Week in literacy
Five short literacy notes from primary protocol, wallet, and consumer-protection sources. Original paraphrases only—link out to read the originals. Educational content only — not investment advice.
1. An account upgrade signature is not a routine click
EIP-7702 lets a regular account point to a contract’s code by signing an authorization, and that setting stays until it is changed or cleared. Its security notes warn that a badly written delegate could give an attacker near-total control, and say apps should not be asking users to sign these at all.
Literacy takeaway: Accept account upgrades only from your wallet’s own settings. New walkthrough: smart accounts and EIP-7702.
Source: EIP-7702: Set Code for EOAs — Ethereum Improvement Proposals (2024-05-07) — https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-7702
2. “Gas paid for you” describes the fee, not the action
ERC-4337 describes smart-contract accounts whose operations are bundled and sent through a shared EntryPoint contract, with optional paymasters that cover gas. Sponsorship changes who pays the fee. It does not tell you anything about what the operation does.
Literacy takeaway: Read every step of a sponsored or batched request. See how to read a wallet prompt.
Source: ERC-4337: Account Abstraction Using Alt Mempool — Ethereum Improvement Proposals (2021-09-29) — https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-4337
3. Paid “rescue” services can be a second harm
In an alert about sextortion, the FTC describes a lawsuit against a company that allegedly charged victims thousands for help it did not deliver. It points people to free official reporting routes and suggests searching a company’s name with “scam” or “complaint” before paying.
Literacy takeaway: Crypto “fund recovery” offers follow the same pattern. Be skeptical of anyone who charges up front to get money back. See common crypto scams.
Source: How to avoid deceptive sextortion assistance services and find real help — FTC Consumer Advice (2026-10-13) — https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2026/10/how-avoid-deceptive-sextortion-assistance-services-and-find-real-help
4. An ad in your feed has not been checked for you
The FTC notes that social platforms do not always fully vet ads or advertisers, and that scammers pay for placements, including fake brands and investing “courses.” It suggests researching a company plus “scam” or “complaint” before acting on an ad.
Literacy takeaway: Sponsored posts for wallets, airdrops, or tools are not endorsements. Find official sites through your own bookmarks.
Source: Are ads on social media vetted or checked for scams? Here’s what to know — FTC Consumer Advice (2026-08-10) — https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2026/08/are-ads-social-media-vetted-or-checked-scams-heres-what-know
5. Reporting a scam helps the next person
The FTC explains that reports filed at ReportFraud.ftc.gov go into a database used by law enforcement, and that staff use the reports to spot patterns and write new alerts. It also encourages telling someone you know what the scam looked like.
Literacy takeaway: If you see a crypto scam, report it and describe it to a friend. Recognition spreads. Related: address poisoning.
Source: Did you spot a scam? Here’s what to do next — FTC Consumer Advice (2026-08-28) — https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2026/08/did-you-spot-scam-heres-what-do-next
Educational content only — not investment advice. This digest paraphrases public educational pages for literacy. It does not recommend buying, selling, or holding any cryptocurrency or token, and it is not financial, tax, or legal advice.