Are you prepared for the $5 wrench attack ? (1000 ETH stolen)

[btc_angela]

If the story is true then I surmise that he is rich, and attracted a lot of attention and maybe this criminals put a "casing" on him and might be into him for months before the attack. And again, this is not the first time that we heard this kind of news, saddening so we need to be very careful.

In the beginning, we thought that we are doing good deeds by spreading about the world of Bitcoin and crypto to others that we didn't even know. Probably we met in the bar or along the street. But now, it's a different world, there are hacks and what not in online, but in real life there is also this $5 wrench attack that we should be aware of and try not to be the next victim. So just be careful on who you talk too about your crypto investments.

[MeGold666]

No one suspects that this is a made-up story? Some people make up stories like this because they are just psychopaths who want a little attention

Good point, to this day I don't believe in the James Howells story - he didn't prove in anyway that he had access to this Bitcoins and later he used his (now famous) twitter account to advertise Bitcoin Cash.

If he was really into tech and believed in Bitcoin, he would buy it again as it was still pretty cheap.

It was all a stunt in my opinion.

Stories like "I lost a password to what was worth nothing now is worth tens of millions of dollars" is meant to activate our imagination and buy too.

I'm not saying it's a fake story, attacks like this happen all the time but there are a lot of stories that have hidden agenda.

[lovesmayfamilis]

And of course, diversification. Why was it necessary to store 1000 ETH in one wallet?

If the thieves were unaware of the amount of crypto the owner had, perhaps diversification would be a better option. Even if attacked, you give less to appease the attackers. However, the method of force works so successfully that people, just to stay safe, will provide the robbers with what they do not even suspect. Just imagine the worst several times and play out such a situation to understand in the future how best to behave.
But of course, keeping silent about your assets will always be the best choice, not to arouse any desires among robbers.

[Betwrong]

OP, look at his last post:



I think you should remove it too.

[Assface16678]

Hmmm, it smells fishy. How could someone know you have a good amount of crypto assets? They will not rob you if you do not have a huge amount of assets, because why would they commit such a big crime if they will not benefit from it? And the suspicious thing is, how could the robbers know you have crypto currency assets? Maybe you are too open to your social media and you are flexing and showing your assets publicly and someone saw it and plan a scheme to you or someone you know that you've shared about your earnings or assets and tempted with what you have and plan to rob you there can be two possible option there, anyway if this true then that is most likely the reason why it happened to you but I hope if its true then you could get your justice, but again it will be difficult because there are no other way of knowing who owns the address.

[Marvelockg]

This is not just a crypto or Bitcoin related incidence but a Pure case of arm rubbery that could happen to anyone regardless of the occupation you're into or wether you're saving your funds in Bitcoin or normal fiat with the banks.

In my region, when you're doing interstate travel between bothers of different states, armed robbers would position themselves in the middle of the road with an ATM machine while waiting for market women that are just returning from the market, they will hunt after them, use the ATM machine to run transfer from those banks and somehow, the security agencies don't end up apprehending them. The solution of these kind of incidence is first of the live a low profile life so you don't attract people to yourself and then ensure that you are following all the safety and security measures that will protect you from most of this arm rubbers.

Before attacking someone that's in this digital space, it's almost certain that those guys knows that he has some holding with him and such information can only get to the. Through an insider you've revealed it to or through yourself if you're not the type that keeps quiet.

[MeGold666]

OP, look at his last post:



I think you should remove it too.

My post does not include the wallet addresses, it's pretty generic in it's content.

[Z-tight]

Being your own bank has it's downsides, one of which is physical attack.

Even without being your own bank and using fiat currencies, you could still be physically attacked and robbed, the robbers can also force you to transfer money to them, it happens, just that in such cases it is easier to track the criminal, than when they use BTC.

However, some people who suffer $5 wrench attacks are boastful about the amount they have in BTC, bringing attention to themselves before they get eventually attacked, so you can avoid this kind of attack by simply keeping quiet. Another way is to extend your seed phrase with a passphrase, this gives you the opportunity of plausible deniability, but make sure you load the base wallet with a good amount, but way less that what you actually have, so the thieves can take it and leave.

[DaveF]

Old but:
https://github.com/demining/Physical-Bitcoin-Attacks

This keeps happening and we keep discussing it.

Don't let people know what you have.

As Willie Sutton said when asked why he robbed banks.
And his answer was “because that's where the money is”

If you don't know me, you would never know what I have in terms of funds.
And even if you do know me, you still won't know where it is.

-Dave

[MeGold666]

Prevention is one thing, but we should also be prepared for the attack.

What we really should discuss here is what type of ammunition to use in your daily EDC gun.

Federal HST for the win, comes in all sizes  

[DeathAngel]

Really sorry to read this story OP, it sucks that you had to go through this experience. Nothing we do or say can make things any better, you know yourself that your money is gone & won’t be retrieved. All I can do is recommend that people try to be as discrete as possible about their involvement in crypto & maybe even set up a decoy Trezor with 10% of their crypto on & if they’re unfortunate to be under a home evasion, give up the 10% & not their main stash which is hidden.

[MeGold666]

Really sorry to read this story OP, it sucks that you had to go through this experience. Nothing we do or say can make things any better, you know yourself that your money is gone & won’t be retrieved. All I can do is recommend that people try to be as discrete as possible about their involvement in crypto & maybe even set up a decoy Trezor with 10% of their crypto on & if they’re unfortunate to be under a home evasion, give up the 10% & not their main stash which is hidden.

I just posted it, It's not me who got robbed.

[Z-tight]

Prevention is one thing, but we should also be prepared for the attack.

I already posted one way people could prepare themselves for a $5 wrench attack, and i think one of the best methods is to use a very strong passphrase, it can give you the chance to claim plausible deniability. However, if you prevent this attack by keeping the BTC's you have a secret, then you may never need any protection from it.

[MeGold666]

Prevention is one thing, but we should also be prepared for the attack.

I already posted one way people could prepare themselves for a $5 wrench attack, and i think one of the best methods is to use a very strong passphrase, it can give you the chance to claim plausible deniability. However, if you prevent this attack by keeping the BTC's you have a secret, then you may never need any protection from it.

Very strong passphrase ? it doesn't matter in this case. I don't know what you mean by "plausible deniability" but criminals will torture you (or your love ones) until you break and it can take hours or even days if they kidnap you.

I agree that you may never need any protection from physical attack but you should have at least one just in case.
It's like having a fire extinguisher in your house.

If you have large amounts of money, why not invest ~500-700 bucks (depending where you live) to buy a Glock ?

[seoincorporation]

I don't think that this topic belongs to this board, it should be in the altcoins section. What happened to the victim do happen to people that cannot keep their crypto investment a secret, rather they move around bragging and telling anyone that they are talking about cryptocurrency, how much they ha win crypto.

It could happen with Bitcoin too... and it's a terrible scenario.

The fact that it happened with Machetes i would say that guy was in México or some country of Latam and it's common to hear cases like that, and the impunity is terrible there, the guy can go to the police and start a legal case but it could take months or years until the police start chasing the bad guys. The only way to solve a problem like this in latam is with corruption, paying to the police to motivate them to do their Job, it's sad but true.

[C10H15N]

Being your own bank has it's downsides, one of which is physical attack.

Are you prepared for such event ?

I see your $5 wrench and raise you my $300 Walther PPQ M2 in 9MM EDC with two 17 round magazines. 😉

[dunfida]

Prevention is one thing, but we should also be prepared for the attack.

I already posted one way people could prepare themselves for a $5 wrench attack, and i think one of the best methods is to use a very strong passphrase, it can give you the chance to claim plausible deniability. However, if you prevent this attack by keeping the BTC's you have a secret, then you may never need any protection from it.

Very strong passphrase ? it doesn't matter in this case. I don't know what you mean by "plausible deniability" but criminals will torture you (or your love ones) until you break and it can take hours or even days if they kidnap you.

I agree that you may never need any protection from physical attack but you should have at least one just in case.
It's like having a fire extinguisher in your house.

If you have large amounts of money, why not invest ~500-700 bucks (depending where you live) to buy a Glock ?

We do know that not all would really be that a fan on having their own Glock or guns generally on their own home due to some possible reasons whether they cant really be able to buy one or
really just that simply afraid on having one. This is why on the moment that they will really be able to have such consideration then pretty sure they would really be skeptical. This is why rather than on having those kind of method of protection they would really be rather going into the most simple yet effective ways on which that you shouldnt really be letting yourself be known that you do have tons of coins into your wallet.
Its true that it would really be pointless or useless on having those protection or those passphrase mentioned above on the moment that you would really be getting tortured not until you would really be giving it all or on the moment that those criminals would really be that able to pass up those coins into their own wallets.So i dont see that kind of deniability on this matter.

[Outhue]

Being your own bank has it's downsides, one of which is physical attack.

Are you prepared for such event ?

They knew you have crypto and also know where you live, you messed up bro, there are many people like him in the world today and this man just happen to be in the mist of bad surroundings, there are people who will spend days talking about crypto in the public and nothing will happen to them but if you copy their moves you could be a victim like this person.

Not all surroundings will be the same, some are safer where no one cares about what you have and how you acquire your wealth but some surroundings are filled up with sharks, waiting for a proof to be assured that you have something they can forcefully take from you.

The best thing to do is avoid the public, do not discuss about crypto and your bags in the public, many people are human beings in the day and Vampires in the night.

[MeGold666]

We do know that not all would really be that a fan on having their own Glock or guns generally on their own home due to some possible reasons whether they cant really be able to buy one or
really just that simply afraid on having one.

Yeah, well they should be afraid of not having one.
World is brutal and it's getting worse due to drug epidemic and other factors.

I suggest going to your local shooting range and at least try it, there's nothing to be scared if you are a sane person.
After that if you're not into it, be done with it.

People want to be their own banks but can't protect themself..

"not telling anyone" that you have crypto won't work in a world we strive to have where everyone has crypto.

[Silberman]

Hmmm, it smells fishy. How could someone know you have a good amount of crypto assets? They will not rob you if you do not have a huge amount of assets, because why would they commit such a big crime if they will not benefit from it? And the suspicious thing is, how could the robbers know you have crypto currency assets? Maybe you are too open to your social media and you are flexing and showing your assets publicly and someone saw it and plan a scheme to you or someone you know that you've shared about your earnings or assets and tempted with what you have and plan to rob you there can be two possible option there, anyway if this true then that is most likely the reason why it happened to you but I hope if its true then you could get your justice, but again it will be difficult because there are no other way of knowing who owns the address.

First of all the OP just posted the event but this did not happen to them, and second is really anyone surprised this happens? Despite the fact that whatever is posted online is stored in a multitude of servers by many companies, people share everything about their lives on social media and anywhere they can, so it is trivial for criminals to target people that share the great wealth they posses, whether this wealth is on the form of fiat, gold, art or bitcoin is irrelevant, so be prepared for attacks like this to be on the rise for a long time.