Electrum Wallet

[overnightmillionaire]

What is going on here?

[gentlemand]

If it was Electrum itself it would be all over this forum in seconds.

The most likely explanation is that someone else has control of your computer remotely. Have you scanned it from top to bottom?

[overnightmillionaire]

If it was Electrum itself it would be all over this forum in seconds.

The most likely explanation is that someone else has control of your computer remotely. Have you scanned it from top to bottom?

hmm

[TryNinja]

No, they probably didn't. Electrum is an open source project and one of the more reliable wallets available in the cryptocurrency world. I never saw one single person claiming to have been robbed by Electrum. Maybe you should see if you made any mistakes before pointing fingers?

Here what I think may have happened: You had a malware in your computer, someone stole your wallet file or recovery seed and sent your Bitcoins to another wallet. Have you scanned your computer recently?

[ahmedjamal1998]

That's totally weird. You must have some kind of trojan in your pc that caused that to happen.
Or your computer is hacked and someone can control it remotely.

Most of the members of the forum (not including me) use electrum for their daily use.  

[DoublerHunter]

I sent 10.8+ bitcoin to my Electrum wallet from bitfinex.. as soon as it hit my electrum wallet it sent automatically to another address that I don't own. The time stamps were identical times from when it entered my wallet and when it sent out.. I downloaded the wallet from https://electrum.org/#download

I restarted the wallet and tried to enter my password many times.. its saying wrong password now.

https://blockchain.info/address/17MxKujaf2sFtGzX36tSkVFXwkJCDsSS8J

This really looks like an automatic function built into the wallet to steal coins.


What is going on here?

There is something wrong with your computer and it is not the electrum wallet maybe there is malware or virus that controlling your computer. Maybe it is best to check your computer first and scan it by an anti-virus and also a anti-malware applications so you can have the conclusion if there is a virus or malware or just a random fault by the wallet.

[Silberman]

I sent 10.8+ bitcoin to my Electrum wallet from bitfinex.. as soon as it hit my electrum wallet it sent automatically to another address that I don't own. The time stamps were identical times from when it entered my wallet and when it sent out.. I downloaded the wallet from https://electrum.org/#download

I restarted the wallet and tried to enter my password many times.. its saying wrong password now.

https://blockchain.info/address/17MxKujaf2sFtGzX36tSkVFXwkJCDsSS8J

This really looks like an automatic function built into the wallet to steal coins.


What is going on here?

Another possibility is that you did not download from the website you state and instead you have a copy with malicious code embedded, this is why it is important to verify that the copy we have downloaded comes from the website and that we use ways to verify that the downloads are correct, I do not know if you can verify electrum with checksums but if it is possible you should have done so.

[gentlemand]

They sent out my coins in the same minute they hit the wallet? You think they were that good?

Yes. If they can remotely access your computer then they can send it out just as quickly as you can. There might have been something implanted that was waiting. That's a lot of money so it's an incentive for someone to do it for a piddling amount of work.

[BitcoinNewsMagazine]

Are you using Windows with Remote Access turned on? Are you using antimalware and antivirus? Download free Malwarebytes and scan your computer if not.

[overnightmillionaire]

Yep

[gentlemand]

Guys, I literally installed electrum wallet had it for 5 mins.. sent the withdrawal from bitfinex and as soon as it came in on my wallet it was sent right out. So your telling me a hacker happen to be sitting there.. happen to know i was going to download electrum at this moment in time.. and he happen to be that fast at sending my coins out?

Something doesn't add up here.

Scan your computer right now and see what pops up. That really is the most likely explanation. Electrum is used by thousands and thousands of people and no one has ever reported an issue like this.

[BossMacko]

Guys, I literally installed electrum wallet had it for 5 mins.. sent the withdrawal from bitfinex and as soon as it came in on my wallet it was sent right out. So your telling me a hacker happen to be sitting there.. happen to know i was going to download electrum at this moment in time.. and he happen to be that fast at sending my coins out?

Something doesn't add up here.

Even if you just installed electrum wallet if your computer is compromise by a hacker he could get any info he wants in an instant. I am betting  that the hacker is just waiting for the appropriate time to hack you and that was when you sent a BTC to your wallet. If electrum was the one responsible you'll be able to see spam here in forum about the same topic you have.

[overnightmillionaire]

Got it

[DannyHamilton]

There are 2 possibilities here...


1.  You didn't get the real Electrum.  You accidentally downloaded Electrum from a phishing site that tricked you into thinking you were getting the real Electrum.  This fake Electrum is actually malware that gives you addresses that are under the control of a thief, and they have a constantly running program on their computer that looks for transactions funding any of their addresses and immediately re-spends those bitcoins to a safer address.

2. You have some other malware on your computer that shared your private keys with a thief as soon as it saw that Electrum was being installed.  The thief has a constantly running program on their computer that accepts the stolen/transmitted private keys and looks for transactions funding any associated address. The program immediately re-spends those bitcoins to a safer address.


As others have already pointed out:

1. The real Electrum is open source.  The programming has been looked over carefully by MANY programmers.  If there were any code in the program capable of what you are suggesting, those code reviewers would have made sure the entire internet knew about it.

2. Electrum is one of the 3 oldest bitcoins wallets around. There are thousands (hundreds of thousands?) of Electrum users.  If it was stealing bitcoins as you've described, You wouldn't be the only person with this complaint.


EDIT:  Actually, after some investigation, I suspect that you didn't download the real Electrum.

A bit of searching around the internet indicates that the private key for that address is already publicly known:
5Km2kuu7vtFDPpxywn4u3NLpbr5jKpTB3jsuDU2KYEqeh1xxRnd

There are probably dozens of thieves with programs running 24 hours a day watching for transactions to any address with a known private key and immediately spending those bitcoins.  It is EXTREMELY unlikely (like effectively impossible) that the real Electrum would have generated an address with a publicly known private key.

It is still possible that you have some sort of Malware that modified the address, but from the limited information you've shared downloading the wrong thing seems most likely.

[Wowcoin]

I used also electrum but i think its safe for keeping bitcoin. Maybe someone stole your private keys that is why they transfer your bitcoin. Many user of electrum wallet and they told that is safe so i used it more than 5 months.

[piloder]

There are probably dozens of thieves with programs running 24 hours a day watching for transactions to any address with a known private key and immediately spending those bitcoins.  It is EXTREMELY unlikely (like effectively impossible) that the real Electrum would have generated an address with a publicly known private key.[/b]

This adds up all, OP have mistakenly sent out bitcoin to wrong address and someone that is tracking all this addresses with known bitcoin addresses have quickly sent out those bitcoin to safe place. I am also using electrum and quite worried right now after seeing this issue. Need clarification from electrum support.  

[DannyHamilton]

I am also using electrum and quite worried right now after seeing this issue. Need clarification from electrum support.  

No need to be worried, as long as you have the real Electrum and you don't have malware on your computer.

Electrum is not stealing bitcoins.

[Taskford]

There are 2 possibilities here...


1.  You didn't get the real Electrum.  You accidentally downloaded Electrum from a phishing site that tricked you into thinking you were getting the real Electrum.  This fake Electrum is actually malware that gives you addresses that are under the control of a thief, and they have a constantly running program on their computer that looks for transactions funding any of their addresses and immediately re-spends those bitcoins to a safer address.

2. You have some other malware on your computer that shared your private keys with a thief as soon as it saw that Electrum was being installed.  The thief has a constantly running program on their computer that accepts the stolen/transmitted private keys and looks for transactions funding any associated address. The program immediately re-spends those bitcoins to a safer address.


As others have already pointed out:

1. The real Electrum is open source.  The programming has been looked over carefully by MANY programmers.  If there were any code in the program capable of what you are suggesting, those code reviewers would have made sure the entire internet knew about it.

2. Electrum is one of the 3 oldest bitcoins wallets around. There are thousands (hundreds of thousands?) of Electrum users.  If it was stealing bitcoins as you've described, You wouldn't be the only person with this complaint.


EDIT:  Actually, after some investigation, I suspect that you didn't download the real Electrum.

A bit of searching around the internet indicates that the private key for that address is already publicly known:
5Km2kuu7vtFDPpxywn4u3NLpbr5jKpTB3jsuDU2KYEqeh1xxRnd

There are probably dozens of thieves with programs running 24 hours a day watching for transactions to any address with a known private key and immediately spending those bitcoins.  It is EXTREMELY unlikely (like effectively impossible) that the real Electrum would have generated an address with a publicly known private key.

Wow it shook me. Like I didn't know these things can be happen. Like there were fake electrum address. Better be careful when downloading. Just I thought that your computer just have some viruses but its something up here. Hope you can recover your coins but I guess not.

@sirdannyhamilton I'm impressed in what you said here. Nice analysis huh. I learned a lot to this. Should be very extra careful like I didn't know these things exist like just in a movie. I guess everyone is worried about this issue, electrum support has a lot to explain.

[DannyHamilton]

Wow it shook me. Like I didn't know these things can be happen.

You didn't know that scammers, thieves, and malware exist?  What world do you live in?  Sounds like sig-ad nonsense to me.

Like there were fake electrum address.

No. Not fake electrum address. Fake software.

Thieves and scammers create fake software that looks like the real software.  Then they try to trick people into downloading and running it.

Better be careful when downloading.

This is ALWAYS true of ALL software that you download.  Not just Electrum software.  If you run software on your computer, you are giving that software access to the stuff that is on your computer.  You always need to be careful.

Just I thought that your computer just have some viruses

It might.

Hope you can recover your coins but I guess not.

VERY unlikely.

electrum support has a lot to explain.

No. they don't.

[khufuking]

I am very sorry for what happened to you it is really a lot of money . I have go throw all posts and from what i see it is most likely you downloaded a fake
electrum app what makes me think that is the password part because if you just happen to sent to wrong address you would have still be able to login to your wallet the way your password did not work anymore means it was prob fake electrum wallet from the start . But there is another part to this is . A fake wallet that have pre installed addresses why the hacker put an address that its private key is known to public !! that is really strange .

Take a look into this : https://bitaps.com/17MxKujaf2sFtGzX36tSkVFXwkJCDsSS8J look close to this there is 2 double spent after each other and 4 months ago same thing 2 double spent which make me think it is a script not just someone was online and sent as fast as he saw you btc . But still if this is a script why it use an address that have its private key known .

Maybe try to get in touch with allprivatekeys .com maybe they can help you because they have this address listed with its private key .