Why is there a strange tiny payment in my crypto wallet history?
A crypto address is a long string of letters and numbers, like a bank account number. Scammers make a fake address that starts and ends with the same characters as one you use. Then they send you a tiny or zero payment, so the fake shows up in your history. Next time you copy an address from your history, you might copy theirs by mistake.
Warning signs
A tiny or zero-value payment appears in your history from an address you do not know.
That address looks almost the same as one you really use, especially the first and last few characters.
Your wallet shows a token you never bought.
If it already happened
Before any payment, check the whole address, not just the start and end. Compare every character.
Save addresses you use often in your wallet's address book or contacts. Pick from there, not from your history.
If a payment already went to the wrong address, tell the exchange's official support if you used one. Reach them in their app or by typing the address yourself.
Write down what happened while you still remember. Save the wallet addresses, transaction IDs (the long code for each payment), dates, amounts, screenshots, the website or app name, and the chat usernames.
Report it for free. In the US, use the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov and the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov. Outside the US, use your country's official fraud-report service. Type the address yourself.
Expect a second scam. People may soon contact you offering to get your money back for a fee. That is almost always another scam.