Be smart with your crypto safety

[Grasper]

I was following a heartbreaking story on the US justice department website: https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/indictment-charges-two-230-million-cryptocurrency-scam. The $230 million of crypto is no joke, stealing it can be depressing. How the crypto was stolen wasn't exactly shared but the publication shows that the theft was carried out on the victims account and the victim is a social media personality.

My few years in crypto space has thought me some lesson which I like to share with beginners and other interested folks here:

1. Having the crypto is one thing, keeping it safe is another. The safety of the crypto is your number 1 priority.
2. Never you show off your crypto or let anyone know you have one. Your crypto is your business, not anybody's business.
3. Go directly to the website/app downloading page yourself and ensure you are at the right downloading website/link.
4. Go for non-custodial wallets (Exchange and custodial wallet hacks are real).
5. Never respond to any email about the account. Remember, you never inputted any email while registering your self-custody wallet. By that you are avoiding Phishing Scams.
6. Safely keep your seed phrases and never share them with anyone.
7. Enable 2FA authentication.
8. SIM swap hack is real, app authentication is better.
9. Be aware of Malware and Keyloggers, take care of your gadgets and have a good antivirus and firewall.

Remember, You and only You can be trusted with your crypto details.

Thanks for reading.

[Hazink]

It's a case that is almost a year old now and might have been discussed here on the forum under the agenda of how those bad actors were caught.

How the crypto was stolen wasn't exactly shared but the publication shows that the theft was carried out on the victims account and the victim is a social media personality.

The method which the money was stolen from its victims was mentioned on that publication:

According in the indictment, since at least August 2024, Lam, Serrano, and others conspired to carry out cryptocurrency thefts and to launder the stolen crypto currency through exchanges and mixing services. The conspirators would fraudulently gain access to victim cryptocurrency accounts and then transfer victim funds into their possession. They laundered the proceeds, including by moving the funds through various mixers and exchanges using “peel chains,” pass-through wallets, and virtual private networks (VPNs) to mask their true identities.  Lam and Serrano then allegedly spent the laundered cryptocurrency proceeds on international travel, nightclubs, luxury automobiles, watches, jewelry, designer handbags, and rental homes in Los Angeles and Miami. In one instance, on August 18, 2024, Lam, Serrano, and their conspirators contacted a victim in D.C. and, through the communications with that victim, fraudulently obtained over 4,100 Bitcoin (worth over $230 million at the time).

Scammers are coming with different approaches to scam their victims, and most of their targets are always crypto holders since it's easy to seamlessly transact. Holders just have to be extremely careful in order to survive any means they try to use to steal from us. The first thing I normally advise people is not to easily trust anyone they meet online, as that's most times the first step they use to gain access to whatever they want from your gadgets.

[katanic97]

I was following a heartbreaking story on the US justice department website: https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/indictment-charges-two-230-million-cryptocurrency-scam. The $230 million of crypto is no joke, stealing it can be depressing. How the crypto was stolen wasn't exactly shared but the publication shows that the theft was carried out on the victims account and the victim is a social media personality.

My few years in crypto space has thought me some lesson which I like to share with beginners and other interested folks here:

1. Having the crypto is one thing, keeping it safe is another. The safety of the crypto is your number 1 priority.
2. Never you show off your crypto or let anyone know you have one. Your crypto is your business, not anybody's business.
3. Go directly to the website/app downloading page yourself and ensure you are at the right downloading website/link.
4. Go for non-custodial wallets (Exchange and custodial wallet hacks are real).
5. Never respond to any email about the account. Remember, you never inputted any email while registering your self-custody wallet. By that you are avoiding Phishing Scams.
6. Safely keep your seed phrases and never share them with anyone.
7. Enable 2FA authentication.
8. SIM swap hack is real, app authentication is better.
9. Be aware of Malware and Keyloggers, take care of your gadgets and have a good antivirus and firewall.

Remember, You and only You can be trusted with your crypto details.

Thanks for reading.

A large number of people get into crypto without any basic knowledge of security. Honestly, keeping your coins safe is more important today than ever  scams can be found around every corner. Every point you mentioned is very important, especially the one about phishing and seed phrases. Unfortunately, many people only learn when it’s too late, and the consequences can be devastating.

[Ruttoshi]

Holding crypto needs safety and the safety of your coins is in your own hands. I don't know why people fail to understand that crypto is money and money attracts robbers. This is why we must try our possible best to safe ourselves and our crypto investment by keeping our crypto investment secrets

However, no matter the level of safety that you practice, you cannot be 100% safe but you have to try your best with the responsibility of being your own bank.

[MAAManda]

Those 4,100 Bitcoin (BTC) are worth almost $430M now. I can't understand how those rich people can get trapped by that scammer group, having high-value assets should be followed by a lot of understanding and safe storage methods as well. This will be a normal story to happen, even when Bitcoin (BTC) manages to reach its first $1M per Bitcoin (BTC).

4. Go for non-custodial wallets (Exchange and custodial wallet hacks are real).
9. Be aware of Malware and Keyloggers, take care of your gadgets and have a good antivirus and firewall.

The 2 points above can be simplified by using a cold wallet, this is the best way, especially if you have full confidence in your crypto assets that will grow in the future, this is not just about Bitcoin (BTC) but all crypto assets.

[Davidvictorson]

If you do your research into the scam industry which you would notice is that the run the same as any other legal business.
These come companies have buildings where they employ people who are scammers. Or are in training.
They are actively involved with all the scamming life cycle. It is too complex. A post the other day showed how there is a building where scammers work full time. You have work to make the invest in Bitcoin now work smart to keep it.

[Ivystar5]

Among all the points listed, Not your keys, Not your coins is still a phrase that fits all of the above, as long as you know how to safe guard your asset and not make it public you're a bit ahead. Even though that scammers have integrated to an extent that they can attack your wallet as long as it's online then office activities are better off when it comes to safe guarding your crypto assets.

The world has always been like this, scammers will always exist and infact grow as the technologies grows now we are charged with the duty of working hard for the asset and working hard to keep the asset, very unfortunate.

[sheenshane]

Knowledge and awareness are a great advantage while keeping your crypto safe and secure.
The requirement is to achieve what OP mentioned above.  

Remember that there is no central authority to reverse transactions or recover lost keys, it completely irreversible transaction.  
Your private keys provide full access to your Bitcoin, so if you don’t know how to safeguard these keys, your funds are at risk of being lost or stolen permanently.

The golden rule of Bitcoin should always be kept in mind.
Not your keys, not your coins.

[BitMaxz]

Those are the basic things newbies should do, but you forgot to mention that having a hardware wallet is a good option to keep your crypto safe and secure.

If you haven't heard of hardware wallet yet I suggest you check this "List Open Source Hardware wallets"

For BTC, having a cold storage is enough safe from online attacks; just learn how to make a offline transaction, sign and broadcast. It must be safer than using a device that is always connected to the internet.

[God Of Thunder]

Guys, have you heard about $5 wrench attacks?
If you do not keep things secret about your crypto holdings, you might get attacked as well. A guys posted about $5 wrench attack eight years ago on Steemit Protect yourself against $5 wrench attacks!!!. You have to think that you are not safe from your neighbours, nor from your friends. People can do anything for money. If they know you have 200 million dollars in crypto and it is easy to steal, of course, they will try to steal it from you. Keeping everything private about your crypto holdings is important, or you are risking your money.

[hd49728]

Guys, have you heard about $5 wrench attacks?
If you do not keep things secret about your crypto holdings, you might get attacked as well. A guys posted about $5 wrench attack eight years ago on Steemit Protect yourself against $5 wrench attacks!!!. You have to think that you are not safe from your neighbours, nor from your friends. People can do anything for money. If they know you have 200 million dollars in crypto and it is easy to steal, of course, they will try to steal it from you. Keeping everything private about your crypto holdings is important, or you are risking your money.

If I have $10M, $100M or $200M, I would like to split it to different wallets, I mean wallets not addresses. So if they target one of my wallets and can successfully compromise it to steal my bitcoin, they will only succeed with one or some parts of my Bitcoin fund, not all of it.

Saying goes like "Don't put all eggs in one bag" and this risk management advice is true for all things, so it is applicable for Bitcoin fund management.

[Odohu]

If you do your research into the scam industry which you would notice is that the run the same as any other legal business.
These come companies have buildings where they employ people who are scammers. Or are in training.
They are actively involved with all the scamming life cycle. It is too complex. A post the other day showed how there is a building where scammers work full time. You have work to make the invest in Bitcoin now work smart to keep it.

I saw that controversial post and I was shocked to learn that such things exist... a company-like setting with employees reporting to duties daily and all of them knowing that the whole establishment was a scam organization. I even saw women in that same company delivering their duties as they would do in a normal company. That confirm the fact that the issue of security is bigger than we actually thought. While we keep the basic practices intact, we should always seek for more knowledge on how to remain safe from scam because there have been rapid upgrade of the scamming techniques in recent times.

[God Of Thunder]

If I have $10M, $100M or $200M, I would like to split it to different wallets, I mean wallets not addresses. So if they target one of my wallets and can successfully compromise it to steal my bitcoin, they will only succeed with one or some parts of my Bitcoin fund, not all of it.

Saying goes like "Don't put all eggs in one bag" and this risk management advice is true for all things, so it is applicable for Bitcoin fund management.

Any wise investor should do it. This advice is not only for the crypto investors or holders. This applies to all the people in the world. If I have a hundred thousand dollars in fiat, and I am keeping all in one bank account, I am actually risking my money. Same for investors as well. If I have a million dollars to invest, I think it would be better to invest in a two or three projects instead of one. There is no guarantee that one project wouldn't lose in the future.

Risk management in life is very important thing. Unfortunately, I do not have enough money and I do not really care about risk management. So, I should not suggest others what to do while I am not following this. 

[Callido]

In fact, this is not the biggest crypto scam recorded, since this happened, there have been other scams going on both offline and on the internet, hackers intruding wallets, scammers taking crypto of investors through deception and malware attacks, all are part of not taking precautionary measures in securing our wallet. If you do the right thing in securing your wallets, well assured that your crypto or Bitcoin is forever saved. Scammers are not giving up with more strategies to steal from holders, so we also don't need the rest of securing all we invested.

[Fiasem20]

There's one thing to know that it's the sole responsibility of every crypto holder to secure their asset from scammers.Nobody will secure your asset for you,just like the Op said "be smart with your crypto safety",if you're aren't smart enough to detect the tricks of scammers you're likely going to be vulnerable.Even most of these scams are common,they literally happen everyday for example phishing scam, phishing scam isn't a new scam it has been from the ancient times.Even from the traditional banking system,a lot of customers do receive phishing mail everyday,so why can't most crypto holders detect even the least scam.Avoid using a centralized platform as a storage method for your asset,I know most people don't believe in hacking stories until they become victims of such circumstances.

[albon]

Some people only care about owning cryptocurrency and seek to increase their holdings, but because they neglect the necessary security practices and making them a non-priority, they lose them in the blink of an eye. Scammers, frauds operations have become widespread, and investors may fall victim to a phishing link, malware, or fraudulent trading platform.

Sometimes, a person is actually targeted because they publicly disclosed the amount of cryptocurrency they own. This is truly the biggest mistake an investor can make. Another mistake is that the investor does not use a separate phone or computer for investment activities, ignores purchasing a cold wallet while browsing the internet and websites daily, downloads programs from unknown sources putting their funds at risk.. There are those whose greed leads them to scammers' traps, which usually contain financial temptations and easy and large profits, such as Ponzi schemes and airdrops. Also, beware of fake accounts on social media and always interact with legitimate and official websites. What the OP mentioned are good recommendations that should definitely be taken into consideration.

[BABY SHOES]

It is important for HODLers to safeguard their assets in a more secure way, not to overlook facts that are considered trivial but that make you careless which results in loss of assets due to your own carelessness.

Until now, there are still many people flaunting crypto... until there are several kidnapping cases.
There are still people trapped in phishing sites or downloading unknown applications.
Not enabling 2FA.
Always clicking on fake emails.
Etc...

This is what needs to be considered, learning security is important.

[Hammer_Summer]

I think a lot of people forget that owning crypto is a big responsibility.Your advice is good especially the one about not trusting random emails or links and staying quiet. Because the hack starts from now on. In the end it's all about being aware and safeguarding what's yours

[btcltcdigger]

Why every day, some random newbie comes here and opens a topic that has been seen like a million times.
be safe with your crypto
be private
be vigilant
dyor


bla bla bla, we get it. you want merit, but enough is enough. There's been like 100 of this posts in the last month.

[Maslate]

No one’s gonna protect your own investment but only yourself. This is why, trust no one so that you can be free from other’s manipulations and scams. And most importantly, know all the safety means before investing takes place, that’s your weapon against hackers and scammers, and all the bad guys around that are targeting your bitcoin.

Be smart, not because you want to outsmart others, but because you want to give the best protection that your bitcoin investment deserves. At the end of the day, you reap what you sow, and the safety you practice will eventually make you benefit in the end.