Crypto owner losses ≈ $1 million after fake job interview

[Alphakilo]

Greedy? This hack had nothing to do with greed my friend. If you said stupid for storing that amount in a hot wallet, then that makes more sense. Alexander Choi wasn't chasing any money doubling scheme or something similar, it is in situations like that you call the victim greedy.

I don't think you understood everything about this hack. This was no big offer or anything like that, he was approached for partnership, and based on his "status" in the community, i am sure he would be getting a lot of that, and we only found about this particular one because of the unfortunate event that happened afterwards.

When he or anyone else has jobs that require to interact with many people as well as be opened for conversations with new people, the practice must be more disciplined and careful. If your job is like that, it's not wrong if you accept PMs from strangers as opportunities come from such people but it's important to prepare things for your physical security and your digital asset security.

Don't store your big fund in hot wallets.
Don't use a computer or device that is used for online interactions to store your wallets or wallet backups.

If you are disciplined with these two rules, you are well to go with interviews. They can hack your computers, devices but there is money to steal.

The truth is that Alex did all he could to be financially free and this is just a process how he would become successful at that despite the loss and scam he has already experienced.
I said so because learning from such an experience often makes one learn a great lesson that doesn't come from advice or another person's story and it would make him to do more to meet up and am sure the security he would employ this time would be better just as I have read so far by applying cold wallets and dormant internet devices to hold BTC of large amounts that do not want to be traded soonest.

[rbynxx]

Just saw this thread after a long hiatus. Been in the same scenario, though I know others have taken even worse hits than me and this was one of them. It was just last year October, and damn, the silence I got is still so vivid after I saw my wallet get emptied. There really are vermin out here who can’t work or play fair in this life. What happened to me was an expensive lesson, but I don’t regret it. I move on. I can still earn it.

[Rustam Meraj]

The truth is that Alex did all he could to be financially free and this is just a process how he would become successful at that despite the loss and scam he has already experienced.
I said so because learning from such an experience often makes one learn a great lesson that doesn't come from advice or another person's story and it would make him to do more to meet up and am sure the security he would employ this time would be better just as I have read so far by applying cold wallets and dormant internet devices to hold BTC of large amounts that do not want to be traded soonest.

Person who has gone through that experience is mostly more motivated to prioritize security. You are also spot on about best security practices. Cold wallets are considered most secure way to store large amounts of Bitcoin because they keep your private keys completely offline protecting them from online threats and hackers. Idea of using dormant internet device is smart and effective way to create air gap to manage your keys without any risk of being connected to internet. Ultimately as you said applying these high level security measures is correct path for anyone serious about protecting and growing their wealth over time.

[BABY SHOES]

...

We have discussed all we know about the attack in this thread. At this point it is a zero-day vulnerability, so we do not actually know what exactly it is, but there is definitely something that needs to be patched in Microsoft teams and prolly other video conferencing platforms.

Perhaps the Microsoft Teams invitation contained malware, or perhaps he opened a file that had been infected with malware.

However, I saw another article about a scam involving Microsoft Teams invitations, which could be the origin of this invitation.

Just another reminder of why it is important to use a different device than the one you normally use for all your cryptocurrency dealings. And never use any app in connection with your real wallet.

How can someone be so easy-going on his own security with $1 million dollars?  I really don't get it.

Large amounts of assets should be stored on different devices; the point is, they should not be kept in a hot wallet except for small amounts for daily transactions.
However, if $1 million is stored on the same device, especially one connected to this app, it is easy to hack.

[coinlary]

Just another reminder of why it is important to use a different device than the one you normally use for all your cryptocurrency dealings. And never use any app in connection with your real wallet.

How can someone be so easy-going on his own security with $1 million dollars?  I really don't get it.

Large amounts of assets should be stored on different devices; the point is, they should not be kept in a hot wallet except for small amounts for daily transactions.
However, if $1 million is stored on the same device, especially one connected to this app, it is easy to hack.

Large amount of assets in crypto(would have said bitcoin but  he had so much cryptos) would be hard to deal with, it just better getting an Hardware wallet for it.other wise it's just okay to setup watch only wallet for EVM-based blockchains, some reputable wallet provide a way to do that while you just have a self setup  airgapped device for the cold coldstorage.
Different devices is somehow, not sure total number of devices someone  has to get just to store their assets  when they can just embrace cold storage with multiple wallets.

[PX-Z]

We have discussed all we know about the attack in this thread. At this point it is a zero-day vulnerability, so we do not actually know what exactly it is, but there is definitely something that needs to be patched in Microsoft teams and prolly other video conferencing platforms.

Perhaps the Microsoft Teams invitation contained malware, or perhaps he opened a file that had been infected with malware.

However, I saw another article about a scam involving Microsoft Teams invitations, which could be the origin of this invitation.

Found and read this article
Malicious Microsoft Teams Calendar Invites Bypassing Email Security and it shows that this type of attack is indeed possible. In this case, the lure of a meeting was enough to successfully trick Alexander.

This should serve as a reminder for everyone, never keep large amounts of funds on a device that you also use for business, as it can be compromised through such attacks.

[Pmalek]

Just saw this thread after a long hiatus. Been in the same scenario, though I know others have taken even worse hits than me and this was one of them. It was just last year October, and damn, the silence I got is still so vivid after I saw my wallet get emptied. There really are vermin out here who can’t work or play fair in this life. What happened to me was an expensive lesson, but I don’t regret it. I move on. I can still earn it.

Feel free to share some more information about what happened to you if it's closely related to this incident. Perhaps it sheds some more light on all the questions people have after reading this story. There is a lot that we don't know yet about what happened to Alex.

Were you approached by someone who offered you a job, and during/after the hiring process and online interviews your wallets got drained of anything of value?
Did you ever discover how they did it and what you did to 'let them in?'

[NotATether]

The story begins with Alexander being approached over X by some token community profile regarding a partnership opportunity. They were interested in working with him and asked him to schedule a call to talk more. They had two meetings over Microsoft Teams, and everything seemed legitimate and done professionally. The first person Alexander spoke to introduced himself as Dan. He had an American accent and was well-spoken. They discussed the future and how they could cooperate because Alex is also a crypto founder. They spoke again two days later. This time, another cofounder joined the meeting to discuss their plans.

This seems to me like a malware infection dropped form Microsoft Teams. They seem to have created some exploit which probably installed a keyloggger and then uploaded the wallet files from his computer to their own system. Perhaps the victim was also running Microsoft Windows because otherwise it would be very difficult to find and exploit an RCE vulnerability in a browser and then use that to attack the OS itself.

[ultrloa]

The story begins with Alexander being approached over X by some token community profile regarding a partnership opportunity. They were interested in working with him and asked him to schedule a call to talk more. They had two meetings over Microsoft Teams, and everything seemed legitimate and done professionally. The first person Alexander spoke to introduced himself as Dan. He had an American accent and was well-spoken. They discussed the future and how they could cooperate because Alex is also a crypto founder. They spoke again two days later. This time, another cofounder joined the meeting to discuss their plans.

This seems to me like a malware infection dropped form Microsoft Teams. They seem to have created some exploit which probably installed a keyloggger and then uploaded the wallet files from his computer to their own system. Perhaps the victim was also running Microsoft Windows because otherwise it would be very difficult to find and exploit an RCE vulnerability in a browser and then use that to attack the OS itself.

They write in this article on how those criminals attacks on their victims https://www.cryptoninjas.net/news/crypto-hackers-use-fake-job-interviews-to-install-malware/

And those method they are using now is somehow effective for those people not aware in this schemes since they might fall from downloading the malwares provided by this hackers.

With this fake job interview scam/hacking still exist people need to be more careful dealing with what they see online also they should learn how to check if the interviewer is legitimate and also the tools they are downloading is safe and doesn't have any malwares inside.

[Proty]

The story begins with Alexander being approached over X by some token community profile regarding a partnership opportunity. They were interested in working with him and asked him to schedule a call to talk more. They had two meetings over Microsoft Teams, and everything seemed legitimate and done professionally. The first person Alexander spoke to introduced himself as Dan. He had an American accent and was well-spoken. They discussed the future and how they could cooperate because Alex is also a crypto founder. They spoke again two days later. This time, another cofounder joined the meeting to discuss their plans.

This seems to me like a malware infection dropped form Microsoft Teams. They seem to have created some exploit which probably installed a keyloggger and then uploaded the wallet files from his computer to their own system. Perhaps the victim was also running Microsoft Windows because otherwise it would be very difficult to find and exploit an RCE vulnerability in a browser and then use that to attack the OS itself.

They write in this article on how those criminals attacks on their victims https://www.cryptoninjas.net/news/crypto-hackers-use-fake-job-interviews-to-install-malware/

And those method they are using now is somehow effective for those people not aware in this schemes since they might fall from downloading the malwares provided by this hackers.

With this fake job interview scam/hacking still exist people need to be more careful dealing with what they see online also they should learn how to check if the interviewer is legitimate and also the tools they are downloading is safe and doesn't have any malwares inside.

The rate at which cybercrime is increasing is becoming alarming and many people are falling prey to this attack because I believe before this hackers were able to get authorised access to the victim wallet there were vulnerabilities that was detected that makes them to be able to gain access to his bitcoin. So people fail to understand the importance of cyber security, while they need to be very careful in securing there data online. Hackers will always come up with different means of gaining unauthorized access, so cyber security is as important as physical security. I believe the man fails to verify the authencity of whatever those hackers claim to be .

[Floxynice]

Just saw this thread after a long hiatus. Been in the same scenario, though I know others have taken even worse hits than me and this was one of them. It was just last year October, and damn, the silence I got is still so vivid after I saw my wallet get emptied. There really are vermin out here who can’t work or play fair in this life. What happened to me was an expensive lesson, but I don’t regret it. I move on. I can still earn it.

This can happen to anyone; coming when we least expect it and within a twinkle of an eye,  boom! Everything is gone. When people say investing in bitcoin is risky, I personally do not think volatility is the main reason they say so. Scammers, hackers and criminals are a big threat. We all just need to be extra careful and alert. These scammers keep using the simplest things and our everyday routines to get to us. As much as these painful experiences are lessons we learn, I don't wish it on anyone.

[Pmalek]

They write in this article on how those criminals attacks on their victims https://www.cryptoninjas.net/news/crypto-hackers-use-fake-job-interviews-to-install-malware/

I am not sure if it's that. I think Alexander would remember seeing a notification on his screen that his camera or microphone isn't working and he needs to "fix it" to proceed. The scam described in the article you linked to is easier to spot because it requires the victim to download a malicious software - the fake support tool that fixes hardware issues but is in fact malware. Alex didn't mention needing to download anything, so I think he became the victim of a more advanced version of the mentioned fake job scam.

[Akbarkoe]

Just saw this thread after a long hiatus. Been in the same scenario, though I know others have taken even worse hits than me and this was one of them. It was just last year October, and damn, the silence I got is still so vivid after I saw my wallet get emptied. There really are vermin out here who can’t work or play fair in this life. What happened to me was an expensive lesson, but I don’t regret it. I move on. I can still earn it.

Evil people are always there and they take advantage of our unconsciousness to something that is very important that we must protect, especially if you keep money very bear in the wallet, it will suppress your mentality so that you feel that your life is finished because your money has been taken by others who cannot be investigated.
I have experienced it too, but this is the result of the airdrop that I have been waiting for, but my wallet hit the drain which caused what I got to disappear quickly even immediately hadn't had time to see it in my wallet.

Re -check what is there and keep its safety, and if you have a job offer with data that does not need to be given to them should be attention and not to give it, they are a fake interviewer