Reported fake Tradecat 'early adopter' airdrop on register-tradecat.live lures wallet owners, MalwareTips says
In a post published October 21, 2026, MalwareTips warns of a Tradecat airdrop scam promoting a supposed limited-time distribution for early adopters and community members. The reported claim site used register-tradeca…
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Source: malwaretips.com · published
What happened
In a post published October 21, 2026, MalwareTips warns of a Tradecat airdrop scam promoting a supposed limited-time distribution for early adopters and community members. The reported claim site used register-tradecat[.]live. MalwareTips describes the offer as a fake reward lure meant to bring wallet owners into an unsafe interaction. It says the case was documented in January 2026 and that a current attempt to capture the page failed, so this is not evidence of an active claim window today; its image is an illustration with an example domain. MalwareTips says no wallet was connected during its investigation and no contract, chain, transaction or loss amount was independently tested, and that the warning concerns the counterfeit claim, not every project with similar branding. It advises finding any announcement independently and never entering a recovery phrase to check an allocation.
How the scam works
MalwareTips says 'early adopter' framing suggests that tokens have been set aside for community members, which encourages visitors to act quickly before checking who is running the offer. The domain uses the word 'register', making the step feel like joining a list rather than authorising anything.
That impression can be misleading. MalwareTips explains that a page may show no purchase and still ask for a signature or token approval that lets another party move assets later, and disconnecting from a site does not cancel an approval already granted. Its article image is an illustration using an example domain. Similar project names can belong to unrelated teams, so a name or ticker alone doesn't prove who runs a site, and missing an unverified offer is safer than risking a wallet.
Source
MalwareTips, "Tradecat Airdrop Scam Exposed: Fake Early-Adopter Rewards And Wallet Risks" (published 21 October 2026).
Red flags
- A limited-time airdrop for 'early adopters' on a domain such as register-tradecat.live.
- A registration step that requires connecting a wallet.
- Approval or signature requests described only as 'verification'.
- Any request for a recovery phrase to check an allocation.
If you were targeted
- 1Don't connect your wallet, sign, or approve anything on the page.
- 2Never type a recovery (seed) phrase or private key into a website or give it to 'support'.
- 3Check announcements only through the project's official website or accounts that you open yourself.
- 4If you connected and approved something, revoke the token approval with your wallet's or the network's approval tool and move remaining assets to a new wallet if you're unsure what you signed.
- 5If you disclosed a recovery phrase, treat the wallet as compromised and move assets to a new wallet created with a new phrase.
- 6Report the site to your wallet provider and, in the U.S., to the FBI's IC3 at ic3.gov.