How to lose your Bitcoins with CTRL-C CTRL-V

[Hispo]

This is yet another reason to invest some bucks in a reliable Hardware wallet which allows us to double check not only on the screen of the computer but also on the screen of the hardware itself, which has been isolated from the internet and its nasty malwares.

At this point, a Trezor or a Ledger should be a must have for any serious Hodler, imo. 

[witcher_sense]

I just saw another victim of clipboard hijacker malware.
<...>

Someone is farming karma without providing links to the source. Many posts here are the copypasta from reddit but I didn't know it works both ways.

Please report this: https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/comments/pcegqx/how_to_lose_your_bitcoins_with_ctrlc_ctrlv/

[RBLT]

I just saw another victim of clipboard hijacker malware.

How it works
1. You select a Bitcoin address, and press CTRL-C.
2. The malware changes the address to an address owned by the hacker/scammer.
3. You press CTRL-V and lose any funds you send.
Even if you check part of the pasted Bitcoin address, chances are the first few characters are the same, and you still won't notice the address was changed.

Wow i didn't know that a simple thing as Ctrl-C/Ctrl-V could potentialy make you loss so many. Thanks for the info though! even though i never experienced getting scammed or hacked that way and I'm using Windows 10 right now makes me keep vigilant. 

[LoyceV]

Someone is farming karma without providing links to the source. Many posts here are the copypasta from reddit but I didn't know it works both ways.

I once had plagiarism from one of my posts removed from Medium. It's the first time I see it on Reddit.

Please report this: https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/comments/pcegqx/how_to_lose_your_bitcoins_with_ctrlc_ctrlv/

I tried, but Reddit wants my full name and address. I'm not doxing myself, so I just downvoted and posted a link to my original topic in the comments.

[Luzin]

Wow i didn't know that a simple thing as Ctrl-C/Ctrl-V could potentialy make you loss so many. Thanks for the info though! even though i never experienced getting scammed or hacked that way and I'm using Windows 10 right now makes me keep vigilant. 

Windows 10 is not without its drawbacks, even I have been exposed to clipboard viruses. The way it works seems to be inserted in an app that I'm trying to download. This virus is trying to check the wallet address of the thief in every activity Ctrl + V. Fortunately I am aware of this, even I have not tried the transaction. I was just trying to see the balance balance through Etherscan and it turned out that it was very different that what I did was the ETH address that the app brought. I've tried to dazzle and remove it. But every time I say that computer will appear and the last way is to install my computer.

[Drnice]

This is totally an eye opener to me, I must confess I have not come across or experience anything of this nature, but right now with this post I am completely informed. Thanks OP.
  But I would want to know another thing about this copy/paste.
How come the address shows or have the same first few characters and last few characters, is it that they run some codes that automatically figured out the kind of address that has been copied into the clipboard or it randomly creates it's own address that has the same first and last characters?
Please, I will sincerely need answers. Thanks.

[LoyceV]

How come the address shows or have the same first few characters and last few characters

That's easy: vanitygen and a list/database.

[Diplester6666]

I would like to add a tip here to avoid copy-paste errors and clipboard highjack scams. Instead of using CTRL+C and CTRL+V to copy paste the Bitcoin address, do this -

Select the address with mouse, then click-and-drag it to where you want to paste it.

This will act like a regular copy-paste, but no clipboard is involved.

[voteformeg]

I would like to add a tip here to avoid copy-paste errors and clipboard highjack scams. Instead of using CTRL+C and CTRL+V to copy paste the Bitcoin address, do this -

Select the address with mouse, then click-and-drag it to where you want to paste it.

This will act like a regular copy-paste, but no clipboard is involved.

not sure if this will help in the long term , it could be possible that they already found a way to change that also , i'll stick to the first page and keep deleting some numbers and change them by hand

[PowerGlove]

I would like to add a tip here to avoid copy-paste errors and clipboard highjack scams. Instead of using CTRL+C and CTRL+V to copy paste the Bitcoin address, do this -

Select the address with mouse, then click-and-drag it to where you want to paste it.

This will act like a regular copy-paste, but no clipboard is involved.

Be careful with this tip. If you drag things from a text file, then (depending on the application) it'll remove^[1] it from the source document after pasting. It's pretty easy to then accidentally save the file (some time later) and lose whatever it was that you copied.

Obviously, it's not advisable to keep important stuff in random text files, and I would never do that, but, erm... I have a friend who does it all the time.

[1] You can prevent this from happening by making sure to hold down the CTRL key before dragging.

[LoyceV]

Select the address with mouse, then click-and-drag it to where you want to paste it.

Once your OS is compromised, you can't trust anything anymore. Although I haven't seen this happen yet, I can imagine at some point a compromised OS can make your wallet send funds to an address different than the address shown on your screen. A hardware wallet prevents this, assuming you thoroughly check the address on your hardware wallet before sending funds.

[Porfirii]

We are currently talking about this issue in the Spanish local board (thread). A user was recently infected by a keylogger he installed which came within a KMSPico package, and he lost some funds because the address was changed in the copy-paste process. The addresses may seem similar if you focus on the first or last characters only, as you said, so beware!

[noorman0]

-snip-
Select the address with mouse, then click-and-drag it to where you want to paste it.

I'm sure you meant this way, and yes I did too. But as a fact it doesn't support in some apps including notepad and some web pages.

-snip-
Obviously, it's not advisable to keep important stuff in random text files, and I would never do that, but, erm... I have a friend who does it all the time.

As long as you can confirm your own actions (provided you also understand wallet security) and have proven up to this point that nothing happened, then go ahead. It's meant only to show your habits, not to recommend others.

[Laurendaldin]

The scammers haven't caught me yet, but I'm glad that I learned about this kind of scam and how to deal with it. Your words sound very logical. Everyone should be careful, as careful as possible when it comes to money. Thanks!

[m2017]

This is yet another reason to invest some bucks in a reliable Hardware wallet which allows us to double check not only on the screen of the computer but also on the screen of the hardware itself, which has been isolated from the internet and its nasty malwares.

At this point, a Trezor or a Ledger should be a must have for any serious Hodler, imo. 

Indeed, in the case of using hardware wallets, the problem with the probability of losing bitcoin using ctrl-C / ctrl-V disappears by itself.

But this paragraph doesn't cancel at all:

Stay vigilant
Check, double check and tripple check before sending funds!

You still have to visually check every character in the address bar, which can be a little annoying. But that's the price of not making mistakes.

In addition to these manufacturers, there are many other companies on the hardware wallet market, but for some reason, Trezor and Ledger are most often called when recommending a purchase. It seems that this is due to the fact that these companies have been around for a long time and are known, having proven themselves well. Although not devoid of dubious and controversial points. Therefore, I would recommend not discounting devices from other companies.

[asbani]

Thanks for the interesting post and suggestions. I saw the recommendations and you said in #1 "Don't use windows" - Are you saying that if I don't use windows the chances of this copy/paste hack is zero? For example lets say I own a Mac laptop, am I safe from this attack? Thanks.

[Charles-Tim]

Thanks for the interesting post and suggestions. I saw the recommendations and you said in #1 "Don't use windows" - Are you saying that if I don't use windows the chances of this copy/paste hack is zero? For example lets say I own a Mac laptop, am I safe from this attack?

No operating system is completely safe and no operating system that can not be hacked. Probably what LoyceV means is that the chance of having such malware on Linux is low. Linux is also completely open source.

According to what I have read before, but which I do not know if it is true or not, is that Linux can be more vulnerable to malware. But most people using it are very conscious and know how to avoid malware perfectly.

According to my findings, the chance of having malware is lower on Mac OS than Windows, but they are still both close source operating systems.

If you have the experience of not letting your OS get infected with malware, you can be safe on all OS, but an open source OS would be another thing to consider, unlike close source which you do not know if the OS has some spyware or other vulnerabilities. No one will want Bill Gates or Apple to be spying on their activities on computer.

[LoyceV]

No operating system is completely safe and no operating system that can not be hacked. Probably what LoyceV means is that the chance of having such malware on Linux is low. Linux is also completely open source.

Correct. Windows has been "the place to be" for malware for decades. Last year, 95% of all malware targeted Windows, even though it's market share is only 30% nowadays.

Are you saying that if I don't use windows the chances of this copy/paste hack is zero? For example lets say I own a Mac laptop, am I safe from this attack?

Thinking you're safe would be the biggest mistake. It's a lot safer, but even if it's a lot smaller, there's always a risk. So assume you're not safe, and act accordingly.

[Luzin]

Thinking you're safe would be the biggest mistake. It's a lot safer, but even if it's a lot smaller, there's always a risk. So assume you're not safe, and act accordingly.

This has happened to me, but I'm lucky I didn't lose a few Bitcoins. I tried to eliminate add ons in Chrome settings, even it was gone when my Laptop turned off and turned on again it will always come back. Even in the end I needed to reinstall my windows when I found out this. Luckily I did a double check before sending crypto. Right now I'm still using Chrome, and some anti-virus. My mistake at that time was trying to install some video editor from an unofficial link and using crack. So there are many factors and we have to be meticulous and careful in every step related to the Internet. Even until now I am still looking for the best browser to access the internet.

[o_e_l_e_o]

Even until now I am still looking for the best browser to access the internet.

Tor or Firefox.

There is really no debate to be had here. Chrome is provably awful in every way, from being filled with spyware, to insecurely storing passwords, to phoning home to Google constantly, to being resource hungry, to tracking everything you do, etc., etc. It is the absolute worst browser you can choose, but especially so for anything sensitive such as crypto. And every browser based on Chrome (Edge, Opera, Brave, Vivaldi, etc.) still has plenty of embedded Google spyware which is near impossible to remove.