can't access electrum wallet

[o_e_l_e_o]

Me being the dullard I am, perhaps I clicked on a download link that had not been updated.

The download link on Electrum.org is always up to date, so if you downloaded it from the official site, then this would not have happened. I am assuming you didn't bother to verify your download with the developer's PGP keys prior to installing?

There is no scenario in which Electrum will automatically generate a wallet with an address in the file name. The only two remaining options are that either someone else put it there (meaning you downloaded a malicious copy of Electrum or a malicious wallet file by mistake), or you put it there without realizing what you were doing (meaning that you must have copied it from somewhere else first - it's not a Coinmama deposit address?).

[LoyceV]

or you put it there without realizing what you were doing (meaning that you must have copied it from somewhere else first - it's not a Coinmama deposit address?).

I didn't know this, but Coinmama Wallet is actually non-custodial so this is a real possibility! OP would still need to find his wallet details though.

[atrocious hindwind]

This is the top line of my wallet:  Electrum 4.3.4 - 1N8vh... [standard]

Does this "Install Window" seem familiar?:
https://i.imgur.com/sMYDrDV.png
Because that's where you've entered that "1N8vh" address that you may have copied from somewhere else.
I'm thinking that you may have it in your clipboard back then, pasted it there, then proceeded to create the wallet.

Have you been using other wallet(s) aside from Electrum before?

nc501c, I can assure you I did not paste anything from the clipboard into the program. I don't even know how to use a clipboard. I have no idea where this 1N8vh... number came from. When the install process was complete the window opened with the Electrum name, version and 1N8vh... number at the top. The only thing I remember doing is creating a password. At that point I thought I was good to go and at some time shortly thereafter made a bc purchase. I've learned, on here, I made three mistakes. The first was assuming the 1N8vh number was not the address for conducting transactions and the second was not checking the wallet after the purchase to see if the bc made it into the wallet. The third was going to blockchain.com (a link to which was emailed to me after the initial purchase) to follow the first and all subsequent purchases. Since 4/2021 I had lost one half of my investment due to the drop in value of bc. When it recently began to come back I was going to sell it off and get out of crypto altogether. That's when I went to the wallet to find there was a  "0" balance. I can tell you with 100% certainty I did not interfere with the install by adding or deleting anything except a password in the field presented when prompted.

I opened two other wallets at the advice of what turned out to be a couple suspicious characters on another forum. This was about a week ago after discovering the problem with the Electrum wallet. I attempted to buy a small amount of bc for a blockchain.com wallet but the transaction did not go through because they thought I may have been a victim of a scam and wanted further verification (selfie, official ID, dated note, etc.). Perhaps the 1N8vh... "address" instead of a bc1q address triggered an alarm or something, I don't know.  I decided to forego the transaction and return to attempting to resolve the electrum wallet. That's when I found this forum. I also opened a Trust wallet that I have done nothing with.

[atrocious hindwind]

Me being the dullard I am, perhaps I clicked on a download link that had not been updated.

The download link on Electrum.org is always up to date, so if you downloaded it from the official site, then this would not have happened. I am assuming you didn't bother to verify your download with the developer's PGP keys prior to installing?

There is no scenario in which Electrum will automatically generate a wallet with an address in the file name. The only two remaining options are that either someone else put it there (meaning you downloaded a malicious copy of Electrum or a malicious wallet file by mistake), or you put it there without realizing what you were doing (meaning that you must have copied it from somewhere else first - it's not a Coinmama deposit address?).

I think it's obvious and well established, to all. I didn't know what I was doing right from the start. I didn't verify the download and, therefore, it's very possible I did download a malicious copy/wallet file. I wouldn't have any way of knowing that unless I verified it which I didn't. (Mistake #4) As I stated in another reply, I did nothing other than enter my password into the field when prompted during set-up. What puzzles me is why is the bc still in the same place and not been moved after almost two years if the objective was to steal it?

Private keys were mentioned earlier. In the Electrum file I have a list of about 30 private keys that look like this:  "bc1......" : "p2wpkh : [numbers and letters]",  Does the possibility exist the bc can be accessed by using these? I was thinking I could delete everything Electrum I can from this PC and download a verified wallet but that would only create a wallet completely separate with no connection to my bc, correct?

[o_e_l_e_o]

When the install process was complete the window opened with the Electrum name, version and 1N8vh... number at the top. The only thing I remember doing is creating a password.

Is your computer second hand? Is there a chance this wallet file already existed on your device and when you installed Electrum it simply opened the already existing wallet? It's very strange behavior for malware, which would be much better off just letting you generate a wallet normally and stealing your seed phrase.

And did you not say above that you wrote down a seed phrase? But here you say all you did was create a password?

Private keys were mentioned earlier. In the Electrum file I have a list of about 30 private keys that look like this:  "bc1......" : "p2wpkh : [numbers and letters]",  Does the possibility exist the bc can be accessed by using these?

It's highly unlikely. The only thing I can think of would be to try the following:

• Take your list of 30 private keys
• Delete all the addresses and all of the "p2wpkh:" prefixes, so you are just left with a list of 30 raw private keys beginning with K or L
• Create a new Electrum wallet, and select "Import Bitcoin addresses or private keys"
• Paste in your list of 30 private keys

This will generate the corresponding legacy address (starting with "1") for each of your private keys. It's highly unlikely any of these are the 1N8vh... address in question, but it's the only possibility I can think of.

[nc50lc]

I opened two other wallets at the advice of what turned out to be a couple suspicious characters on another forum. This was about a week ago after discovering the problem with the Electrum wallet. I attempted to buy a small amount of bc for a blockchain.com wallet but the transaction did not go through because they thought I may have been a victim of a scam and wanted further verification (selfie, official ID, dated note, etc.). Perhaps the 1N8vh... "address" instead of a bc1q address triggered an alarm or something, I don't know.  I decided to forego the transaction and return to attempting to resolve the electrum wallet. That's when I found this forum. I also opened a Trust wallet that I have done nothing with.

So those wallets are just created recently and not before creating your Electrum wallet?
If so, the address can't be from any of those.
If not and those are before Electrum: it's worth to check those wallet's address list if it belongs there.

For the additional info requested by blockchain.com (not affiliated with Bitcoin), it's mandatory to their Buy/Sell and Exchange services.

nc501c, I can assure you I did not paste anything from the clipboard into the program. I don't even know how to use a clipboard. I have no idea where this 1N8vh... number came from.

Then the wallet is created by someone else or as mentioned above, already there when you installed Electrum.
It's possible since Electrum's data directory is separate from the install directory and wont be deleted during uninstall.

There also inconsistencies that leads to my suspicion that you've totally misremembered what happened.

[atrocious hindwind]

I opened two other wallets at the advice of what turned out to be a couple suspicious characters on another forum. This was about a week ago after discovering the problem with the Electrum wallet. I attempted to buy a small amount of bc for a blockchain.com wallet but the transaction did not go through because they thought I may have been a victim of a scam and wanted further verification (selfie, official ID, dated note, etc.). Perhaps the 1N8vh... "address" instead of a bc1q address triggered an alarm or something, I don't know.  I decided to forego the transaction and return to attempting to resolve the electrum wallet. That's when I found this forum. I also opened a Trust wallet that I have done nothing with.

So those wallets are just created recently and not before creating your Electrum wallet?
If so, the address can't be from any of those.
If not and those are before Electrum: it's worth to check those wallet's address list if it belongs there.

For the additional info requested by blockchain.com (not affiliated with Bitcoin), it's mandatory to their Buy/Sell and Exchange services.

nc501c, I can assure you I did not paste anything from the clipboard into the program. I don't even know how to use a clipboard. I have no idea where this 1N8vh... number came from.

Then the wallet is created by someone else or as mentioned above, already there when you installed Electrum.
It's possible since Electrum's data directory is separate from the install directory and wont be deleted during uninstall.

There also inconsistencies that leads to my suspicion that you've totally misremembered what happened.

Yes, the two wallets are only a little over a week old.

I did the selfie, id, etc. thing when I opened the blockchain wallet. They asked for it again when I attempted a transaction noting I may be a "victim".

It is likely I am "misremembering" some things about the initial install of the Electrum wallet. But, as I said before, I don't have the know how to even think about modifying the program and don't recall doing anything to add/change any aspect thereof. As for the wallet already being there when I installed Electrum it makes me wonder what are the odds I would randomly select a wallet that just happened to already be on my computer?

I do admit to making several mistakes (mostly of omission) by venturing into crypto wallets half-cocked. Whatever happened seems to be irreparable. Perhaps I have failed in relaying the information needed by those of you who are quite well versed in this stuff. Perhaps I did do something I can't remember to foul up the install. Perhaps it's just an odd glitch that's never been seen before.  To all of you who've been so generous to  put in the time and brain power to help me I thank you and I envy you. From here on out I'll check the blockchain from time to time to see what might have been. I've already lost half of my investment in bc so losing the other half will be something I'll just have to live with. Maybe one day I'll run across someone who can physically go into this Pc and figure out what went wrong since the coin doesn't seem to be going anywhere. It's time for me to put this down and move along. Again, thank you all for all you've done.

[nc50lc]

-snip- As for the wallet already being there when I installed Electrum it makes me wonder what are the odds I would randomly select a wallet that just happened to already be on my computer?

There's a certain chance that it'll be pre-selected.
Since it's in the data directory where the configuration file is included where the previously loaded wallet directories are listed,
chances that it'll be the first wallet that a newly installed Electrum will show during its "Install Wizard" screen,
you wont even have to setup the wallet since its already there, it'll just open. You can add the password in the wallet menu if it's not encrypted. (sounds familiar?)

Plus the data directory isn't deleted if the previous owner deleted/uninstalled Electrum.

Why? Is there a chance that the PC was someone else's?
Because that's a good start since you can ask him if he used Electrum before and the whereabouts of that address.