Assistance Sought

[esh70]

I am from India & have approximately 3 bitcoins. These coins are stored in my hard drive & I do not know as to how to encash the same. These coins were given to me in lieu of consultancy I had rendered to a client. He has I need to decrypt the same & I have no clue as to how to go about it ? Can anyone pl help ? Tx n with best rgds

[Xynerise]

How are they stored in your hard drive?
How exactly did he send it to you?
Did you give him a bitcoin address?
Or is it stored in a wallet.dat file?

PS be very careful with the information you share.
Do not send any files to anyone that PM's you, and if you're sharing stuff you're not certain of then just share the first 3 or so characters.

[esh70]

How are they stored in your hard drive?
How exactly did he send it to you?
Did you give him a bitcoin address?
Or is it stored in a wallet.dat file?

PS be very careful with the information you share.
Do not send any files to anyone that PM's you, and if you're sharing stuff you're not certain of then just share the first 3 or so characters.

\

How Stored :- Not Known
Source of transfer :- IRC
Bitcoin Address :- No
Wallet.dat file :- No
S/w used :- Bitcoin Core

Pl Note :- I was asked to install a software which turned a normal hard drive to a nano ledger s. When I log on to linux (debian) the same reads as ext4. The hard drive works perfect & there are no malwares / virus in the hard drive. Consultancy fees will be transferred on successful completion.

[ranochigo]

You would need a Ledger Nano S to actually use anything related to it; installing anything won't turn your computer into a hardware wallet. Where did you get the software? While your computer scan might not have any malware infections, some malwares are undetectable.

What were you given when you got the Bitcoins? You can't get Bitcoins without actually getting a file or a string of alphanumeric letters.

[buwaytress]

When the client transferred you the Bitcoins, he must have given you some information for you to have verify that that the transaction took place and confirmed successfully. He would have at the very least given you a transaction ID or a Bitcoin address or a private key.

But if he asked you to install a software as you described... you probably are mistaken. Far as I know, the Nano itself is a hardware wallet... you can't turn your harddrive into a Nano. Perhaps the description you gave seems to indicate you were asked to install a wallet.

Could you not ask the client for clarification on what you were asked to do? What was the software given to you? This was transferred over IRC?

Be very careful with what you share here, Xynerise warns because if you share your private keys here, anyone could take control of your coins. As pointed out, all the info you might have been given will all look like a long string of random characters, which you wouldn't be able to tell apart... so don't post any of that here until we can determine what you have.

[esh70]

You would need a Ledger Nano S to actually use anything related to it; installing anything won't turn your computer into a hardware wallet. Where did you get the software? While your computer scan might not have any malware infections, some malwares are undetectable.

What were you given when you got the Bitcoins? You can't get Bitcoins without actually getting a file or a string of alphanumeric letters.

I have used raspberry pi's (raspbian jessie) to see the coins and validate its settings and it really does work but only thing is  ,I am not able to take the bitcoins out of a text file.

[Xynerise]

How Stored :- Not Known
Source of transfer :- IRC
Bitcoin Address :- No
Wallet.dat file :- No
S/w used :- Bitcoin Core

How did you use Bitcoin Core if you don't have a wallet.dat file?
That makes no sense at all.
You can't receive Bitcoins if you don't give the sender a bitcoin address.

Pl Note :- I was asked to install a software which turned a normal hard drive to a nano ledger s.

It doesn't work like that.
The Ledger device uses a special USB hardware with a special firmware.
You can't just install the software on any USB.

I have used raspberry pi's (raspbian jessie) to see the coins

You can't see coins; Bitcoins don't exist at all.
They're just stored as UTXOs on the blockchain.
What you need to spend certain UTXOs assigned to you are private keys (they start with 5, K or L), if you don't have a private key then you don't have any bitcoins at all.

and validate its settings and it really does work

How exactly do you "validate the settings"?
What works?

but only thing is  ,I am not able to take the bitcoins out of a text file.

WTF?
Bitcoins aren't stored on text files.
What exactly is on the text file?
Is it a string of alphanumeric characters starting with 5, K or L?
Post the first 3 or so characters.

Either you were scammed or you're trolling.

[bob123]

How Stored :- Not Known
Source of transfer :- IRC
Bitcoin Address :- No
Wallet.dat file :- No
S/w used :- Bitcoin Core

Bitcoins can't be transferred via IRC.
Did he send you private keys via IRC?

Without giving someone your address and without receiving a wallet file it is pretty unusual how you could have received BTC's.

Did you install and sync bitcoin core when he gave/send you BTC ?

Pl Note :- I was asked to install a software which turned a normal hard drive to a nano ledger s.

This is not possible.
No software can achieve the functionality of a hardware wallet.
What exactly did the software do? Encrypting a file?

[DannyHamilton]

It is sounding like you have been lied to.

It is possible that the sender might have sent you some private keys, but from your explanation so far, it sounds more likely that the sender tricked you into downloading some fake software that pretends to be a bitcoin wallet and displays a fake amount of coins to make you think you've received bitcoins.

[esh70]

It is sounding like you have been lied to.

It is possible that the sender might have sent you some private keys, but from your explanation so far, it sounds more likely that the sender tricked you into downloading some fake software that pretends to be a bitcoin wallet and displays a fake amount of coins to make you think you've received bitcoins.

I will be connecting my HDD to the raspberry in the next 2 to 3 hrs & shall provide the information what is available in the txt file. Thanks for your valuable time

[DannyHamilton]

It is sounding like you have been lied to.

It is possible that the sender might have sent you some private keys, but from your explanation so far, it sounds more likely that the sender tricked you into downloading some fake software that pretends to be a bitcoin wallet and displays a fake amount of coins to make you think you've received bitcoins.

I will be connecting my HDD to the raspberry in the next 2 to 3 hrs & shall provide the information what is available in the txt file. Thanks for your valuable time

Be careful.

If the sender provided you with private keys, then it is VERY IMPORTANT that you do NOT share those private keys with ANYONE.

Anybody that knows the private keys can take the bitcoins from you.

If there is any chance at all that the HDD has private keys on it, then it would be best to simply describe what you see without actually showing the contents.

For example, this is an accurate description of most REAL private keys (Commonly called Wallet Import Format or WIF):
It is 51 (or 52) mostly random looking letters an numbers (both lower case and upper case) and it starts with a 5 (or a K or an L).

There are a few other common formats for private keys, such as hexadecimal or base58.  Again, if you aren't sure if it is a private key or not, then it would be better to just describe what it looks like without actually revealing any of the actual data.

It also could be a set of 12 or more random looking words.  In that case, it might be what is called a "mnemonic seed".  You would need to import that seed into the matching software, and the the software would be able to convert that seed into a set of private keys.  If it is a random looking set of words, then it is VERY IMPORTANT that you do NOT share those words with ANYONE.

Anybody that knows most of the seed words can take the bitcoins from you.

[Thirdspace]

I am from India & have approximately 3 bitcoins. These coins are stored in my hard drive & I do not know as to how to encash the same. These coins were given to me in lieu of consultancy I had rendered to a client. He has I need to decrypt the same & I have no clue as to how to go about it ? Can anyone pl help ? Tx n with best rgds

what kind of consultancy?
if it was about bitcoin and/or cryptocurrency, wouldn't it be ironic you are asking this?
or your payment would be part of whatever inside that thing you need  to decrypt?

How Stored :- Not Known
Source of transfer :- IRC
Bitcoin Address :- No
Wallet.dat file :- No
S/w used :- Bitcoin Core

Pl Note :- I was asked to install a software which turned a normal hard drive to a nano ledger s. When I log on to linux (debian) the same reads as ext4. The hard drive works perfect & there are no malwares / virus in the hard drive. Consultancy fees will be transferred on successful completion.

how could you say (know) you have 3 BTC but don't have a bitcoin address as reference?
you mentioned "Bitcoin Core" but then you were asked to do something related to a nano ledger s?
no consistency and none of his info make sense, he should start over telling the story from the beginning with simple words

I have a feeling this is another variation thread of "Please help decrypting my wallet and I will pay handsomely"

[esh70]

I am from India & have approximately 3 bitcoins. These coins are stored in my hard drive & I do not know as to how to encash the same. These coins were given to me in lieu of consultancy I had rendered to a client. He has I need to decrypt the same & I have no clue as to how to go about it ? Can anyone pl help ? Tx n with best rgds

what kind of consultancy?
if it was about bitcoin and/or cryptocurrency, wouldn't it be ironic you are asking this?
or your payment would be part of whatever inside that thing you need  to decrypt?

How Stored :- Not Known
Source of transfer :- IRC
Bitcoin Address :- No
Wallet.dat file :- No
S/w used :- Bitcoin Core

Pl Note :- I was asked to install a software which turned a normal hard drive to a nano ledger s. When I log on to linux (debian) the same reads as ext4. The hard drive works perfect & there are no malwares / virus in the hard drive. Consultancy fees will be transferred on successful completion.

how could you say (know) you have 3 BTC but don't have a bitcoin address as reference?
you mentioned "Bitcoin Core" but then you were asked to do something related to a nano ledger s?
no consistency and none of his info make sense, he should start over telling the story from the beginning with simple words

I have a feeling this is another variation thread of "Please help decrypting my wallet and I will pay handsomely"

Thank all for the help (guidance) . After connecting the raspberry to the HDD I have found the WALLET.dat , it was hidden in the folder
WALLET ID.

[Xynerise]

Thank all for the help (guidance) . After connecting the raspberry to the HDD I have found the WALLET.dat , it was hidden in the folder
WALLET ID.

Have you imported the wallet.dat into bitcoin core?
Is there a passphrase?
Do you have it?

You don't need to download the whole blockchain to check.
Download bitcoin core software
On the debug console, run

Code:

listaddressgroupings

or

Code:

getaddressesbyaccount ""

to get a list of addresses controlled by the wallet

Check the balances of the address on any block explorer.

If you want to export the private key of any address into an SPV wallet like Electrum
Unlock the wallet (if it is encrypted with a passphrase)

Code:

walletpassphrase <your passphrase> 1000

Then use dumpprivkey to dump the private key of the address
Eg

Code:

dumpprivkey 1YourBitcoinAddress

This will bring up a string of alphanumeric characters starting with either 5, K, or L
That's your private key, that's how you can spend bitcoins, if you share it with someone else then they can spend your bitcoin, if you lose it then you'll most likely lose your bitcoins forever.

You said

He has I need to decrypt the same

Which makes me doubt you have the passphrase for the wallet.dat in the first place.

[LoyceV]

After connecting the raspberry to the HDD I have found the WALLET.dat , it was hidden in the folder
WALLET ID.

Make a backup on a USB stick, and store it safely. Then, make another backup, just to be sure!
You're talking about $24k here, so take security precautions.

[Roaid]

I am from India & have approximately 3 bitcoins. These coins are stored in my hard drive & I do not know as to how to encash the same. These coins were given to me in lieu of consultancy I had rendered to a client. He has I need to decrypt the same & I have no clue as to how to go about it ? Can anyone pl help ? Tx n with best rgds

what kind of consultancy?
if it was about bitcoin and/or cryptocurrency, wouldn't it be ironic you are asking this?
or your payment would be part of whatever inside that thing you need  to decrypt?

How Stored :- Not Known
Source of transfer :- IRC
Bitcoin Address :- No
Wallet.dat file :- No
S/w used :- Bitcoin Core

Pl Note :- I was asked to install a software which turned a normal hard drive to a nano ledger s. When I log on to linux (debian) the same reads as ext4. The hard drive works perfect & there are no malwares / virus in the hard drive. Consultancy fees will be transferred on successful completion.

how could you say (know) you have 3 BTC but don't have a bitcoin address as reference?
you mentioned "Bitcoin Core" but then you were asked to do something related to a nano ledger s?
no consistency and none of his info make sense, he should start over telling the story from the beginning with simple words

I have a feeling this is another variation thread of "Please help decrypting my wallet and I will pay handsomely"

Thank all for the help (guidance) . After connecting the raspberry to the HDD I have found the WALLET.dat , it was hidden in the folder
WALLET ID.

Congratulations, you basically got your Bitcoin. However, I suggest that Bitcoin forked a large number of coins last year, such as BCH and BTG. After you get your Bitcoin and sell them, you can use this file to claim many forks. Although they are not big money, they are worth mentioning.

[Thirdspace]

After connecting the raspberry to the HDD I have found the WALLET.dat , it was hidden in the folder
WALLET ID.

Make a backup on a USB stick, and store it safely. Then, make another backup, just to be sure!
You're talking about $24k here, so take security precautions.

If he received that wallet file from someone else, making backup won't make it secure.
as I read post #3, you received something via IRC? OP, did you create that wallet yourself?
If you didn't then the previous owner would still be able to access that fund,
you should create your own wallet and send your bitcoin there