Electrum BTC stolen today / phishing scam? ANy help much appreciated

[amneziahaze]

I use Electrum almost every day and my coins are intact. Electrum isn't the problem (trust me).

How long? Couple of years? Trust me, many times i used Electrum and Core. I dont have just LTC, but diversified coins. Why someone steal only little ammount of LTC? I read now, people lost a lot of money using Electrum.

I'm looking for the real cause right now. In my opinion it is not safe for large amounts.

[Pmalek]

I read now, people lost a lot of money using Electrum.

Show us or link us to the threads of the people who lost money with Electrum and someone will tell you what they did wrong!
Most of these threads are created when it is already too late and they usually start with 'I received a message to download Electrum 4.0 and I did'...

TryNinja already mentioned the most common mistakes users make with Electrum that results in lost coins.

[amneziahaze]

Come on, im not joking. I used Electrum many times, for years https://github.com/pooler/electrum-ltc/issues/176

Google >> Electrum scam
Google >> Trezor scam
etc etc..

You never know when you will be robbed. trust me im little shocked.

[NeuroticFish]

I dont have just LTC, but diversified coins. Why someone steal only little ammount of LTC? I read now, people lost a lot of money using Electrum.

1. People were discussing here about the Bitcoin Electrum. If you are discussing about Electrum-LTC, you should make a specific thread for it and tell clearly that you discuss about a specific variant of Electrum.
2. I don't know how Electrum-LTC is, but if it's close enough to the normal one then the small amounts "stolen" could be either a 2FA fee, either the transaction fee. When there's a bad/fake Electrum, then that one usually steals all the funds, always.

[TryNinja]

I use Electrum almost every day and my coins are intact. Electrum isn't the problem (trust me).

How long? Couple of years? Trust me, many times i used Electrum and Core. I dont have just LTC, but diversified coins. Why someone steal only little ammount of LTC? I read now, people lost a lot of money using Electrum.

I'm looking for the real cause right now. In my opinion it is not safe for large amounts.

Since 2014. Anyways, regardless of Electrum is bad or not, using only a desktop wallet is never safe enough when you are dealing with a lot of money. That’s why hardware wallets exist.

Come on, im not joking. I used Electrum many times, for years https://github.com/pooler/electrum-ltc/issues/176

Google >> Electrum scam
Google >> Trezor scam
etc etc..

You never know when you will be robbed. trust me im little shocked.

If that was the case, everyone would be robbed, don’t you think? It’s easy to put all these cases and say Electrum is the problem while you don’t actually know that. How can someone blame Electrum when your PC could be infected? There are many variables, not just “I used Electrum so they must be the problem”.

Thousands of people use Electrum every day. Why only you and a couple of people got robbed?

And why are you linking an Electrum-LTC (which is just a fork) issue in here?

[amneziahaze]

“I used Electrum so they must be the problem”.

I mean, Electrum is not safe, your money is not safe. Thats all.

Why only you and a couple of people got robbed?

Sorry, but this is missunderstanding. A lot of people have been robbed on different ways, huge losses were recorded.

[amneziahaze]

Because it's a very easy way to rob people.

I saw too much scams and i secure my portfolio/exchanges well, l could do my best. Now I was robbed. What's more funny, I'm careful. That is why i diversified assets. And bang - i just lost very small part - but they disappeared, just only inform you.

While the number (total victim & bitcoin stolen) seems big, how big is it compared with total Electrum users & total Bitcoin managed by Electrum? IMO it's very small.

Ok, but i dont have time for thinking about it. I tell you truth, it is not serious to wonder if someone will rob you one day. Still i dont know when exactly i made a mistake.

[BitMaxz]

Because it's a very easy way to rob people.

I saw too much scams and i secure my portfolio/exchanges well, l could do my best. Now I was robbed. What's more funny, I'm careful. That is why i diversified assets. And bang - i just lost very small part - but they disappeared, just only inform you.

While the number (total victim & bitcoin stolen) seems big, how big is it compared with total Electrum users & total Bitcoin managed by Electrum? IMO it's very small.

Ok, but i dont have time for thinking about it. I tell you truth, it is not serious to wonder if someone will rob you one day. Still i dont know when exactly i made a mistake.

Never been hacked or rob with Electrum I use this wallet for a long time but never experienced that I lost or someone stole my bitcoins.

If you use Electrum you should know how to protect it. Like what I did I'm using this wallet as a cold wallet and making transaction offline. If you know how to protect your device or PC it won't happen. Just like what I did.

Try to use the Electrum cold storage instead and never connect the device to the internet if you want to make a transaction use coinb.in and sign the transaction through your offline wallet. This performs like a hardware wallet(Ledger nano as a sample)

[pooya87]

Come on, im not joking. I used Electrum many times, for years https://github.com/pooler/electrum-ltc/issues/176

aren't you?
from that issue:

Between 2.29pm and 2.34pm on April 12, 2018, I may have installed a fake wallet and I entered the 12 seed words to setup my wallet. The malicious hacker then received the information and in 6 minutes executed the theft.

I found out that I had downloaded the electrum wallet from electrumltc.org.

(real site is https://electrum-ltc.org/)

for you does this translate into Electrum not being safe?
or is it the user's fault for not doing the basic thing of verifying the authenticity of the downloaded file by doing a very simple signature verification?

[Pmalek]

Because it's a very easy way to rob people.

I saw too much scams and i secure my portfolio/exchanges well, l could do my best. Now I was robbed. What's more funny, I'm careful.

Tell us what steps you have taken to secure your portfolio and in what ways you are using your computer where you have Electrum installed?

Ok, but i dont have time for thinking about it. I tell you truth, it is not serious to wonder if someone will rob you one day. Still i dont know when exactly i made a mistake.

Now we are moving in the right direction. You made a mistake somewhere that exposed some of your sensitive information. Try to think what you did wrong?! Why would Electrum 'rob' a small portion of your assets, it doesn't really make sense don't you think?! 

[amneziahaze]

Why would Electrum 'rob' a small portion of your assets, it doesn't really make sense don't you think?!  

I checked the sources and history and I did not find anything suspicious.

In my opinion risk is too big anyway, one moment of inattention and you have a scam. At the same time the same secured other cryptocurrencies larger quantities have not disappeared. The thief had more than a day for it, because i saw it later.

Thank you for the advice. I just want - keep this in mind. I'll check again where is the problem. For me it is not a loss but a waste of time, anyway, after what I've read about this scams, in my opinion electrum is not safe.

pooya87, Even if ... there are many possibilities for loss. And as you can see, the thief must wait for it. I know how to deal with it, but it is stupid simply. Who wait and steal 300usd, seeing in history 30-60ltc? No logic.

Have a nice day.

[TryNinja]

[...] one moment of inattention and you have a scam. [...]

[...] after what I've read about this scams, in my opinion electrum is not safe.

So... scams happen when the user has a moment of inattention, but electrum is the problem? Sure bud.

It looks like you already have your opinion formed and don't want to look at the facts. But of course, it's always easier to blame the software than your own stupidity¹. Anyways, looks like we are just wasting your time in here.

¹i'm not trying to offend you, just putting in words what exactly happens

[amneziahaze]

it's always easier to blame the software than your own stupidity1.

Please, do not mislead people. I dont blame nobody. This is a fact, ammount disappeared, your money is not safe, because your system cant be safe in 100%, so electrum in my opinion is not safe - due to poor protection against hackers.

BTC is not perfect either.

[pooya87]

it's always easier to blame the software than your own stupidity1.

Please, do not mislead people. I dont blame nobody. This is a fact, ammount disappeared, your money is not safe, because your system cant be safe in 100%, so electrum in my opinion is not safe - due to poor protection against hackers.

BTC is not perfect either.

if you drive your car under influence and have an accident killing someone you can't blame the car companies saying the car they sold you was unsafe.
it doesn't work like that, you are the one who made the mistake and will be charged with manslaughter and would have to pay the price.

[Lucius]

it's always easier to blame the software than your own stupidity1.

Please, do not mislead people. I dont blame nobody. This is a fact, ammount disappeared, your money is not safe, because your system cant be safe in 100%, so electrum in my opinion is not safe - due to poor protection against hackers.

BTC is not perfect either.

Electrum is safe as much as you are sure what you are doing, otherwise it is just service for hackers. This is not some bulletproof software which will protect you and say to you that you should have clean device, update only from official site, check address before sending or to keep seed in safe place. There are many warnings on internet and even on Electrum site (even in case of Electrum LTC) that users should update only from official site and check signature before install.

Every user have other options, use some other desktop / mobile wallet, buy hardware wallet or print your private key on paper / any other material and protect you money from hackers.

I use Electrum for bitcoin, litecoin, dash and bitcoincash for years and I did not lost any coins - but at some point I decide to buy hardware wallet and reduce risk to even lower levels. If at some point I see that hardware wallets are not safe, I will move all my coins to cold storage, problem solved.

[amneziahaze]

I will write again to be clear. I have believed in cryptocurrencies since 2011.
I am still trading and holding cryptocurrencies from 2016 until now.

pooya87, You mixed up the logic here. You do not understand that I cant find the reason for this theft, because i followed the basic rules in security or a lot more. there is no option to defend yourself and this is the truth. that's why I think this program is weak, similar to the leaky windows. it is so much worse that it is not known where my mistake is. I'm trying to find the reason for the 4th day. And no idea.

proving someone's mistake after time is incorrect. The mistake is that it's so easy to steal money. Paradise for hackers.

I use Electrum for bitcoin, litecoin, dash and bitcoincash for years and I did not lost any coins - but at some point I decide to buy hardware wallet and reduce risk to even lower levels. If at some point I see that hardware wallets are not safe, I will move all my coins to cold storage, problem solved.

Hello, same there, but you will never see it. until the theft. anyway, it's like online millionaires. everybody knows each other and they use it, but in reality no one will admit that it is not as it seems to everyone.

The more you use Electrum the more you are exposed to theft. And this is fact, what I am deeply regretting, more than the loss of a ridiculously low amount.

Looking through all these years on scams and the effects of the collapse of exchanges through disappearing funds i cant write directly to people that their money are safe, because it would be a fraud. Electrum is generally poorly protected against hackers, and these thieves will be more and more. The most frequent collapse of the stock market was breaking into a cold wallet, write me in that case how is it possible?

One of many examples https://bithub.pl/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/bter_com-600x270.png


PS: sorry I'm using a translator. Have a nice day.

[bob123]

You do not understand that I cant find the reason for this theft, because i followed the basic rules in security or a lot more.

Obviously not.

The mistake is that it's so easy to steal money. Paradise for hackers.

Only if you don't know how to protect yourself.

The more you use Electrum the more you are exposed to theft. And this is fact, what I am deeply regretting

That is not a fact, but simply wrong.
Electrum can not protect you from your ignorance.
A software wallet can not be more secure than your overall setup / computer.

Electrum is generally poorly protected against hackers, and these thieves will be more and more.

No, YOU are poorly protected.
YOUR computer is poorly protected.
YOU have chosen the wrong security measurements (if any at all).

The most frequent collapse of the stock market was breaking into a cold wallet, write me in that case how is it possible?

Completely offline, of course.
Or.. if the attack happened online, it wasn't a cold wallet. Poorly implemented then.



Instead of blaming electrum, accept your mistakes and try to find your weak spot.

[Lucius]

Looking through all these years on scams and the effects of the collapse of exchanges through disappearing funds i cant write directly to people that their money are safe, because it would be a fraud.

There is no 100% safe way to protect crypto seed / private keys, but every user of cryptocurrency must be aware of all the dangers, but also the possibilities of reducing the risk. Taking into consideration all that, we conclude after Mt.Gox that crypto exchanges are not safe, and that they should be used only for trading, not long-term storing of crypto.

Then part of users is start to use desktop wallets, but with time we see they also can be tricky to use (for inexperienced users particularly), so we move to hardware wallets which are today very safe way of storing crypto - but it would be stupid to say they are 100% safe. Some people trust only in cold storage, and this way of storing (if it is properly made) is probably one one of the safest.

Electrum is free software, and this is main reason why people use it, but big amounts of coins should not be stored in such hot wallets, risk is just to big. If you buy $100 worth of crypto today, then invest $50+ in decent hardware wallet or just print that private key on paper and put it in safe place.

[amneziahaze]

Lucius, You're right. Most people do not know about it, much less security, but they think they know everything and are right in everything. Standard.

Just think what will happen with growing popularity, who will be the main beneficiary of disappearing huge values.

By definition, BTC was created to oppose the banks and replace money.

And now think about many huge BTC thefts on the stock exchanges - whether they were better or worse secured than on my computer. How will people defrauded by the stock exchange defend themselves? The case will be discontinued because there is no evidence. Bitcoin for people, yeah right.

Pieniądze na giełdach nie są bezpieczne. Ok, send money to wallet, your wallet is safe...

I know that confident people are trading here for 50-150 $ but think about people trading higher amounts.

I still have no answer as to how my computer is being spied on and why only the LTCs have disappeared. I assume the only option: seed stolen by malware, which was not detected by antivirus and antispyware. is it possible? If so, then the money is less secure than in the bank or in gold.

About hardware wallets and security: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=771&v=Y1OBIGslgGM

[bob123]

I still have no answer as to how my computer is being spied on and why only the LTCs have disappeared. I assume the only option: seed stolen by malware, which was not detected by antivirus and antispyware. is it possible? If so, then the money is less secure than in the bank or in gold.


About hardware wallets and security: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=771&v=Y1OBIGslgGM

AV's only detect very well known or very poorly coded malware.
Anyone who slightly has a clue how to code properly, can create malware which is completely undetected by any AV.

So.. definitely possible.



Regarding the youtube video.. Besides multiple other requirements, an attacker needs physical access..
If i gain physical access to your credit card.. it is WAY easier for me to steal your money. Just take the credit card and use it. This is not the case with a hardware wallet. Even with multiple exploits it is more complicated than that.

Therefore i don't really think your money is more secure in a bank...


"Be your own bank" implies that you also have to deal with securing the funds.