diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index dd58982..9b9733f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1020,7 +1020,7 @@ on the approval screen, the amount on the wait, success and error screens, the
 transaction history and the transaction detail screen, and the refusal of a fee
 above 1 ETH. A chain id that names no network reads `ETH`. Wherever this
 document shows ETH as the label of a native balance, value or fee, in a "Native
-ETH transfer" type line, in the contract-recipient warning or in that refusal,
+ETH transfer" type line, in the two recipient warnings or in that refusal,
 Sepolia shows `SepoliaETH`. The swap lines keep `ETH`, the router's own name for
 the native currency, and the ETH/USD price line, shown on mainnet only, keeps
 its fixed wording.
@@ -1730,8 +1730,10 @@ view would leave a wallet one click from deletion.
       reserved either way
     - Warnings: inline warnings from the local checks (scam address, self-send)
       plus four reserved warning boxes made visible by the async checks —
-      recipient with no transaction history, recipient is a contract, burn
-      address, and an Etherscan phishing/scam label
+      recipient that has never sent a transaction and holds no ETH, recipient is
+      a contract, burn address, and an Etherscan phishing/scam label. An address
+      that has received ETH but never sent a transaction still holds that ETH,
+      so it gets no warning
     - Errors (insufficient balance), plus three reserved error boxes — the
       amount plus the fee exceeds the balance (ETH transfers), not enough ETH to
       pay the fee for the transfer (ERC-20 transfers), and the fee could not be
diff --git a/src/popup/index.html b/src/popup/index.html
index a433783..3441682 100644
--- a/src/popup/index.html
+++ b/src/popup/index.html
@@ -634,17 +634,12 @@
                     </div>
                 </div>
                 <div id="confirm-warnings" class="mb-2 invisible"></div>
-                <div id="confirm-recipient-warning" class="mb-2 invisible">
-                    <div
-                        class="border border-red-500 border-dashed p-2 text-xs font-bold text-red-500"
-                    >
-                        WARNING: The recipient address has ZERO transaction
-                        history. This may indicate a fresh or unused address.
-                        Double-check the address before sending.
-                    </div>
-                </div>
-                <!-- Its sentence names the network's native token, so show()
-                in confirmTx.js sets it. -->
+                <!-- These two sentences name the network's native token, so
+                show() in confirmTx.js sets them. -->
+                <div
+                    id="confirm-recipient-warning"
+                    class="mb-2 border border-red-500 border-dashed p-2 text-xs font-bold text-red-500 invisible"
+                ></div>
                 <div
                     id="confirm-contract-warning"
                     class="mb-2 border border-red-500 border-dashed p-2 text-xs font-bold text-red-500 invisible"
diff --git a/src/popup/views/confirmTx.js b/src/popup/views/confirmTx.js
index 90c74ae..e26811a 100644
--- a/src/popup/views/confirmTx.js
+++ b/src/popup/views/confirmTx.js
@@ -217,7 +217,14 @@ function show(txInfo) {
         nativeCurrency() +
         " to this address and try again.";
 
-    // Shown later, once checkRecipientHistory() finds a contract.
+    // Both shown later, by checkRecipientHistory(). The first sentence says
+    // exactly what getFullWarnings() checks.
+    $("confirm-recipient-warning").textContent =
+        "WARNING: The recipient address has never sent a transaction and" +
+        " holds no " +
+        nativeCurrency() +
+        ". This may indicate a fresh or unused address. Double-check the" +
+        " address before sending.";
     $("confirm-contract-warning").textContent =
         "WARNING: The recipient is a smart contract. Sending " +
         nativeCurrency() +
diff --git a/src/shared/addressWarnings.js b/src/shared/addressWarnings.js
index d1a5bc5..61595cc 100644
--- a/src/shared/addressWarnings.js
+++ b/src/shared/addressWarnings.js
@@ -51,7 +51,8 @@ function getLocalWarnings(address, options = {}) {
 
 /**
  * Check an address against local lists AND via RPC queries.
- * Async — performs network calls to check contract status and tx history.
+ * Async — performs network calls to check contract status, tx count and
+ * balance.
  *
  * @param {string} address - The target address to check.
  * @param {object} provider - An ethers.js provider instance.
@@ -78,21 +79,30 @@ async function getFullWarnings(address, provider, options = {}) {
         log.errorf("contract check failed:", e.shortMessage || e.message);
     }
 
-    // Skip tx count check for contracts — they may legitimately have
-    // zero inbound EOA transactions.
+    // The transaction count is the number of transactions the address has
+    // sent, so an address that has only ever received has a count of zero.
+    // Native token it received stays in its balance until it sends a
+    // transaction, so the warning also needs a zero balance. A contract is
+    // skipped: it has its own warning above.
     if (!isContract) {
         try {
             const txCount = await provider.getTransactionCount(address);
             if (txCount === 0) {
-                warnings.push({
-                    type: "new-address",
-                    message:
-                        "This address has never sent a transaction. Double-check it is correct.",
-                    severity: "info",
-                });
+                const balance = await provider.getBalance(address);
+                if (balance === 0n) {
+                    warnings.push({
+                        type: "new-address",
+                        message:
+                            "This address has never sent a transaction and holds none of the network's native token. Double-check it is correct.",
+                        severity: "info",
+                    });
+                }
             }
         } catch (e) {
-            log.errorf("tx count check failed:", e.shortMessage || e.message);
+            log.errorf(
+                "tx count or balance check failed:",
+                e.shortMessage || e.message,
+            );
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/tests/addressWarnings.test.js b/tests/addressWarnings.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..47c21c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/addressWarnings.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+// The confirmation screen's warning for a recipient that has never sent a
+// transaction (https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/AutistMask/issues/528).
+//
+// The node's transaction count for an address is the number of transactions
+// it has sent, so an address that only ever receives, such as a savings
+// address or an exchange deposit address, has a count of zero. The warning
+// used to fire on that count alone. It now also needs a zero balance: ETH an
+// address received stays in its balance until it sends a transaction.
+
+"use strict";
+
+const { getFullWarnings } = require("../src/shared/addressWarnings");
+
+global.fetch = jest.fn(async () => {
+    throw new Error("tests must not perform network requests");
+});
+
+const RECIPIENT = "0x" + "b".repeat(40);
+
+// The warning types getFullWarnings() returns for RECIPIENT when the node
+// reports it as a regular address with `txCount` sent transactions and a
+// balance of `balance` wei.
+async function warningTypes(txCount, balance) {
+    const provider = {
+        getCode: async () => "0x",
+        getTransactionCount: async () => txCount,
+        getBalance: async () => balance,
+    };
+    const warnings = await getFullWarnings(RECIPIENT, provider);
+    return warnings.map((w) => w.type);
+}
+
+test("a recipient that has received 0.5 ETH and never sent a transaction gets no warning", async () => {
+    expect(await warningTypes(0, 500000000000000000n)).toEqual([]);
+});
+
+test("a recipient that has never sent a transaction and holds no ETH gets the warning", async () => {
+    expect(await warningTypes(0, 0n)).toEqual(["new-address"]);
+});
diff --git a/tests/nativeCurrency.test.js b/tests/nativeCurrency.test.js
index 8bd8bb7..a311312 100644
--- a/tests/nativeCurrency.test.js
+++ b/tests/nativeCurrency.test.js
@@ -267,6 +267,13 @@ describe.each([
         );
     });
 
+    test("the warning for a recipient that has never sent a transaction", async () => {
+        await confirmSend("0.1");
+        expect(text("confirm-recipient-warning")).toContain(
+            "has never sent a transaction and holds no " + symbol + ".",
+        );
+    });
+
     // A token reports whatever symbol it likes. One reporting the label the
     // wallet shows its native token under, on this network or any other, is
     // a fake, exactly as one reporting `ETH` always was.
diff --git a/tests/rpcErrorLog.test.js b/tests/rpcErrorLog.test.js
index f06284a..3831698 100644
--- a/tests/rpcErrorLog.test.js
+++ b/tests/rpcErrorLog.test.js
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ test("ethers puts the URL in the error message, not in the short message", async
 test("the recipient checks before a send", async () => {
     await getFullWarnings(ADDRESS, getProvider(RPC_URL, "mainnet"));
     expectFailureLoggedWithoutKey("contract check failed");
-    expectFailureLoggedWithoutKey("tx count check failed");
+    expectFailureLoggedWithoutKey("tx count or balance check failed");
 });
 
 test("the ENS reverse lookup", async () => {