Be careful when lodging into any hotel

[Outhue]

My wife's assets was wiped out a day after our wedding, the only reason why I suspected the hotel we lodged in is because I found two hidden camera in the room the following day of the incident and my wife claimed she revealed her wallet seed because she needed to import her seed into trust wallet from Atomic wallet after we lodged out of the hotel that day all her assets was wiped out, this include 1000 PYR token I got for her as a birthday present months back, I went back to the hotel claiming I forgot a sim card and the room was still empty, here is how I knew the room had hidden camera, could be useful for anyone.  

Make sure that everywhere is dark by switching off the light and bring out your smartphone, ON the camera and start waving it around slowly, cameras have something like infrared that flashes light, that light can be detected with your smartphone camera.


You can try this with your smart TV remote too, press a button while your camera is on you will see red light blinking.

Stay safe out there people


UPDATE

There is more to this story that I am not ready to share on here but I have said the important part already, I am only trying to warn others most especially those from corrupted countries that hotels aren't safe no more, I have tried to take some legal actions but all I am getting is warnings not to go up against the owner, I will be a threat ( trying to spoil the owner's name ) they say, moreover the cameras might be removed already, this is not America, and there have been few cases like this here that justice was never served, I heard a lot even from  the police, I don't want to sleep at night with one eye open.

Thanks for all your concerns

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[Lucius]

Apart from those tokens, the value of which I really don't know, maybe you should be more concerned about whether the hidden cameras recorded something else that could threaten your privacy. The fact is that it is bad to carry your seed everywhere and do what your wife did, and a case with hidden cameras is something that should be reported to the police - because no one has the right to monitor you in your private room.

In addition to hidden cameras, it is possible that your wife downloaded a fake wallet, or had a keylogger on the device.

[o_e_l_e_o]

I'm sorry for the loss of your coins, but there are a lot of things you (or your wife) did wrong here:

• Atomic wallet is closed source
• Trust wallet is closed source
• Interacting with your seed phrase anywhere except the security of your own house
• Probably doing all this while connected to a public WiFi network

Make sure that everywhere is dark by switching off the light and bring out your smartphone, ON the camera and start waving it around slowly, cameras have something like infrared that flashes light, that light can be detected with your smartphone camera.

This will only find cameras which are emitting infrared light. Not all cameras do this, so it is not 100% reliable.

[Coyster]

I am surprised that a hotel room has a hidden camera, that is violation of privacy and if it is true i think you can take legal action against the said hotel, when i saw your topic subject i thought the issue would prolly be that you used a hotel's wifi and got into trouble doing so, as we know it is not good to use a public wifi when you'll be accessing your crypto stuffs; but this case of hidden camera is quite strange to me, and if i am to be honest, i haven't heard of something like this before.

Just as @Lucius has said, rather than making a post here, i think you should be writing a statement at your local police station against this hotel.

[Jawhead999]

I think if you use anti peeping screen protector which is for privacy purpose, this incident wouldn't happen.

However I wonder what's the purpose of your wife to import the seed from Atomic wallet to Trust wallet, it's actually a same unsecured and closed source wallet. If you're know the hotel have a hidden camera on your room, why you're not make a report to police and documented the whole evidence instead of suggest it to anyone?

[Eureka_07]

<snip>

I am not surprised with this. This issue has been lingering for many years already. I just do not know if there is anyone that was able to prove that cameras on such private rental spaces/room.

@OP, is there really any camera technology like what you have described? Regardless, I think the reason why the assets have been stolen is probably because your wife connected with the hotel's wifi when she accessed the wallet while revealing the seed phrase.

Just to ask, can't you track where the assets have been sent?

[Outhue]

Apart from those tokens, the value of which I really don't know, maybe you should be more concerned about whether the hidden cameras recorded something else that could threaten your privacy. The fact is that it is bad to carry your seed everywhere and do what your wife did, and a case with hidden cameras is something that should be reported to the police - because no one has the right to monitor you in your private room.

In addition to hidden cameras, it is possible that your wife downloaded a fake wallet, or had a keylogger on the device.

Nothing else was recorded because we were so exhausted when we get back to the hotel, we slept off straight away, also I couldn't find any hidden camera in the bath room which would have raised some alarm already, thanks for your concern.

Police case? Where I am from the law can be bought with money, I am not a rich person to win this if turned to a case but thank God nothing else happened.

As for the wallet it's real, not the fake one, I started my crypto journey years ago and we were together through out the journey, I thought her all that's need to know.

I'm sorry for the loss of your coins, but there are a lot of things you (or your wife) did wrong here:

• Atomic wallet is closed source
• Trust wallet is closed source
• Interacting with your seed phrase anywhere except the security of your own house
• Probably doing all this while connected to a public WiFi network

Make sure that everywhere is dark by switching off the light and bring out your smartphone, ON the camera and start waving it around slowly, cameras have something like infrared that flashes light, that light can be detected with your smartphone camera.

This will only find cameras which are emitting infrared light. Not all cameras do this, so it is not 100% reliable.

Really I don't know that some cameras can't be detected this way, sigh, but it's all well and Good, I am grateful that we did nothing in private in that hotel, if not I will be in worries right now.

I am surprised that a hotel room has a hidden camera, that is violation of privacy and if it is true i think you can take legal action against the said hotel, when i saw your topic subject i thought the issue would prolly be that you used a hotel's wifi and got into trouble doing so, as we know it is not good to use a public wifi when you'll be accessing your crypto stuffs; but this case of hidden camera is quite strange to me, and if i am to be honest, i haven't heard of something like this before.

Just as @Lucius has said, rather than making a post here, i think you should be writing a statement at your local police station against this hotel.

It was actually my first time using a hotel, if not for the wedding festival I am not the type that you can see in a hotel, mind you the country that I am from this isn't something new and with high corruption going on I can't do what you asked of me because I can't win no matter what, I am from African country but I've learnt my lesson.

<snip>

I am not surprised with this. This issue has been lingering for many years already. I just do not know if there is anyone that was able to prove that cameras on such private rental spaces/room.

@OP, is there really any camera technology like what you have described? Regardless, I think the reason why the assets have been stolen is probably because your wife connected with the hotel's wifi when she accessed the wallet while revealing the seed phrase.

Just to ask, can't you track where the assets have been sent?

No she never connected to the hotel wifi, you don't get it, she had enough internet data on her phone, likewise me myself, I think we are been spied on because the second camera was right on top of the bed, if you lay on the bed and press your phone the camera will pick every thing you doing on your phone, I was able to understand this as the camera is well placed, if that camera have zooming then it's possible.

[Rruchi man]

I am surprised that a hotel room has a hidden camera, that is violation of privacy and if it is true i think you can take legal action against the said hotel...

The camera in the room is a breach of privacy, certainly the people behind the camera where not just after your wife's wallet seed as they wouldn't have known that you she was into cryptocurrency just by looking her, they probably set up the camera in the room to capture something more most likely her private activities. The hotel deserves to be investigated and shut down as that is clearly against the rules of hospitality especially for a room you paid for where your privacy is supposed to be priority. In all, the moral you can learn from this story is that you should never let your guard down even in areas or places that you think is a private space.

[Coyster]

It was actually my first time using a hotel, if not for the wedding festival I am not the type that you can see in a hotel, mind you the country that I am from this isn't something new and with high corruption going on I can't do what you asked of me because I can't win no matter what, I am from African country but I've learnt my lesson.

Making multiple posts in a row is against the forum rules, you don't have to reply every user individually, you can merge all your replies to every individual user in a single post of yours.

Well, i am sad to know that's the situation where you come from, but i am also from an African country and 'common' people do win court cases everyday, but since you said nothing explicit was recorded by the hidden camera, then it is all good, and it might be a better option to just basically let sleeping dogs lie.

[JangoUnchained]

This is nothing new, the first thing I would check in any motel/hotel is a hidden camera, it's very important, some people are so evil-minded and dirty that they plan to have a video of couples making out, imagine, they can even use this against you if care is not taken, I am not trying to side a part but the loss of asset might not even be from the hands of the hotel workers, anyway we learn every time.

[Takyeon]

If you are so sure that they have nothing on you then walking away from trouble is the best, I will like to know which country you are from but I guess you aren't ready to discol that, if I were in your show I will at least report to the police just in case, but since you are sure of your actions well no problem.

[hatshepsut93]

It could also be that your wife's device where she entered the seed had malware. Does she use crypto regularly on that device? Did she create any wallet or enter any seeds on that device previously, especially recently?

But regardless of what happened, it's still a good advice to be wary of your surroundings when you do operation with seeds. Maybe in the future there will even be cases of crypto heists where people would get robbed in their own homes as attackers would install hidden cameras into victims rooms to take a picture of their private keys.

[Saint-loup]

I am not surprised with this. This issue has been lingering for many years already. I just do not know if there is anyone that was able to prove that cameras on such private rental spaces/room.

@OP, is there really any camera technology like what you have described? Regardless, I think the reason why the assets have been stolen is probably because your wife connected with the hotel's wifi when she accessed the wallet while revealing the seed phrase.

Just to ask, can't you track where the assets have been sent?

What the hotel wifi network would have made to her, even if she was connected to it, I don't understand. No wallet sends its seed to internet or to any network. If one would do it it would be already empty. Nowadays almost all traffic is encrypted through HTTPS/TLS protocols so even if one evil maid would be spying the wifi network, she wouldn't see anything. The most dangerous threat is not always the one we think. And I wouldn't recommend anyone to bring outside his home any wallet with a critical amount into it.

[Ultegra134]

I'm so sorry for your loss, but honestly, I'd be more concerned about the camera inside your room. While it sucks that you lost your coins, a recording of you and your wife by some sicko sounds way worse to me. Your privacy is much more important than money. Sometimes, it might not even be the hotel planting the cameras, but some previous sick guest who rented the room. As others have already suggested, it's best to avoid accessing your wallet in public places or networks. It's better to be safe than sorry. However, I could never have imagined being screwed over in this way. Last month, I lost some XRP due to a fake Google Sheets extension that installed itself. Scammers never fail to impress me.

[2stout]

Another thing to is to use a VPN.  A lot of these hotels use no encryption and anybody can connect, including scumbags and scammers and gain credential in clear text.  IMHO a VPN is a must regardless as it also keep your ISP from tracking everything and then selling this information to marketing and advertisement firms.

[BIT-BENDER]

Well it's just an accusation the hotel isn't 100 percent guilt yet, until perfectly proven. Although I think you should also fear blackmail if there are hidden cameras in the room then it may have caught sensitive compromising details of you or your wife or even both.

I hope you take this matter seriously and simple things can help us out like I conduct all my crypto-currency business at home, if you have a good schedule of your time and discipline it's very easy. Make all transfers, and transactions at home or places very convenient with less threat. Maybe you and your wife have learnt good lessons with this event.

[lovesmayfamilis]

If you are so sure that they have nothing on you then walking away from trouble is the best, I will like to know which country you are from but I guess you aren't ready to discol that, if I were in your show I will at least report to the police just in case, but since you are sure of your actions well no problem.

You should be more careful to read what people write above. The OP clearly wrote that he is from an African country. 
OP, did you have a good amount of money in your wallet so that the hotel management could risk their name for her? In addition, you write that you came to the room and were very tired. Could this work against you? Your wife could be inattentive and make some mistakes, and using public Wi-Fi, I think, could also play a cruel joke on you. 
I was the one who got their social media passwords stolen while using public Wi-Fi. Since then, I prefer not to trust them.

[traderethereum]

One lesson from your story is never to open any wallet when you're not at home because we don't know anything suspicious is around us.
I think some hotels may have installed hidden cameras to find out about their visitors' activities.
But actually, it has violated the privacy rights of visitors in the hotel or that place because the hotel installed hidden cameras without the visitors' consent.
You can report it to the authorities so the hotel can be monitored or even penalized for violating user privacy.

[o_e_l_e_o]

What the hotel wifi network would have made to her, even if she was connected to it, I don't understand.

There are lots of risks involved and potential attack vectors when connecting to a public WiFi, from man-in-the-middle attacks to loading malware on to your device. It's best to avoid public WiFi altogether and use your own mobile connection.

No wallet sends its seed to internet or to any network.

We don't know that because both of the wallets OP talked about are closed source, so they could be sending the seeds anywhere and you would have no idea. Other closed sources wallets have been caught sending unencrypted seed phrases across the internet (for example, Coinomi sent seed phrases to a Google server).

[Cuda911]

If you are so sure that they have nothing on you then walking away from trouble is the best, I will like to know which country you are from but I guess you aren't ready to discol that, if I were in your show I will at least report to the police just in case, but since you are sure of your actions well no problem.

That's not safe, OP started that he is from African country, could be the worst part of Africa where the law has no meaning, have you ever visited a lawless country before? You can go missing and you won't be found like ever, if he decided to walk away it means taking action is not safe.