening an infected email attachment. To achieve this goal, email messages usually talk about recently received invoices, faxes, or voice messages.

If a potential victim falls for the lure and opens the attachment, their computers get infected, and cybercriminals can collect a lot of sensitive information.

While it's a more complicated method to steal personal information (spam filters and antivirus programs usually detect such attempts), if successful, cybercriminals can get a much wider array of data and can collect information for a long period of time.

Sextortion Emails

This is a type of phishing. In this case, users receive an email claiming that a cybercriminal could access the webcam of the potential victim and has a video recording of one's masturbation.

To get rid of the video, victims are asked to pay a ransom (usually using Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency). Nevertheless, all of these claims are false - users who receive such emails should ignore and delete them.

How to spot a malicious email?

While cyber criminals try to make their lure emails look trustworthy, here are some things that you should look for when trying to spot a phishing email:

• Check the sender's ("from") email address: Hover your mouse over the "from" address and check if it's legitimate. For example, if you received an email from Microsoft, be sure to check if the email address is @microsoft.com and not something suspicious like @m1crosoft.com, @microsfot.com, @account-security-noreply.com, etc.
• Check for generic greetings: If the greeting in the email is "Dear user", "Dear @youremail.com", "Dear valued customer", this should raise suspiciousness. Most commonly, companies call you by your name. Lack of this information could signal a phishing attempt.
• Check the links in the email: Hover your mouse over the link presented in the email, if the link that appears seems suspicious, don't click it. For example, if you received an email from Microsoft and the link in the email shows that it will go to firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0... you shouldn't trust it. It's best not to click any links in the emails but to visit the company website that sent you the email in the first place.
• Don't blindly trust email attachments: Most commonly, legitimate companies will ask you to log in to their website and to view any documents there; if you received an email with an attachment, it's a good idea to scan it with an antivirus application. Infected email attachments are a common attack vector used by cybercriminals.

To minimise the risk of opening phishing and malicious emails we recommend using Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows. 

Example of a spam email:

What to do if you fell for an email scam?

• If you clicked on a link in a phishing email and entered your password - be sure to change your password as soon as possible. Usually, cybercriminals collect stolen credentials and then sell them to other groups that use them for malicious purposes. If you change your password in a timely manner, there's a chance that criminals won't have enough time to do any damage.
• If you entered your credit card information - contact your bank as soon as possible and explain the situation. There's a good chance that you will need to cancel your compromised credit card and get a new one.
• If you see any signs of identity theft - you should immediately contact the Federal Trade Commission. This institution will collect information about your situation and create a personal recovery plan.
• If you opened a malicious attachment - your computer is probably infected, you should scan it with a reputable antivirus application. For this purpose, we recommend using  Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows.
• Help other Internet users - report phishing emails to Anti-Phishing Working Group, FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, National Fraud Information Center and U.S. Department of Justice.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Why did I receive this email?

People receive scam emails because scammers obtain their email addresses through data breaches or other methods and send fraudulent messages to all addresses. Their emails are usually not personal.

I have provided my personal information when tricked by this email, what should I do?

In case account credentials have been compromised, reset all passwords. If personal data such as financial or ID information was given, contact the appropriate institutions as soon as possible.

I have downloaded and opened a file attached to this email, is my computer infected?

If the file is an executable, it is very likely that the system is infected. If it is a document, such as a PDF or Word file, the infection may have been avoided, since simply opening these types of files does not always allow malware to run.

I have sent cryptocurrency to the address presented in such email, can I get my money back?

Blockchain transactions like these are permanent and typically cannot be reversed or retrieved.

I have read the email but didn't open the attachment, is my computer infected?

No, simply opening an email does not cause harm. Infections can occur only if the user clicks on links or opens attachments contained in the deceptive email.

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections that were present in email attachment?

Yes, Combo Cleaner can detect and remove nearly all known malware. Since advanced malware often hides deep within the system, performing a full system scan is essential to ensure removal.