Overview
The Cardano Scam Token Registry is a free, public blocklist of scam tokens that anyone can add to and any app can read. People who receive junk tokens in an unwanted airdrop (tokens dropped into a wallet without asking) send them to one shared wallet, and reviewers from the project's GitHub contributors decide which ones belong on the list1. Wallets and NFT marketplaces can then use that list to warn users or hide known scams.
The Cardano Scam Token Registry lives on GitHub, a public site for sharing code and files. Brock, who runs the BROCK Pool stake pool, created the $sendscams collection wallet that feeds the registry2. The project's README (its main description page) presents the project as a community-moderated alternative to the private scam lists that some wallets keep for themselves, which it says often miss tokens the community has already reported1.
Key Features
- Report a scam token without an account. Any Cardano user can submit a token by sending it from their wallet to $sendscams, an ADA Handle (a readable nickname that stands in for a long wallet address). No GitHub login or permissions are needed1.
- Automatic intake around the clock. A small program called the $sendscams bot checks the collection wallet every 20 seconds and adds each new token to the list for review, skipping tokens already on file3.
- Human review before a token is flagged. New submissions arrive switched off with a hash mark at the start of the line. Reviewers remove the mark only when they judge a token malicious, and leave harmless tokens switched off so nobody reviews them twice1.
- A list any developer can plug in. The registry is a plain text file with one token per line, which any app can read1. Each token is named by its asset fingerprint, a short code derived from the token's on-chain identity4.
- ADA from scam tokens put to work. According to Brock, the ADA that travels with each scam token originally came from the scammer. He says it stays in the collection wallet and is delegated to BROCK Pool to help secure the network rather than harm users2.
What to Expect
Everyday users take part by sending a token. If a suspicious token shows up in your wallet, you send it to $sendscams the same way you would send any other asset, and the bot records it3. You never need to visit GitHub.
The GitHub page shows the README, the list itself, and a folder with the bot's code. The list file opens with a few comment lines explaining the format. Entries above a marker called REVIEWED POINT have been checked by contributors, while entries below it wait for the next review pass5.
Developers can download the raw list from a single web address, and a program only has to skip lines that start with a hash mark. The README includes a short Python example that checks one token against the list1. Wallets can use the Cardano Scam Token Registry to show a warning, and marketplaces can use it to keep scam tokens off their pages. For broader advice on spotting scams, see the security guides.
Active community members who want to help can ask to become GitHub contributors and review submissions through the project's Community Review Discord server1. Contributors can also run extra copies of the bot with a GitHub access token and a free-tier Cardanoscan API key (a password-like key for a blockchain data service), which keeps intake running if one copy goes offline3.
