Monad warns of spoofed token transfers days after mainnet debut

Monad’s first week on mainnet hasn’t been entirely smooth, with users now reporting spoofed ERC-20 token transfers after mainnet launch.

Reports regarding widespread spoofing incidents began circulating on Tuesday, Nov. 25, a day after the mainnet debut.

Monad co-founder and chief technology officer James Hunsaker warned on X that scammers were broadcasting fabricated ERC-20 transfers that appeared to come from his wallet.

Fake transfers surface within 48 hours of launch

Spoofing refers to fake on-chain events that appear real on explorers and wallets but involve no actual movement of funds. Hunsaker shared examples showing transactions that weren’t initiated by him.

He pointed out that ERC-20 is only an interface standard, and anyone can deploy a contract that emits misleading transfer logs. These events don’t move tokens or drain wallets, but they can mislead users into thinking they’ve received assets or triggered unexpected activity.

The goal is social engineering. Scammers often try to push users toward phishing sites, “claim” buttons, or malicious contracts that ask for approvals. It’s a recurring issue on new Ethereum Virtual Machine chains when activity surges and users rush to interact with fresh dApps.

X saw a spike in warnings, and “#MonadScam” trended briefly before cooling off. Monad clarified that this incident is not an exploit and no funds were lost.

The timing, coming just a day after the mainnet launch, added to confusion among new users already navigating a busy rollout. Users praised the team’s quick response, and many highlighted that the fake transfers didn’t affect their wallet balances or token holdings.

High activity and airdrop hype created a target

More than 76,000 wallets claimed 3.33 billion MON tokens in the airdrop round worth roughly $105 million at the time, and the network has seen strong traction since launch. Attackers appear to be taking advantage of this early rush, similar to earlier phishing campaigns that mimicked Monad’s airdrop portal.

Monad’s debut has been one of the most active launches of the year. The chain, a high-performance, EVM-compatible network built by former Jump Trading engineers, went live with support from over 280 projects.

It has raised more than $260 million from Paradigm, Electric Capital, and OKX Ventures. Testnet numbers topped 2.6 billion transactions, with more than 300 million wallets and 41 million blocks.

MON launched at $0.02 and after an early dip, the price has climbed more than 50%, trading near $0.045 at press time. As activity ramps up, the team is urging users to rely only on verified explorers, avoid urgency prompts, and double-check contract interactions.