Arbitrum Wallet Drained? How to Trace Stolen Funds on Arb

Confirm the chain is Arbitrum One

Arbitrum uses the same 0x address format as Ethereum but chain ID 42161. Losses on Ethereum mainnet will not appear on Arbiscan — always match the network MetaMask or your wallet showed during the drain.

Common mistake: victims bridge ETH to Arbitrum, get drained on L2, and search Etherscan mainnet where nothing moved.

• In MetaMask: network must say Arbitrum One (not Ethereum, Base, or Arbitrum Sepolia testnet).
• Open arbiscan.io and paste your address — if balance history is empty, you may be on the wrong chain.

First 30 minutes on Arbitrum

• Revoke token approvals at revoke.cash with Arbitrum network selected — drainer contracts often keep standing permissions.
• Copy every outbound tx hash from the drain window on Arbiscan Activity tab.
• Note whether native ETH, USDC, USDT, ARB, or NFTs left — each may use different contract paths.
• Move any remaining assets to a new wallet on a clean device before reusing the compromised address.

What to document for exchanges

• Victim wallet on Arbitrum One (0x…, chain ID 42161).
• Destination addresses and tx hashes for each outbound transfer.
• UTC timestamps — Arbiscan shows block time; convert to UTC for abuse desks.
• Whether funds bridged in from Ethereum mainnet before the drain (include bridge tx hash).
• Any hop through Uniswap, 1inch, or other DEX routers before landing at a labeled CEX wallet.

Arbitrum-specific patterns

L2 drains often move fast through DEX aggregators to obfuscate the path before a CEX deposit. Labeled hot wallets on Arbiscan are still heuristic — say “consistent with exchange deposit infrastructure” in tickets.

• Bridge outbound to Ethereum — continue tracing on Etherscan for the same 0x address.
• Cross-L2 bridges (Arbitrum → Base, etc.) — document bridge contract tx and pick up on destination explorer.
• NFT drains on Arbitrum follow the same ERC-721 outbound pattern as mainnet.

Free tools vs a Tracefunds case file

• Arbiscan raw tables — good for verification, overwhelming during a panic.
• $5 single_tx — decode one suspicious hash if you are not ready for full wallet index.
• $20 incident report — fund-flow graph, recipient ledger, verification checklist, victim-safe brief.
• Select Arbitrum on tracefunds.app/analyze — same EVM pipeline as Ethereum, scoped to chain 42161.

Honest limits

Tracing does not guarantee recovery or freeze at an exchange. Mixers and privacy pools on Arbitrum break same-chain paths — state that explicitly in abuse tickets rather than inventing a complete trail.