My wallet has been hacked. What to do?

[Shaddyr]

Hello.
Today, when logging into the wallet, I received a message about an outgoing transaction dated 12/03/2023. As a result, my balance was reset to zero. What should I do? Can I do anything to return the money?
(Program version 4.3.3 at the time of entry)

[1714657520]

1714657520

[OmegaStarScream]

Do you know how it happened? There's sadly nothing you can do now that the transaction is confirmed but you can try and follow the transaction, and see if it ever landed in a centralized exchange's address (one that requires KYC) using walletexplorer.com if it does, contact law enforcement but unless the hacker is from the same country as you, I don't think that would help much.

[bitmover]

What should I do?

Discover what is compromised in your system.
Format your computer.
Buy a hardware wallet.

Where did you stored your seed? In a paper? If not, that is a mistake.

Can I do anything to return the money?

No.

[Shaddyr]

What should I do?

Discover what is compromised in your system.
Format your computer.
Buy a hardware wallet.

Where did you stored your seed? In a paper? If not, that is a mistake.

Can I do anything to return the money?

No.

The wallet profile was missing on the PC, as well as the passphrase to restore it. I don't think it's my PC. I believe that the actions were carried out on a third-party resource. Does Electrum have tech support to check this? How can I communicate them?

[BitcoinGirl.Club]

The wallet profile was missing on the PC, as well as the passphrase to restore it. I don't think it's my PC. I believe that the actions were carried out on a third-party resource. Does Electrum have tech support to check this? How can I communicate them?

When I read such questions like does Electrum have tech support, how can I get my coins return, please help me I lost my bitcoin, I feel disappointed and frustrated. Sorry brother, you are not dealing in Bank or any financial institution. When a hacker hack you device and still your cryptocurrency, it's gone forever. There are no return back unless the person who taken it decides to favour you.

I urge you to learn how Bitcoin works, what it means by decentralization things like that.

Sorry for your loss.

[AbuBhakar]

The wallet profile was missing on the PC, as well as the passphrase to restore it. I don't think it's my PC. I believe that the actions were carried out on a third-party resource. Does Electrum have tech support to check this? How can I communicate them?

Probably you install software that has a malware or you get from downloading files. The disappearance of the wallet.dat is a clear sign that your computer is compromised. I’m curious how your passphrase is missing while you should put this on safe place?

There’s no electrum support and confirmed transaction is irreversible. Even Satoshi can’t recover this. Reformat your PC and make sure to avoid installing and downloading files from untrustworthy source.

[NeuroticFish]

Hello.
Today, when logging into the wallet, I received a message about an outgoing transaction dated 12/03/2023. As a result, my balance was reset to zero. What should I do? Can I do anything to return the money?
(Program version 4.3.3 at the time of entry)

I will start by telling that the bitcoins never stay in the wallet. The wallet only handles the keys.
So there's an extremely good chance that somebody got access to your wallet seed, restored (basically obtained a copy of) your wallet and then spent your coins.
Since bitcoin transactions are irreversible, if the transaction is confirmed you cannot get your money back.

What you can do? Try to find out how did your seed got stolen - is your system compromised, or did you save the seed in mail, or cloud? (If system is compromised you may lose more than only the bitcoins). As the others said: learn how bitcoin works, learn to keep your money safer, consider buying a hardware wallet for your coins.

[decodx]

The wallet profile was missing on the PC, as well as the passphrase to restore it. I don't think it's my PC.

It is unclear which profile is missing from your PC. Can you specify? Do you have any idea how this occurred?
This fact itself tells us that your computer is very likely infected with some malware.

I believe that the actions were carried out on a third-party resource. Does Electrum have tech support to check this? How can I communicate them?

Electrum is a self-custody wallet, meaning that you are the only one who possesses your private keys, and there is no third-party resource that could cause you to lose your coins. However, if you have saved your seed phrase to an external source, that was a major security failure on your part.

[mendace]

The wallet profile was missing on the PC, as well as the passphrase to restore it. I don't think it's my PC. I believe that the actions were carried out on a third-party resource. Does Electrum have tech support to check this? How can I communicate them?

What do you mean third party?  Do you think of any program in particular that could be complicit?  Second question is it a hardware wallet connected to electrum?

[Shaddyr]

thanks everyone for the replies.
Perhaps the translation was not very accurate - my English is far from ideal and I have to use Google.

The scheme of work is as follows: I use the standalone version of the client. The Electrum profile itself does not exist on the computer - it is in the archive under a password. If I need to make a transaction, I unpack the profile folder to a specific location, indicate this location to the program, enter the password and get access. At the end, I close the program, again I archive the profile folder with its removal from the location.
Those. Initially, there is no folder with a wallet or a file with a phrase on the PC. Therefore, I cannot understand how exactly without this phrase and in the absence of access to the wallet file, access to transactions could be obtained.
And - yes, I imagine how the blockchain works. Please don't waste your time visualizing how much smarter you are. Thank you.

[BitMaxz]

There is no tech support for Electrum this section is the right place to seek help with Electrum. Or if you have some issues or bugs you can report them from their GitHub check the link below

- https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum/issues


But you can not report your issue there because you were hacked or have a compromised wallet.

What I guess is that you are being phished or your PC is compromised would you mind telling us what 3rd party you mention above?

[Shaddyr]

There is no tech support for Electrum this section is the right place to seek help with Electrum. Or if you have some issues or bugs you can report them from their GitHub check the link below

- https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum/issues


But you can not report your issue there because you were hacked or have a compromised wallet.

What I guess is that you are being phished or your PC is compromised would you mind telling us what 3rd party you mention above?

Look.
The transaction is dated 03/12/2023. At this point, there was no Electrum profile on the PC. And there was no text file with the phrase. And I haven't logged into Electrum since January. None of this is stored in decrypted form anywhere else. Knowing only the password, assuming it is impossible to access the wallet. So another option suggests itself - the vulnerability of Electrum itself, the specified version. It was this executable file that was last executed in January. And it was taken from the link from the previous version, also from the official location.
It is a pity that this will not help me or the users of the wallet in any way - it means that there will still be the same leaks from the wallets of other owners.

About 3rd party... I mean somebody did this without hacking my PC. I don't know how it could be done and it's looks imposible for me too. But above I wrote why I think that access to my PC at the time of the specified date would not have given anything even if it had happened

[rat03gopoh]

The scheme of work is as follows: I use the standalone version of the client. The Electrum profile itself does not exist on the computer - it is in the archive under a password. If I need to make a transaction, I unpack the profile folder to a specific location, indicate this location to the program, enter the password and get access. At the end, I close the program, again I archive the profile folder with its removal from the location.

Please tutor me about your security method by extracting the electrum profile file elsewhere (tbh this is the first time I've heard of this method).
So, anyone who has the profile folder and (somehow) has the encryption password to the folder and the access password to electrum will be able to open your electrum profile and do anything including sweeping your balance, right?
Does it also work if accessing the profile using another device with a copy of that profile file and have you tried it?

[bitmover]

thanks everyone for the replies.
Perhaps the translation was not very accurate - my English is far from ideal and I have to use Google.

The scheme of work is as follows: I use the standalone version of the client. The Electrum profile itself does not exist on the computer - it is in the archive under a password. If I need to make a transaction, I unpack the profile folder to a specific location, indicate this location to the program, enter the password and get access. At the end, I close the program, again I archive the profile folder with its removal from the location.
Those. Initially, there is no folder with a wallet or a file with a phrase on the PC. Therefore, I cannot understand how exactly without this phrase and in the absence of access to the wallet file, access to transactions could be obtained.
And - yes, I imagine how the blockchain works. Please don't waste your time visualizing how much smarter you are. Thank you.

You didn't answer my  question in the beginning. In the first post.

Where did you store your seed?

All you said about archive program and password means nothing and this doesn't increase your security.

With the seed anyone can just download electrum and move your coins. The seed should be your main concern.

The seed phrase should always be written in paper, which is unhackable.

It is very likely that your computer is compromised and the hacker just got access to your seed. This may have happened in the time you just created the wallet and saw the seed for the first time or later on.

[BitMaxz]

There was no text file with the phrase. And I haven't logged into Electrum since January. None of this is stored in decrypted form anywhere else. Knowing only the password, assuming it is impossible to access the wallet. So another option suggests itself - the vulnerability of Electrum itself, the specified version. It was this executable file that was last executed in January. And it was taken from the link from the previous version, also from the official location.

Can you clarify these a bit?
Do you mean is that when you created the wallet it didn't give you a text/seed phrase?

There is a vulnerability on Electrum before but it was fixed on 3.3.4 lower versions are still prawns to phishing you might have an older version than 3.3.4 and recently updated it to the latest version. Since you said that you downloaded the latest version by using the link from the previous version which is possible a phishing site.

And did you just install it without verifying the installer with the GPG tool?

I don't have any issue using the latest version but if you believe that it's a vulnerability you are free to report it directly on their GitHub page and then bring some proof that there is a leak.

[Shaddyr]

The scheme of work is as follows: I use the standalone version of the client. The Electrum profile itself does not exist on the computer - it is in the archive under a password. If I need to make a transaction, I unpack the profile folder to a specific location, indicate this location to the program, enter the password and get access. At the end, I close the program, again I archive the profile folder with its removal from the location.

Please tutor me about your security method by extracting the electrum profile file elsewhere (tbh this is the first time I've heard of this method).
So, anyone who has the profile folder and (somehow) has the encryption password to the folder and the access password to electrum will be able to open your electrum profile and do anything including sweeping your balance, right?
Does it also work if accessing the profile using another device with a copy of that profile file and have you tried it?

well I haven't tried this anywhere else but - yes, that's that I did myself to access my wallet on my laptop. I'll try it on another PC and send you the result.

[decodx]

It is a pity that this will not help me or the users of the wallet in any way - it means that there will still be the same leaks from the wallets of other owners.

You still don't seem to understand. Electrum happens to be one of the most widely used desktop wallets, along with Bitcoin Core, and has a vast user base of millions of individuals worldwide who utilize it at any given moment. It's highly unlikely that any security vulnerabilities within the software would go unnoticed, given the sheer volume of users and the attention that such flaws would attract online. I'm not saying it's impossible, just very unlikely. So, rather than making baseless accusations, it would be more constructive to provide evidence to support your claims.

About 3rd party... I mean somebody did this without hacking my PC. I don't know how it could be done and it's looks imposible for me too.

Electrum is open-source software. Feel free to review the code yourself and report any loopholes or vulnerabilities you find.

But above I wrote why I think that access to my PC at the time of the specified date would not have given anything even if it had happened

After reading your explanation, I must say that I have serious concerns regarding your OPSEC and its effectiveness. Deleting your wallet profile after each use provide no significant protection, as it offers no real advantage in terms of security, unless you used an offline, air-gapped device to sign your transactions. Similarly, there is little advantage to adding another password to the archive since the wallet file's encryption already provides an adequate level of protection and is virtually impossible to break.

[Shaddyr]

You didn't answer my  question in the beginning. In the first post.

Where did you store your seed?

All you said about archive program and password means nothing and this doesn't increase your security.

With the seed anyone can just download electrum and move your coins. The seed should be your main concern.

The seed phrase should always be written in paper, which is unhackable.

It is very likely that your computer is compromised and the hacker just got access to your seed. This may have happened in the time you just created the wallet and saw the seed for the first time or later on.

the seed file is always located in another archive, also under a password. I never turn to him - there is no need. It has not been available on PC for many years.

There was no text file with the phrase. And I haven't logged into Electrum since January. None of this is stored in decrypted form anywhere else. Knowing only the password, assuming it is impossible to access the wallet. So another option suggests itself - the vulnerability of Electrum itself, the specified version. It was this executable file that was last executed in January. And it was taken from the link from the previous version, also from the official location.

Can you clarify these a bit?
Do you mean is that when you created the wallet it didn't give you a text/seed phrase?

No. Of course, when creating the wallet, the seed phrase was generated and I have it. But, as I already answered above to another participant, I do not contact her - to access the wallet, it is enough to indicate the folder with the wallet to the program and enter the correct password.

There is a vulnerability on Electrum before but it was fixed on 3.3.4 lower versions are still prawns to phishing you might have an older version than 3.3.4 and recently updated it to the latest version. Since you said that you downloaded the latest version by using the link from the previous version which is possible a phishing site.

And did you just install it without verifying the installer with the GPG tool?

I don't have any issue using the latest version but if you believe that it's a vulnerability you are free to report it directly on their GitHub page and then bring some proof that there is a leak.

I know about the vulnerability in 3.3.3. I can’t say which version I started working with this wallet with, but the exe file was always downloaded from the official website using the link from the status bar of the program. In the first message, I indicated that the last access was using version 4.3.3, which officially has no vulnerabilities at the moment.

It is a pity that this will not help me or the users of the wallet in any way - it means that there will still be the same leaks from the wallets of other owners.

You still don't seem to understand. Electrum happens to be one of the most widely used desktop wallets, along with Bitcoin Core, and has a vast user base of millions of individuals worldwide who utilize it at any given moment. It's highly unlikely that any security vulnerabilities within the software would go unnoticed, given the sheer volume of users and the attention that such flaws would attract online. I'm not saying it's impossible, just very unlikely. So, rather than making baseless accusations, it would be more constructive to provide evidence to support your claims.

I guess users of version 3.3.3 have also been told, right?
I chose exactly for its prevalence and reviews in a very distant year. I haven't had any problems since before this incident.

About 3rd party... I mean somebody did this without hacking my PC. I don't know how it could be done and it's looks imposible for me too.

Electrum is open-source software. Feel free to review the code yourself and report any loopholes or vulnerabilities you find.

I doubt very much that my level of knowledge of languages will allow me to understand the code. Have you been able or just decided to show sarcasm? )

But above I wrote why I think that access to my PC at the time of the specified date would not have given anything even if it had happened

After reading your explanation, I must say that I have serious concerns regarding your OPSEC and its effectiveness. Deleting your wallet profile after each use provide no significant protection, as it offers no real advantage in terms of security, unless you used an offline, air-gapped device to sign your transactions. Similarly, there is little advantage to adding another password to the archive since the wallet file's encryption already provides an adequate level of protection and is virtually impossible to break.

But it certainly won't get any worse, right? When an object is present but encrypted, that's one thing. But when an object is missing, it doesn't matter if it's encrypted, it just doesn't exist.

[Shaddyr]

And one more thing guys, it's about security issue - look at this, 3 days ago
https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum/issues/8244
Isn't it looks like something just begun?
I gonna ask there as well

[nc50lc]

The scheme of work is as follows: I use the standalone version of the client. The Electrum profile itself does not exist on the computer - it is in the archive under a password. If I need to make a transaction, I unpack the profile folder to a specific location, indicate this location to the program, enter the password and get access. At the end, I close the program, again I archive the profile folder with its removal from the location.
Those. Initially, there is no folder with a wallet or a file with a phrase on the PC. Therefore, I cannot understand how exactly without this phrase and in the absence of access to the wallet file, access to transactions could be obtained.

Look.
The transaction is dated 03/12/2023. At this point, there was no Electrum profile on the PC.

So basically, you're using the command line option -D or --dir to specify a custom data directory (the "profile folder")?

If so, it'll only provide you a "false sense of security" since it's still connected to the internet and using a possibly compromised PC.
Even if the wallet and data directory is not in your PC at that time, the hacker will only need one chance to get your private keys or seed phrase during the times when you unpack it.
With those info alone, he can create his own copy of your wallet that can send transactions anytime he like.

Isn't it looks like something just begun?
I gonna ask there as well

It happens all the time, usually it's the user's fault. However, we can't discount the possibility of a bug or security issue.