Is the coin completely gone or can be recovered?

[Livingleged]

While I was at work earlier today a friend reach out to me that he sent $300 worth of bitcoin to an address he thought was he’s but later realized it wasn’t and it must have been one of his friends address and he can’t recognise the owner of the address so I ask him to trace by confirm from WhatsApp if they had exchange address before to identify the one that matches that transaction but unfortunately for him he said he lost his whole chat because he just replaced his lost phone. In this case is there anyway he could identify who owns the address the wallet is actually trust wallet.

[Orpichukwu]

While I was at work earlier today a friend reach out to me that he sent $300 worth of bitcoin to an address he thought was he’s but later realized it was must have been one of his friends address and he can’t recognise the owner of the address so I ask him to trace by confirm from WhatsApp if they had exchange address before to identify the one that matches that transaction but unfortunately for him he said he lost his whole chat because he just replaced him lost phone. In this case is there anyway he could identify who owns the address the wallet is actually trust wallet.

By blockchain alone it will be hard if there is no physical thing which could prove which of his friends he has transacted with recently. All I know he can do that will help is if he actually does buy crypto from people or send coins to people, he can start by asking everyone he has dealt with over the past to know who it could be.

Another clue could also be where he later copied the address from. Was it from his recent exchange transaction history? If yes, he can go with checking the date of the last transaction with that wallet that connects to him and then trace who he had dealings with during that period.



This is one of the dangers of saving addresses on Notepad, whitelisting addresses and copying addresses from transaction history; with such practices, mistakes like this are inevitable.

[Amphenomenon]

Bitcoin wallet address are pseudonymous. To be honest, there is nothing much he can do here than asking those who he did business with and if any has integrity they might share, but if he don't trust them and feel like they might lie about it, he should just do it casually without even speaking about it by requesting for them to send past messages where they did business stating he lost the chat and if what they forwarded doesn't include any wallet address then he can ask for them to forward that also.

There are some ways he or she might be able to trace the actual receiver but if it is an CEX address then it will become more difficult. Over all, it is still up for the receiver to refund, the method I'm giving is just to identify such person especially in case they want to deny.

[Livingleged]

There are some ways he or she might be able to trace the actual receiver but if it is an CEX address then it will become more difficult. Over all, it is still up for the receiver to refund, the method I'm giving is just to identify such person especially in case they want to deny.

How please need more details on this. But  in this case it’s not a CEX wallet I stated that it’s trust wallet he used for the transaction which we all know it’s a non custodial wallet.

[Chinesebaby]

While I was at work earlier today a friend reach out to me that he sent $300 worth of bitcoin to an address he thought was he’s but later realized it was must have been one of his friends address and he can’t recognise the owner of the address so I ask him to trace by confirm from WhatsApp if they had exchange address before to identify the one that matches that transaction but unfortunately for him he said he lost his whole chat because he just replaced him lost phone. In this case is there anyway he could identify who owns the address the wallet is actually trust wallet.

I'm sorry to say this, but his money is gone for good of he can't actually figure out who owns the Bitcoin wallet he just sent BTC too. But on a more serious, why will he even send coin to a wallet without confirming it if it is actually the right wallet or maybe some letters missing. Because this actually shows an act of carelessness. However, if only he had store all his chats into his Google account, the tendency of recovery all his previous chats is very possible, but if he didn't, then he should just forgot his mind form the coin, because it's gone for good, because whoever sees it won't want to review himself, if he isn't a genuine individual.  So my advice will be for him to try to recover his chats, and if it doesn't work, then he should just forget about it.

[Joy- maker]

While I was at work earlier today a friend reach out to me that he sent $300 worth of bitcoin to an address he thought was he’s but later realized it was must have been one of his friends address and he can’t recognise the owner of the address so I ask him to trace by confirm from WhatsApp if they had exchange address before to identify the one that matches that transaction but unfortunately for him he said he lost his whole chat because he just replaced him lost phone. In this case is there anyway he could identify who owns the address the wallet is actually trust wallet.

Your friend case is very critical, and the chance of recovery his lost fund is very small,  Because Bitcoin wallets are said be pseudonymous not tied to real names by default. So for that it is impossible to identify who owns a particular bitcoin wallet address. At this point your friend have no choice but to forget the lost fund because there is no remedy.

 Next time  he or she try and be very careful, he or she should triple check the wallet address if it's the correct address before clicking on send. Many people has lost funds do to this careless mistake, they reluctantly don't border to the check if they actually copied the correct wallet address. Myself for instance before I proceed with any bitcoin transaction I triple check the wallet address if it is correct one or not. And this is what every person is suppose to do before proceeding with any transaction.

[promise444c5]

Yes, but he has to remember who he had a deal  with during certain periods.. He can check his wallet history to see how many times, and the last time, he sent Bitcoin to that address. From there, if he can remember who he traded with during that period/what led to the transaction, and what was the transaction for , then he’s basically solved his own case.

Another possibility is if he uses a wallet that supports transaction labeling, and of course, he should be in the habit of labeling transactions.. there could be a possibility he labeled the transaction.

[Orpichukwu]

How please need more details on this. But  in this case it’s not a CEX wallet I stated that it’s trust wallet he used for the transaction which we all know it’s a non custodial wallet.

Assuming it's possible for you to share the address of the receiver with us, we can easily trace if it's linked to a CEX or not, and if it's linked, then identify which CEX owns the address, but that might be all we can do. Maybe the guy can try to contact the CEX support and share the explanation; maybe something can be gotten from there. That should be the last resort if he has tried to ask all the friends he could suspect and all deny it.

[Amphenomenon]

There are some ways he or she might be able to trace the actual receiver but if it is an CEX address then it will become more difficult. Over all, it is still up for the receiver to refund, the method I'm giving is just to identify such person especially in case they want to deny.

How please need more details on this. But  in this case it’s not a CEX wallet I stated that it’s trust wallet he used for the transaction which we all know it’s a non custodial wallet.

Sure, your friend can use site like: https://www.blockchain.com/explorer or https://mempool.space/ to track the receiver wallet address in order to identify if the receiver have actually moved the money and trace the wallet.

Also, this can be helpful again if the wallet address provided by those he may ask to reforward their wallet address, even if they send a different address it might still be linked with this one, and this can be identify through those site.

Your friend need to try to check the date he sent bitcoin last to that address and try to recall the people he did business around that time and ask them about it as I suggested in my first reply.

[DubemIfedigbo001]

While I was at work earlier today a friend reach out to me that he sent $300 worth of bitcoin to an address he thought was he’s but later realized it wasn’t and it must have been one of his friends address and he can’t recognise the owner of the address so I ask him to trace by confirm from WhatsApp if they had exchange address before to identify the one that matches that transaction but unfortunately for him he said he lost his whole chat because he just replaced his lost phone. In this case is there anyway he could identify who owns the address the wallet is actually trust wallet.

Address that he thought was his own?
Where did he copy the address from?
Was it copied from his wallet directly or did he copy from where he saved it on his phone? It is obvious he didn't cross-check the address before initiating the transaction.

He should check from his transactions history to see if he has sent Bitcoin to that address before, maybe it could help him know who exactly he made the transaction to when he recognizes the value sent to the person.

If he has not made any transaction to that address before, then it would be an obvious case of address poisoning, his device is likely infected by clipboard malware and  the attacker changed the addresses he copied from his wallet with another one that belongs to the attacker before the funds were sent.
If this is the case, then he has to get a new device if he can for his crypto activities or if he can't get a new one then he should format the device (including performing a full format of any external storage like Memory cards separately if it's a mobile device) before he would use that device again.

He shouldn't forget to back up his seed phrases or private keys offline first before formatting the device.

[Livingleged]

How please need more details on this. But  in this case it’s not a CEX wallet I stated that it’s trust wallet he used for the transaction which we all know it’s a non custodial wallet.

Assuming it's possible for you to share the address of the receiver with us, we can easily trace if it's linked to a CEX or not, and if it's linked, then identify which CEX owns the address, but that might be all we can do. Maybe the guy can try to contact the CEX support and share the explanation; maybe something can be gotten from there. That should be the last resort if he has tried to ask all the friends he could suspect and all deny it.

I don’t think things are done this way, I use to believe even the CEX have user confidentiality and as such that may not give about any details even it’s an address linked to them because if they do thats like breaching trust.

[Orpichukwu]

I don’t think thing are done this way I use to believe even the CEX have user confidentiality and as such that may not give about any details even it’s an address linked to them because if they do thats like breaching trust.

That’s why I said it should be your last option; the exchange might not give you such information because you are not with a regulator, but if they find your story worthy, they could send a message across to the receiver and see if there will be some progress, as exchanges are good at asking for some sort of information which a simple explanation can either solve it all or get things ruined for the receiver.

[Odogwu-Blockchain]

Let him ask his friends on Whatsapp to send back their addresses, pretending to be doing business with them while he cross check them to see if it matches with the one he sent to.

Also, since he uses trust wallet, let him trace back the transaction history to see if he has sent Bitcoin to that address before and then he'll trace back the date he made such transaction and to whom.

If any of these two options can't work, the Bitcoin is lost for ever.

[EL MOHA]

Let him ask his friends on Whatsapp to send back their addresses, pretending to be doing business with them while he cross check them to see if it matches with the one he sent to.

Also, since he uses trust wallet, let him trace back the transaction history to see if he has sent Bitcoin to that address before and then he'll trace back the date he made such transaction and to whom.

If any of these two options can't work, the Bitcoin is lost for ever.

The most obvious mistake here is that I actually think he might have actually copied the address from his wallet transaction history and if that is the case then he must have actually sent it to those former address or better worse he might have actually send to an address which was use to poison his wallet and that’s lost for forever.


Then if he was sure that he didn’t actually copied the wrong address then he actually must be under copy and past malware which changes the address of copied to a scammers address

[Silverstonez]

I feel so bad for your friend because I know what it means to lost funds. $300 is a hudge amount of money shall, but my advice to your friend is for him/her to try and see if he/she can be able to trace the owner of the wallet he/she sent the bitcoin to via chats across all his/her social media handle, since it's impossible to identify who owns a particular bitcoin wallet address.

Just in case of your next time your should be very careful, he/she should verify if the wallet address he/she copy paste it actually the correct before proceeding with the transaction since bitcoin transactions are any irreversible, once executed that is final.

[Chinesebaby]

but my advice to your friend is for him/her to try and see if he/she can be able to trace the owner of the wallet he/she sent the bitcoin to via chats across all his/her social media handle, since it's impossible to identify who owns a particular bitcoin wallet address.

And it's sad OP clearly stated this friend of his just lost his entire WhatsApp chat history, which means it's likely to be impossible to finally know who owns the Bitcoin wallet. And that's one bad thing about Whatsapp, whereby if you fail to backup your chat history, you might end up losing it all if you tries logging in a different device. But moreover, if he thinks he has shared Bitcoin wallet on other social media like Telegram and co, he should go gibe ur a try by searching who will be linked to have connection with the exact wallet. And secondly, I will also advise he checks the transaction on the wallet on Blockchair.com to see if he had sent Bitcoin to the exact wallet before and try to think of he can rem anybody linked to the previous transaction. Because I literally think this investigation will go a long way.

[DubemIfedigbo001]

Let him ask his friends on Whatsapp to send back their addresses, pretending to be doing business with them while he cross check them to see if it matches with the one he sent to.

That would be the funniest thing to do because if the person he mistakenly sent the funds is a fraudulent person, he would comply by sending another address different from the former and that seals his fate.
I believe it is more practical to send all his friends who he has crypto dealings with a message informing them of the erroneous transaction because the person may even have received the funds and not know its source. If the person wants to return it, he will indicate and initiate a refund, else he should forget about the sats, they're as good as gone.

[Coyster]

How could one send bitcoin to the wrong address in this way. I can understand a little if the said person was attacked through address poisoning scam and fell for it, that per se is stupid, but i can make an excuse for that.

That said, you must check the address you are sending coins to, you double-triple check before you send. How do you even copy someone else's address, from where, how exactly. It makes no sense to me and for someone who uses bitcoin, they definitely ought to do better, no excuses here at all. The money is lost and i hope it is a lesson learnt.

[Jubilee58]

Is actually a difficult thing to recover lost Bitcoin, the reason is because there is no name that is attached to any Bitcoin address, it happened to me some years ago when I mistakingly sent my bitcoin to a wrong address and could not trace that wallet.
When making any Bitcoin transaction, it is necessary to copy and paste that address, also make sure that address is properly verified before proceeding on that very transaction. This kind of mistake do happen and most times it happens when the sender has failed to verify the bitcoin address before sending it.

[iBaba]

~~~

Assuming it's possible for you to share the address of the receiver with us, we can easily trace if it's linked to a CEX or not, and if it's linked, then identify which CEX owns the address, but that might be all we can do. Maybe the guy can try to contact the CEX support and share the explanation; maybe something can be gotten from there. That should be the last resort if he has tried to ask all the friends he could suspect and all deny it.

Yes because I was thinking if it is possible for us to trace the address through the CEX but that won’t really help as much since it is not the internal transaction UID, else I was going to say the easiest way for you to get that sorted is to use the same CEX to send funds then use the UID option to send to the next UID, once the person has a name, the person’s name will display immediately and you can use that to track, it will be easier now for you to find the person and call them or follow them to their house.