Another day of scamming using breach Ledger account

[Daniel91]

Honestly, I still regret buying the ledger directly from the manufacturer in France instead of going to the nearest local hardware store and buying it there completely anonymously, without sharing any personal information.
At the time, I thought it was better to buy the ledger hardware directly from the manufacturer for security reasons, but after they hacked their poorly protected user databases, I still haven't been able to get rid of the spam messages I've been getting regularly since then.
It doesn't surprise me at all that other problems with them have emerged in the meantime.

[FinneysTrueVision]

This scam isn’t exclusive to Ledger. People will send out physical letters, impersonating Trezor and other hardware wallet companies also.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ledgerwallet/comments/1rql9d4/leaked_personal_information/

Not buying Ledger products is already easy enough to do with their reputation, but scammers might still try to target you if you have ever done KYC for any crypto service and that information gets leaked. If you don’t disclose any personal information about yourself, then scammers can’t find you. Avoiding KYC might not be the most practical solution for everybody, but you should still keep your total holdings private so you don’t become a bigger target.

[Somegory]

Another scam being pull off as as result of the breach early this year: Global-e Incident to Order Data - January 2026.

Surely this won't be the last so for those Ledger holders you are still going to be the target as your physical addresses is already in the hands of the criminals.

It can happen with purchases of other hardware wallets too but again, it's about Ledger wallet. It can be another coincidence to make reputation of Ledger wallet brand worse.

This guide for buying a hardware wallet the right way will be very helpful for anyone with plans and practice of buying a hardware wallet in the future.

Spending money for purchasing a hardware wallet is good intention but not enough, let's do it rightly by
Choosing a good hardware wallet (open source).
Buying it rightly.

I've seen way more scam tricks from Ledger hardware wallet than any other hardware wallet in crypto space, but this doesn't change anything much, because any hardware wallet name can be use too.

It seems that many people just do what they feel it's right, they don't do much research when it comes to sensitive decision like this, no one should be able to scam you as a hardware wallet users, especially in the most ridiculous ways.

The best things to do as a beginner in crypto space is choosing the right hardware wallet first, open source and airgapped then followed by Using the hardware wallet the right way.

[Pmalek]

For bitcoin users who do not really care about altcoins, I will only recommend wallet on airgapped devices like Electrum. Hardware wallets come with reduced privacy which I do not like.

In that case, you can also get yourself one of the DIY airgapped hardware wallets. Order the different components from different shops. Some of these hardware devices aren't immediately associated with bitcoin and  crypto users because they are also used in AI, Robotics, security camera equipment, face recognition systems, etc. Even if you order such a unit in your name and to your address and the information leaks, no one knows why you bought it and for what purpose.

[Lucius]

I wouldn't agree with you, because first you take the line of least resistance, and then you resort to some more violent measures. Just because someone received a letter doesn't mean that nothing will happen after that. Anyone who cares about the safety of themselves and their loved ones should never buy an Ledger device, or any other hardware wallet using their real data.

Of course running away from Ledger is the best idea but I still think it is much better to only receive a false mail than the wrench.  The best is not receiving any of the two, but has any of these known fake mail cases ended more violently than just a phishing mail?
~snip~

I can't say if this happened, but considering the hundreds of thousands of users whose data has been leaked since 2020, I think it would be unreasonable to say that something like this didn't happen. In general, very few cases will reach the public. What you need to keep in mind is that someone could be the target of an attack today, or even in 10 years - these databases are public and accessible to practically any criminal who knows how to use the internet and a computer.

[Pmalek]

I can't say if this happened, but considering the hundreds of thousands of users whose data has been leaked since 2020, I think it would be unreasonable to say that something like this didn't happen. In general, very few cases will reach the public. What you need to keep in mind is that someone could be the target of an attack today, or even in 10 years - these databases are public and accessible to practically any criminal who knows how to use the internet and a computer.

We have heard several cases of kidnapping, torturing, and stealing from crypto users in France. Some of these incidents have happened in broad daylight. Why in France? Perhaps it has to do with Ledger's leaks and French criminal gangs being "braver" to use physical violence to get what they want. In reality, it can happen anywhere and anytime. A criminal gang with access to that database could one day decide to start visiting addresses in their country and try their luck. That's sadly a danger that everyone who had their private info leaked will have to learn to live with.

[Lucius]

We have heard several cases of kidnapping, torturing, and stealing from crypto users in France. Some of these incidents have happened in broad daylight. Why in France?
~snip~

Most of these cases are related to the fact that one person within the French tax system sold sensitive information to criminal groups who then attacked wealthy individuals. What was luckily missing in the data leak from Ledger were balances, and if you don't know who owns how much, then you can't just risk physically attacking someone and discover that they have a few hundred dollars worth of cryptocurrencies.

Code:

https://www.lbank.com/creator/data-leak-france-crypto-tax-breach-kidnapping-roadmap

[Cricktor]

I read about this tax system leak and it sounds bad. If such leaks can happen, you don't need a shitty company as Ledger to mess up. This could happen anywhere as long as criminals can find some corrupted enough souls which are susceptible to be bribed to leak the wealthy ones.

And thanks to many governments and tax systems which want to know as much as possible about your crypto coin holdings, there will be ample opportunities for "visits" when "birds sing". That possibility doesn't particularly appeal to me.

Mitigation: stay poor, uhm, not wealthy enough! Next problem: what's the threshold?  

[Pmalek]

Most of these cases are related to the fact that one person within the French tax system sold sensitive information to criminal groups who then attacked wealthy individuals. What was luckily missing in the data leak from Ledger were balances, and if you don't know who owns how much, then you can't just risk physically attacking someone and discover that they have a few hundred dollars worth of cryptocurrencies.

That just shows how dangerous it is to centralize information within one institution regardless what that institution is. Whether the data got leaked by Ledger or that scumbag who worked for the French Tax Office who pointed a finger at the wealthy crypto owners and put a target on their heads is of secondary importance. Centralized data collection and storing is a flawed system.

Mitigation: stay poor, uhm, not wealthy enough! Next problem: what's the threshold? 

No one knows that you have bitcoin if no one knows that you have bitcoin.

[Lucius]

That just shows how dangerous it is to centralize information within one institution regardless what that institution is.
~snip~

I have already written this before, but if such things happen in France, what can we expect in these areas of ours, where the biggest criminals sit at the top of the political system, and the petty ones do the work for them. The one who has avoided any entanglement with state institutions when it comes to cryptocurrencies can sleep much more peacefully than those who went to pull the taxpayers by the sleeve to pay taxes.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't pay taxes, but if you can avoid having your name in that database when it comes to cryptocurrencies, my advice is to definitely do it.

No one knows that you have bitcoin if no one knows that you have bitcoin.

I would like to say that it is so, but while the price was a couple of hundred dollars, many people talked a lot about it, including me. Fortunately, I officially sold everything I have at the end of 2017, and since then everything I invested in has not yielded results. Now I am a bad investor who sold my coins too early, but I have no problem with that perception