Be vigilant while downloading any software or Crypto Wallet.

[rachael9385]

One mistake many of us make is that we don't know how to verify between original and fake before installing anything on our devices and honestly speaking, it is very dangerous.

Imagine a scenario whereby you want to download a Bitcoin Wallet and you just go straight to Google browser and download a file or software into your electronic device without any confirmation if it's actually the original file or fake file.

My reason for saying this na because so many method dey way scammers take dey steal people crypto assets and seed phrase, without messaging them directly. Them go just set the trap keep and you go fall inside if you no observe closely.

One of the method that this scammers use thesedays is that they create a similar (clone/fake) website/software that looks exactly like the original one and if you don't observe carefully you will just fall into it, and they steal your seed phrase, crypto asset and probably passwords or personal informations if you have use any.

For example you won download electrum wallet, and you just go straight to browser you fit see different apps way look exactly like the original one based on the Logo, but one thing way people no dey easily observe be say one of the later dey dey different. For instance this na the original electrum.org, but the fake one look like this "elёctrum.org", now how you won take know the difference If you no look closely?

Although the difference is not obvious because the second later e on the fake one is a lowercase Russian alphabet meanwhile the original one which is the first one is the normal English alphabet we all know, the both of them looks  the same but the Russian lowercase alphabet has two tiny dots at the top.
My point here is that we should not rely on Google search alone, we should also try to verify from the official website before we go ahead to install any software, updates or any Bitcoin (crypto Wallet) on or device, many of us don't check the official website before we download and immediately the installation we just important our seed phrase not knowing that after doing so the developer of the fake site already has access to your wallet and they will seed your seed phrase because it has been saved already based on the way they programmed it, immediately your balance will just return to zero balance.

It's even saver fo bookmark the official website on your browser, so that next time you don't have to manually type the laters one after the other, just go straight to your browser and click on bookmark then you will see the official website you bookmarked already, click on it.

Secondly try as much as possible to compare the SHA-256 hash with the original one the developers had already published.
Lastly, make sure to verify your PGP/GPG signature before you start installing the software or wallet on your device.

[Ambatman]

Speaking about crypto wallet
I just saw a news online about the fact that some wallet are vulnerable
As a result to the method of randomly generating seedphrase.
https://www.tradingview.com/news/cointelegraph:e1ab8d173094b:0-thousands-of-crypto-wallets-at-risk-from-ill-bloom-vulnerability-coinspect/
This is why open sourced wallet that have and always undergoes review are recommended.


Don't trust verify. One of the reason I'm thankful for the forum
You can see others views and experience likewise ask questions.

[coinlary]

Change your search engine, Google is one of the worst search engines filed with watchdogs  . Although, switching to a difderent search engine won't still save people from downloading clones and malwares btw.

Verifying the wallet signature or hash is also an important  aspect that's neglected by users , I think the problem with that is that it feels a bit technical (which is not ) and some  sites won't even mention it anyway that's if  users even  know what  verify hash and sig is all about .
They just assume everything is fine, which is not.

The reason why it's  recommended is because that site you think is official can also be compromised, leading replacement of files being downloaded  frequently  to a different unofficial one.

[Agbam]

Speaking about crypto wallet
I just saw a news online about the fact that some wallet are vulnerable
As a result to the method of randomly generating seedphrase.
https://www.tradingview.com/news/cointelegraph:e1ab8d173094b:0-thousands-of-crypto-wallets-at-risk-from-ill-bloom-vulnerability-coinspect/
This is why open sourced wallet that have and always undergoes review are recommended.


Don't trust verify. One of the reason I'm thankful for the forum
You can see others views and experience likewise ask questions.

There’s a certain level of trust when you hear informations from people in this forum, it shows more real life experiences than just searching through google and other spaces. From daily interactions with people here you sometimes feel like you’ve known them.

What OP has suggested at his closure is very vital to help us protect ourselves against all this worthless scammers who wants to reap where they didn’t sow.
In the crypto space we are responsible for our money and its safety and protection.

[Cryptoprincess101]

Speaking about crypto wallet
I just saw a news online about the fact that some wallet are vulnerable
As a result to the method of randomly generating seedphrase.
https://www.tradingview.com/news/cointelegraph:e1ab8d173094b:0-thousands-of-crypto-wallets-at-risk-from-ill-bloom-vulnerability-coinspect/
This is why open sourced wallet that have and always undergoes review are recommended.


Don't trust verify. One of the reason I'm thankful for the forum
You can see others views and experience likewise ask questions.

We should believe things that are feasible and not some assumption without facts. How is it possible to generate a random seed phrase that can expose all 12 or 24 phrases? i know that a cryptocurrency wallet can suffer a brute-force attack, but it happens in rare cases which is why it is advisable to use complex and lengthy passwords to secure one's crypto wallet

[Amphenomenon]

Speaking about crypto wallet
I just saw a news online about the fact that some wallet are vulnerable
As a result to the method of randomly generating seedphrase.
https://www.tradingview.com/news/cointelegraph:e1ab8d173094b:0-thousands-of-crypto-wallets-at-risk-from-ill-bloom-vulnerability-coinspect/
This is why open sourced wallet that have and always undergoes review are recommended.


Don't trust verify. One of the reason I'm thankful for the forum
You can see others views and experience likewise ask questions.

I feel this will be worse with vibe coders not knowing what's the best practices. Some of these devs either rely on libraries or Ai to write the code and give little to know consideration on how this is being carried out.

It's scary losing coins just because tge wallet had some vulnerability and there's no guarantee that the victims will be paid back or see their money returned. I will continue to say that it's better to stick with what is known and accepted as a secure manner.

[Agbamoni]

Change your search engine, Google is one of the worst search engines filed with watchdogs  . Although, switching to a difderent search engine won't still save people from downloading clones and malwares btw.

Glad you corrected with your second sentence. Using a different search engine wont stop anyone from downloading malware or a clone platform. SEO works the same across all search engines. The site with the strongest SEO will attract more organic traffic.

The solution is AI. We live in a world where we have plenty of AI tools. For any site you want to download, use AI to do the proper search, and it will give you the main site. If there are fake sites, it will filter them out for you. I think we are not making use of AI enough. If not downloading software or a crypto wallet wont be an issue in this era.

[Moreno233]

This is one big problem that I don't know what will be a complete solution. There was a time we read about scam app that copied a legitimate app was downloaded in Google Playstore and this lead to huge loss of money. This means even Google could not verify the legitimacy of application they allowed in their platform. To download from official website is also a problem because it can be cloned which is why we must double check before downloading any application.

[Mia Chloe]

~snip

If we are actually being honest, a lot of people don't really verify PGP after they download their wallet softwares that's why I just advise you use their official site and make sure that you don't have any malware on your device. The only problem is fake sites can reflect in searches first these days.

Before now you could trust the first result but now Google doesn't really care if the first result is a phishing site or not so long they have better keywords and placement in pay roll.

[Chibit01]

~snip

If we are actually being honest, a lot of people don't really verify PGP after they download their wallet softwares that's why I just advise you use their official site and make sure that you don't have any malware on your device. The only problem is fake sites can reflect in searches first these days.

How many persons actually pay attention to that or even know how to verify PGP? Honestly, the only thing I know how to do in terms of wallets is never to use Google as a means to search for wallets I want to download, as it’s already a known scam paradise with sponsored wallets pushed in front to be first recommended. My only source is downloading from the official site; even app stores are not safe, as they are now accommodating clone wallets also.

[Obim34]

If we are actually being honest, a lot of people don't really verify PGP after they download their wallet softwares that's why I just advise you use their official site and make sure that you don't have any malware on your device. The only problem is fake sites can reflect in searches first these days.

How many persons actually pay attention to that or even know how to verify PGP? Honestly, the only thing I know how to do in terms of wallets is never to use Google as a means to search for wallets I want to download, as it’s already a known scam paradise with sponsored wallets pushed in front to be first recommended. My only source is downloading from the official site; even app stores are not safe, as they are now accommodating clone wallets also.

If you value your safety, you will look it up. How to verify PGP after download isn't difficult, you can see the tutorials if you look up for it, you don't need somebody to push you into doing what should benefit you.

Some persons forget about Bitcoin safety, earning or having enough funds to buy Bitcoin isn't all that matters, protecting what's you've accumulated is more important.

[rachael9385]

~snip

If we are actually being honest, a lot of people don't really verify PGP after they download their wallet softwares that's why I just advise you use their official site and make sure that you don't have any malware on your device. The only problem is fake sites can reflect in searches first these days.

Before now you could trust the first result but now Google doesn't really care if the first result is a phishing site or not so long they have better keywords and placement in pay roll.

The main reason why many people no longer have the time and patience to verify PGP anymore is because they had already believed that anything that appears first on Google search is the official website and for the fact that we are too lazy to check and confirm properly before installing the software into our devices give scammers the chance to do whatever they want with our crypto asset immediately they had gotten the chance to access our wallet.
Actually, one thing that many people had forgotten is that they don't know that scammers are smart to and they know how to run ADs and promote their fake website on the Internet, so we all should confirm with PGP or download whatever software we want from the official website before important our Bitcoin wallet.

[Antidote47k]

You raised an important point here, especially about verifying that you’re downloading software from the right source. One thing I’d add is that the risk isn’t only when you’re downloading a wallet for the first time. Updates can also be dangerous if you’re not careful.

For example, if you’re using a wallet like Electrum or Sparrow and you suddenly get a pop-up telling you to install an “urgent update”, don’t rush to download it. Go to the wallet’s official website or another source you’ve already verified and download the update from there instead. We’ve seen phishing attacks in the past where fake update notifications were used to trick people into installing malicious software.

A good example is the Electrum phishing campaign back in 2018–2019. Attackers controlled malicious Electrum servers that displayed fake update messages, directing users to download a compromised version of the wallet. Many people who trusted those prompts ended up losing their bitcoins. Incidents like that are a reminder that even update notifications shouldn’t be trusted blindly.

I also like your point about bookmarking the official website. It’s a small habit, but it means you don’t have to search for the wallet every time, which reduces the chances of clicking on a fake website or a sponsored link. When you combine that with checking the SHA-256 hash and verifying the GPG signature, you’re giving yourself several layers of protection instead of relying on just one.

Anyone who is serious about protecting their Bitcoin should be willing to spend a few extra minutes doing their due diligence before installing any wallet or software. Those few minutes are insignificant compared to the consequences of losing your coins to a phishing attack.

[Decimetre]

This is an eye opener for every wallet users. There has been several reports about such attacks leading to loss of entire crypto earnings and the earlier one gets conscious about these scammers, the better. Seed phrase security is very important and any scammer that gets your seed phrase can erase all your earnings within a twinkle of an eye. It is much better to bookmark every site of interest that you frequently use to avoid falling into the wrong sites that can lead to such phishing attacks.

In addition to the already mentioned preventive measures from this post, I will also add that, you should learn to keep all your apps to update Automatically whenever a new version is out. This will reduce the risk of falling into such "urgent update" strategy. Security of your assets is more important than the assets because if you don't take your assets security very serious, you may loose them all.

[CryptopreneurBrainboss]

Anyone who is serious about protecting their Bitcoin should be willing to spend a few extra minutes doing their due diligence before installing any wallet or software. Those few minutes are insignificant compared to the consequences of losing your coins to a phishing attack.

Ignorance is no longer an excuse for failure, it is your duty to protect your Bitcoin as your investment. Like you said it does not take more than few minutes to make this verification so if anyone decide to neglect this information then it is their fault for whatever they get.

You don't also have an excuse that you didn't know how to verify if you are downloading the right apps because these are things you are supposed to know while involving yourself in this industry. Get enlightened, learn and associate with others so as to know the right things to do to keep yourself safe in this industry unless you're going to end up as a victim.

If you are using an iOS or an Android device then look for the option of your phone not trusting an unauthorised download or you can just leave it since most phone come with a default setting of that type. This way you will not be allowed to download apps from untrusted source and only be allowed to download apps that have being trust because they are being reviewed by the app store or Google play store. This still does not mean you can't be affected therefore always try to verify just as the OP said or get the download link directly from the projects website.

[Slimzeee]

Anyone who is serious about protecting their Bitcoin should be willing to spend a few extra minutes doing their due diligence before installing any wallet or software. Those few minutes are insignificant compared to the consequences of losing your coins to a phishing attack.

Ignorance is no longer an excuse for failure, it is your duty to protect your Bitcoin as your investment.
You don't also have an excuse that you didn't know how to verify if you are downloading the right apps because these are things you are supposed to know while involving yourself in this industry. .

I have no option than to agree with you because no matter how experienced you are, one thing you shouldn’t forget is that you are duly responsible for your actions and should always hold yourself accountable. With that, there will be more seriousness regarding what you choose to access on your devices.

Understand that some people are intentionally looking for ways to exploit others, and they keep creating new methods to achieve this. You can choose to separate phones and have different emails, especially for your wallet activities. Just ensure that you do not make it easy.

While we understand that you can never be too sure in life, you still have to play your part. Ignorance is not an excuse when it comes to protecting your assets.

[Doan9269]

Any wallet we are downloading should be from the official website. We should ensure that be very fine from any platform we are using, ensuring not to use a random link to make our downloads, there are many risk associated with the use of a particular wallet and as well when we determine for the source to which we download the wallet from, this is why we need more exposure on what is needed to be done and how we could verify on every information received and ensure we are on the intended platform our wallet download.

[Sowat]

One mistake many of us make is that we don't know how to verify between original and fake before installing anything on our devices and honestly speaking, it is very dangerous.

Imagine a scenario whereby you want to download a Bitcoin Wallet and you just go straight to Google browser and download a file or software into your electronic device without any confirmation if it's actually the original file or fake file.

My reason for saying this na because so many method dey way scammers take dey steal people crypto assets and seed phrase, without messaging them directly. Them go just set the trap keep and you go fall inside if you no observe closely.

One of the method that this scammers use thesedays is that they create a similar (clone/fake) website/software that looks exactly like the original one and if you don't observe carefully you will just fall into it, and they steal your seed phrase, crypto asset and probably passwords or personal informations if you have use any.

For example you won download electrum wallet, and you just go straight to browser you fit see different apps way look exactly like the original one based on the Logo, but one thing way people no dey easily observe be say one of the later dey dey different. For instance this na the original electrum.org, but the fake one look like this "elёctrum.org", now how you won take know the difference If you no look closely?

Although the difference is not obvious because the second later e on the fake one is a lowercase Russian alphabet meanwhile the original one which is the first one is the normal English alphabet we all know, the both of them looks  the same but the Russian lowercase alphabet has two tiny dots at the top.
My point here is that we should not rely on Google search alone, we should also try to verify from the official website before we go ahead to install any software, updates or any Bitcoin (crypto Wallet) on or device, many of us don't check the official website before we download and immediately the installation we just important our seed phrase not knowing that after doing so the developer of the fake site already has access to your wallet and they will seed your seed phrase because it has been saved already based on the way they programmed it, immediately your balance will just return to zero balance.

It's even saver fo bookmark the official website on your browser, so that next time you don't have to manually type the laters one after the other, just go straight to your browser and click on bookmark then you will see the official website you bookmarked already, click on it.

Secondly try as much as possible to compare the SHA-256 hash with the original one the developers had already published.
Lastly, make sure to verify your PGP/GPG signature before you start installing the software or wallet on your device.

That is an essential warning since most of the time, people only concern themselves about the safety of their seed phrases while overlooking the possibility of downloading applications from counterfeit sources. A cloned site may appear almost exactly like the original one, and the only thing different in the domain will be easily overlooked by many people. Once your recovery phrase is captured through such wallets, it would take only minutes before you lose your money.

Aside from saving the link of the authentic website in your bookmarks bar, I believe it is also helpful to double-check the URL of the website from credible sources prior to downloading any application. As a new user, you must not rush into downloading a cryptocurrency wallet just because it is at the top of your search results because most of the time, scammers use advertisements and SEO to lure in potential victims. The process of checking the authenticity of your downloads through SHA-256 hashes and PGP/GPG signature adds another level of security to the process.

[Hyphen(-)]

Any wallet we are downloading should be from the official website. We should ensure that be very fine from any platform we are using, ensuring not to use a random link to make our downloads, there are many risk associated with the use of a particular wallet and as well when we determine for the source to which we download the wallet from, this is why we need more exposure on what is needed to be done and how we could verify on every information received and ensure we are on the intended platform our wallet download.

One of the main reason why some of us fall victims of losing crypto holdings is downloading fake or cloned wallets from websites that are not the official websites; we mostly think that using the search engine to search for the wallet online can easily give you the application, but not knowing that the websites are not the original website but we mostly don’t take note of little difference in the websites.

Downloading from the official website is the best, your seed phrase will be safe but if you use a fake wallet downloaded from a fake website, your seed phrase is at risk because it is a fake wallet and your seed phrase is not safe.