Bitcoin hacked - Locked out of MultiBit?! Please help!

[Roan]

I am kind of freaking out right now, and could really use some help! To start my problem, a few weeks ago I have bought Bitcoins on localbitcoins.com. Reading into security issues, I thought it would be best to sent them to an electronical wallet. That's why I downloaded multibit, and sent some Bitcoins there some time ago. I've only made 3 transactions in total with it. Today, I have sent some amount to my brother, so he could profit from the rising price of bitcoins as well.

When I made the trasaction (this afternoon), I did not need a password. Today, localbitcoins.com was acting a bit weird (not loading some pages, very long loading times in general), which made me distrust localbitcoins for the amount of money I had in it (400 euros or something) - so I sent all of it to my MultiBit wallet, which is on my desktop. This took a long time (the loading) but it finally came through. After that, I wanted to send a small amount to another friend of mine, and I suddenly needed to use a password. I am 100% sure that I did not need a password when I sent bitcoins to my brother this afternoon, and I am 100% sure I did not change the password in between the two transactions. The really weird thing is that my BTC are not gone from my wallet, they are still in their. However, I can't send anything or change the password. I have good protection software on my desktop (licensed Norton antivirus), so I have no clue what exactly happened. I am also sure that no one has touched my desktop in the meantime.

TL;DR:
- Bought Bitcoins on Localbitcoins
- Tried to send the remaining BTC on localbitcoins to my MultiBit which has been working perfectly fine
- Suddenly has a password and I didn't change it

Could anyone explain what happened? I remember that during the transaction from localbitcoins to my multibit there was a long waiting time and it said (establishing safe network). I know I'm extremely stupid for not backing up my wallet and not having a password on it. I could shoot myself for not protecting it properly, which is totally my own fault. I didn't know MultiBit required a password, and I should definitely have researched it better. Please don't flame me for that, I could really use some help as I have lost a lot of money and am not a very wealthy student. Could anyone explain what happened and if there is a way to retrieve them?

[Roan]

The conclusion is that I am actually a total retard haha. I have the idea that MultiBit never asked for my password before, but that might just be my brain fooling me. After a lot of trying out passwords I took a small break and focused on something else, and after that it suddenly dawned to me, that I actually DID set a password a long time ago. I'm in an honours programme in University and I haven't slept a lot lately (exam weeks), so that's probably the issue here.

I'm extremely sorry for bothering, and if anyone else sees this post later on having the same problem: Calm down, don't stress out, think clearly because you probably know it. My case is a special case because I am moronic and couldn't remember I actually set a password in the first place. But if you have troubles remembering your password, take a break and focus. If you know parts of the password, you could look into scripts, or use walletrecoveryservices dot com. They might be able to brute force your password (25% of the time).

Hope my stupidity has helped anyone out there, and also sorry for doubting Multibit, which is an excellent client!

Conclusion: I am a retard, but a retard who has his wallet back!

[freethink2013]

Would read again.

Similar has happened to me.

[TookDk]

True stuff.

If you are in a lot trouble - don't panic. When you get adrenaline in your body, the body goes into "survival mode" and rational think is disabled. I have seen people miss their plane because a gate was changed, and they start running in the wrong direction.

I am happy that you retrieved your stash.
Plus you learn a valuable lesson about storing bitcoin that will benifit you in the future.