How often are people really hacked out of their BTC?

[shoreno]

i read a topic last time and its title is theres a time for everything where the sharer of the story got hack but he was a wise guy . the reason why i mention his story is because no matter how you warn others or learn on others story you will always have your own time if you havent yet but im not saying that we should stop learning , of course its always better if we have advanced learnings . stating how you got hack is fine but stating how any times you got hacked sounds painful for the poster and to the reader .

[xSkylarx]

I've started in this world of bitcoin way back 2016 and I've never experienced getting my crypto wallet hacked. As long as you secure them properly like enabling 2fa, email verification, number otp and you don't share those details with anyone then there is a very low chance for you to be hacked. Also, be observant on the links you are clicking, don't fall for some cheap phishing attempts that say you will get a guaranteed amount if you will just provide what they want. This is the common cause of many people getting hacked of their wallets.

[Pmalek]

Having several wallets do not offers as much protection as you think, if all of those wallets are in the same device and the device is infected by a virus or a keylogger then you are going to lose your coins anyway, especially if the hacker is smart and takes his time with the hack.

The only way in which several wallets could help you is if you have them in different devices that way if one of them gets compromised then you do not lose the bitcoin in all your wallets,

Even if you have multiple devices, it's still not a good idea. Some wallets are open-source, others are closed-source. Many have a bad reputation and history of scams or taking custody of user's funds, or not caring about the security of those funds. Jaxx, Freewallet, and some others spring to mind.

I have read some posts about users from Bitcointalk who asked whether it is wise to install several different software wallets on multiple devices that they own. Electrum on device #1, Wasabi on device #2, Coinomi on device #3... Most users agree that this is the wrong approach and shouldn't be done. It's better to have one good piece of software installed across multiple devices (Electrum or Wasabi) than putting parts of your coins in custodial wallets or centralized exchanges that can get hacked.   

[adzino]

I guess it happens almost everyday due to people being very lousy with their security. Most of them get phished or has their computer hijacked by malwares that they "install" without even noticing. Or they fall for stupid scams and ends up giving away their sensitive information that leads to their bitcoins getting hacked. Some loses their coins because they are stupid enough to hold their coin on an online wallet or exchange.
You just have to be smart and know what you are doing to avoid all these disastrous consequences. Unfortunately, some people don't even try.

[steampunkz]

Many people always experienced this one especially if they are not aware that the site is fake or have hidden malware or virus. So if you are visiting sites check first the URL if it's correct and legit, when installing software Scan it with VirusTotal. I guess some other people are evil and good at hacking and stealing.  Even a big exchange site is Prone to hacking. It is good to have a cold wallet like trezor. Or don't put all  your money in one wallet.

[isaac_clarke22]

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Hey, we somehow have the same story which happened in a BTC Talk account though in my case, it was a bit different.

On one ordinary day in January 2020, I opened Bitcointalk forum in my web browser chrome. Did daily check on my account like messages, replies from a thread. You know the usual stuff that one do in their profile. However on the lower part of my profile page. there goes a negative trust.
It was from tvplus006 that said that I was posting some doubler scam in Investor-based section here.
I was like surprised because I didn't post anything like that and I never once in my life even visit that section nor post something to it.
So like the usual, I asked help in a thread and pm'ed the one that gave me negative trust as well and referred the link to the thread that I created.
It turns out someone from "Turkey" logged into my account based on the IP logs provided here in the forum.

It went well in the end. I changed my password and log out because that would end every session of anyone logged into my account in different device. I cleaned my PC with an antivirus and some basic disk cleaning software, because I was really panicking that my sensitive info might get leaked or even used to a bad things.

Scanning and cleaning one's PC for malware/virus is often overlooked by many but it is indeed crucial. I learned my lesson that day to always clean my PC and log out every session not just in my Bitcointalk Forum account.

If anyone is curious on where is the thread that I made that day. Here it is : https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5217251.msg53594867#msg53594867
It might be over a year already, but I wanted to thank everyone again in that thread for their help in my situation.

tldr; Somebody from Turkey got into my BTC Talk account, so I did every means to not ever let it happen again with the help of reputated members here in the forum.

[Maslate]

I guess it happens almost everyday due to people being very lousy with their security. Most of them get phished or has their computer hijacked by malwares that they "install" without even noticing. Or they fall for stupid scams and ends up giving away their sensitive information that leads to their bitcoins getting hacked. Some loses their coins because they are stupid enough to hold their coin on an online wallet or exchange.
You just have to be smart and know what you are doing to avoid all these disastrous consequences. Unfortunately, some people don't even try.

It is not beyond our control and that supposedly be avoided but those who aren't good on the computer, no-how about malware, phishing sites, they are always a victim to this.

Because in me, I don't let other people use my PC and laptop. We don't know what they are doing, what sites they have been visited, download apps and movies. A lot of possible entries that hackers will be setting up the bait, and that very unlucky if you got caught with. You can't imagine what will happen once they take control of your account.

[aysg76]

You don't get hacked or scammed all of a sudden because Bitcoin is most secure digital currency which is encrypted with SHA-256 algorithm which is one way hash function.You coins are lost if someone get access to your private keys and have access to your funds and they transfer them to their wallets or whenever you are victim of phishing and online scams where they ask you to donate to particular address or click on some kind of link installing virus in your software that will eventually lead to loss of your btc forever.You need to backup your keys in most secure ways because they are proof of ownership of your funds and whoever have them he is owner of funds.

[kooboat]

People get hacked all the time, only  a few are able or willing to come  and share their  experience. As soon as your private  keys or back-up phrase  are compromised, you  are doomed. Personally,  my bitcoin got stolen  on  a staking platform simply  because I had not activated 2FA security  verification. This experience  has made me to activate Google Authenticator  verification  on all platforms wherever  it's  applicable.

[fxsniper]

I think bitcoin scam are have a lot more than bitcoin hacked

hacked have many type, that mean of hack

bitcoin hacked by professional hacker may be not mush a little but very danger

bitcoin hacked by stolen identity theft

bitcoin hacked by personal like brute-force private key I think not much. but always have new person coming continue and same have many people (most) give up and quite
most people try (trying) hack bitcoin must be know about technical computer and know than end user. most programmer still not interesting to try bitcoin hacked

most people use bitcoin don't know computer. the are buyer and day trade.(speculate)

I think scam bitcoin is danger more than people hack (brute-force) and scam are make people damaged a lot
most hacked bitcoin is weak private key and password but for now very body use 25bit and not use brainwallet

bitcoin hacked by research and security still have for security and development

[Sithara007]

People get hacked all the time, only  a few are able or willing to come  and share their  experience. As soon as your private  keys or back-up phrase  are compromised, you  are doomed. Personally,  my bitcoin got stolen  on  a staking platform simply  because I had not activated 2FA security  verification. This experience  has made me to activate Google Authenticator  verification  on all platforms wherever  it's  applicable.

Don't get paranoid. If you take the necessary precautions, then the chance of your wallet getting hacked is near zero. I first purchased BTC in 2014. Ever since that date, none of my wallets have got hacked. The trick is to follow basic safety precautions, such as email verification and 2FA. Also, if you go for email verification, you need to create a fresh email rather than using the id that you use elsewhere. And Gmail is the best, because it flags whenever a login occurs from an IP which is previously not used.

[k@suy]

People get hacked all the time, only  a few are able or willing to come  and share their  experience. As soon as your private  keys or back-up phrase  are compromised, you  are doomed. Personally,  my bitcoin got stolen  on  a staking platform simply  because I had not activated 2FA security  verification. This experience  has made me to activate Google Authenticator  verification  on all platforms wherever  it's  applicable.

Indeed I experience the same thing last time, and it is a terrible experience, I think my eth got stollen in a wallet that can link with your previous eth address, I downloaded it in play store and it is legit because it has a hundred thousand to million downloads so far, my private keys are safe, I never log in my account in anyone's pc or laptop and but after mins after I received it (I am sleeping this time) it is automatically sent to another wallet, now the price of eth is so big I am more sad realizing it.

[best123]

My blockchain.com or info was hacked once and I lost some fraction of bitcoin which will be good money now. My exchange account was also hacked https://pro.collubus.com/  and they sold my assets and converted it to Bitcoin and withdraw it. Another of my exchange account was hacked, they cancelled the trade I placed sold it at market price but I lucky to visit the exchange before they withdrew it.
All these happened when I was using web extension Google Authenticator. This led to the formating of laptop, synchronizing it will new email and remove all the extensions.
Hack is not a good experience but it makes one to be more careful.

[Rupok365]

You can't be hacked automatically.  blockchain is always most privacy but in some cases they are stolen from the wallet for their own stupidity.  Which we often call hack.  Unnecessary links, strangers, should be avoided from unpopular  bad exchanger.  This should not be a problem.

[Sanugarid]

Has anyone here been hacked and if so, how? We should make sure that we share our stories of being hacked, even if they are painful,  to ensure that people do not repeat other people's mistakes.

We're advised to take precautionary measures on how to protect our digital wallets against hackers and it is possible for them to infiltrate and steal your BTC when they acquired personal information that can be used to access your wallet. So don't share your personal information specially if it's bound to your digital wallet and be aware of phishing websites all the time.

[btc-room101]

I guess it happens almost everyday due to people being very lousy with their security. Most of them get phished or has their computer hijacked by malwares that they "install" without even noticing. Or they fall for stupid scams and ends up giving away their sensitive information that leads to their bitcoins getting hacked. Some loses their coins because they are stupid enough to hold their coin on an online wallet or exchange.
You just have to be smart and know what you are doing to avoid all these disastrous consequences. Unfortunately, some people don't even try.

Current estimate is $2 Billion/year of BTC is hacked, mostly from exchanges

Of course BTC just dropped apr17-27 from $63k to $47k, that wiped out $400B in capitalization

This is why stolen $2B is such a small drop in the bucket

But given $1T CAP, that 0.002% which is way less than what is stolen from VISA annually

You can write a book about the ways bitcoin ppl have been robbed, and its a boring subject; majority is stupid about exchanges, and stupid about 'free offers of BTC'

Has anyone here been hacked and if so, how? We should make sure that we share our stories of being hacked, even if they are painful,  to ensure that people do not repeat other people's mistakes.

We're advised to take precautionary measures on how to protect our digital wallets against hackers and it is possible for them to infiltrate and steal your BTC when they acquired personal information that can be used to access your wallet. So don't share your personal information specially if it's bound to your digital wallet and be aware of phishing websites all the time.

The real problem is they trust the exchanges, where the addresses are issued by default, where the exchange holds the priv-key, where the exchange is easy to hack, and insiders are corrupted. Remember everybody/anybody inside of an exchange can find the super-used password's if they wish.

IMHO most of the $2B annual exchange hacking, is insider info passed outsiders for discrete payment. You really can't blame poor security, criminality of this magnitude is always an inside job.

Besides, no insurance, no responsibility, nobody cares, perfect recipe for crime.

[moderator's note: consecutive posts merged]