Be weary of scammers as they are getting smarter everyday.

[promise444c5]

Well even though she didn’t save the passphrase on Google cloud , she already locked in with them and may eventually give up some other informations .

[edited out]

This is part of the reason why it is not advisable to save your passphrase on Google or any other cloud system, it can be compromised, it is better you write it down on a piece of paper and keep it somewhere probably in two or three other locations you know can be safe.

I don't think that someone who has crypto assets will be so careless to save their passphrase on Google or any online means of backups.
[edited out]

lol! Create a survey and post it on X specifically or any other social media platforms, you will be surprised by the numbers that  save passphrase, password , and even their seed phrase unencrypted on cloud services.

You’re only informed because you’ve read it somehow [either researched or just come across it ] and in / visit a community that enlightens people about for example bitcointalk

[Hazink]

Let's keep this type of scam aside, as it's already very common in the crypto space and focus on the other risks that come with backing your seed phrase up on any online cloud storage. It's also no longer news that hackers have been penetrating and bridging high servers and making away with users' data. What will happen if some day Google cloud and iCloud got hit with same attack a lot of people which trust storing there key online will be deeply affected.

[mabji1]

I saw this video on X(Twitter) not too long ago where a lady that should be probably in her late 50s or early 60s, she was vehemently complaining how scammers were able to log into her crypto wallet and they stole everything that was inside. According to her story, she's a kidney stone survivor who is basically struggling to survive as she has some form of deformity in her both hands.
 From the record I saw on the screen, I think it happened two months back.

The scammers sent a mail that look like Google Mail asking her if she authorize some withdrawals from her wallet, unfortunately for her she couldn't authenticate if it was actually from Google or from a cloned email that seem to look like a Google email, responding to the mail, she said no she did not authorize for such withdrawal and afterwards, this same guys had to called her line in the
guise of calling from Google office, I think it was from that point she responding to the phone call and she gave in some of the details which I think lead those scammers getting through her passphrase stored on a Google cloud, and it was compromised at that point.

If you receive a communication claiming your account is compromised, pause . Close the email, hang up the phone, and go directly to the official platform to check your account status independently.

[Aanuoluwatofunmi]

Show yourself approved and also determine to learn more everyday, take us nothing if we decided to improve more about the awareness we have concerning crypto security measures.

Remember if scammers can be this committed to ensure they are improving more on their illicit tactics used to scam unscrupulous users, how much more efforts are we giving to also combat against this menace of scam they have been targeting on crypto users.

[letteredhub]

Let's keep this type of scam aside, as it's already very common in the crypto space and focus on the other risks that come with backing your seed phrase up on any online cloud storage. It's also no longer news that hackers have been penetrating and bridging high servers and making away with users' data. What will happen if some day Google cloud and iCloud got hit with same attack a lot of people which trust storing there key online will be deeply affected.

Scammers and hackers are equally two stupid sets of people who I don't understand why people with such sophisticated skills would instead of directing it into some legally productive means that would earn them significant income still, but would rather channel it into the act of stealing from others.

Centralize servers can be bridge at any time in the sense that there is no 100% absolutism about any security of any system. Google cloud not being an exception is definitely not a safe place to have such a valuable thing as seed phrase stored.

[DPHOR]

I think it's actually bad for people to keep storing their sensitive information on Google or on other online devices which they knew it's too risky but for them they are doing that should they lose access to their devices they could easily login to their Google account or iCloud account to have access to their seedphrase without them knowing that such decisions to save their information online is extremely bad. Of course, they wouldn't know how dangerous it could be until they actually fall victim only then you would see them not storing their sensitive information on whatever devices that happens to have Access to Internet.

[retreat]

I'm sorry for what happened to her. But that's exactly why it's important to understand security and privacy. These days, most crypto holders only know how to store their assets, but they never pay attention to securing their wallets, protecting their seed phrases, and keeping their privacy, which is way more important. They think that storing their seed phrases in an encrypted cloud is safe, but scammers can still trick them with phishing or other tricks to gain access to their wallets. Staying cautious is really important, and always verify everything.

[JunaidAzizi]

Every day, the scammer's activity advances further as they acquire new, smart ways to fool people easily. I don't know how long this will last because the more people educate themselves about scamming methods, the more scammers introduce new ways to get money. You can be aware of various methods, but what if they create a clone of an authentic source and approach you? How will you identify it? People are always in worrying situations related to their daily lives, and when something arises in those situations, they often pay little attention to it, authorize it, and there they can be deceived. Maybe it can be stopped if we install software that acts like a wall, anything related to scamming that approaches us will be warned about by the software. However, if they find a loophole in it, then someone will lose money again.

[Rgram]

A couple of mistakes she made here,
First of it was having to store some of her wallet details on the clouds, be it Google or whatever service that offers cloud storage, that’s a ticking time bomb waiting to detonate.

Secondly, responding to such mails and becoming increasingly chatty to the point of taking calls without having to verify from the officially known source to you, that’s a problem. I get it that she was trying to be prompt in her actions but, that’s exactly what the scammers want you to do. They just got her where they wanted her, in the corner.

Thirdly, scammers acting as customer support is no new news. You’ve got to be guided about that knowledge, be suspicious and always verify.

[Felicity_Tide]

The scammers sent a mail that look like Google Mail asking her if she authorize some withdrawals from her wallet, unfortunately for her she couldn't authenticate if it was actually from Google or from a cloned email that seem to look like a Google email, responding to the mail, she said no she did not authorize for such withdrawal and afterwards, this same guys had to called her line in the
guise of calling from Google office, I think it was from that point she responding to the phone call and she gave in some of the details which I think lead those scammers getting through her passphrase stored on a Google cloud, and it was compromised at that point.

The whole story is not adding up based on what she explained, and I doubt if that's what you understood. The mail she received sounded like an attempt to gain access into are email, and not for withdrawal related concerns. According to what she said, it was from a suppose google address. Which means, she probably gave them the access after they posed as Google customer service, and like she emphasized, she tried securing her account... Only to receive a notification from Ledger 20mins later.

And one thing I noticed is that she actually understands the importance of seed phrase and pass code, but she claimed that the damage was done after they figured out her Ledger order number_{(maybe from the already hacked mail)}, which I don't think is true. Imo, I think this is likely to be a phishing attack. She probably inputted her seedphrase while attempting to secure her google account. Or, she might have somehow stored are seed phrase online, even though she never said so... It's quite unfortunate that customer service related scammers never gets old because we keep having new victims.

[drangos]

The scam did not have to break the wallet. What is most noticeable is that. All it had to do was to come up with enough pressure to make the victim make one bad decision. So I believe it is good to have a basic rule. Don't click on a security warning in a link. Address or phone number that was given in the warning. Open the official app or website on a new browser window and see if there is an issue. A technically sound wallet can be compromised regardless. If the owner is convinced that they will give up the information necessary to access the wallet.

[jcojci]

The problem that often causes people to be less thorough in their response to things and it is strange Google call someone because authorize something as that can be done by email. If that person don't gives authorization to that thing, that is done and Google can't proceed.

The second is people save their credentials to Google cloud which is not recommended to do. If you have crypto, you should saves your credentials offline, back up, and keep it in a secret place.

So no doubt scammers becomes smarter and searching for the ways to trick the target. We must be careful and not just trust the email or calls from others including from big companies so verify first and research before deciding.

[Alpha Marine]

This is why I always advocate for people to know about Bitcoin and its security before buying Bitcoin. Bitcoin is not going anywhere; it's still here, so rushing to buy when you don't know the basics and also how to keep it secure, you have no business holding it.
This incident is a simple phishing attack that could be avoided. The mere fact that Google is the one sending you the email is suspicious enough. If you make a transaction with your wallet, why would Google be the one to ask if you made a transaction?
That aside, why would Google ask you for the details of your Google Cloud? Stories like this are very sad to see, especially in the ones like this were the person is struggling with health chalenges.

[Outhue]

XRP isn't like Bitcoin, not even close, if you want a coin that's pretty close to banks and centralised control the answer is XRP, I have a hardware wallet that supports XRP for long term holding and I believe that this victim doesn't even know it, since it's XRP many gullible people will believe that it's best safe in the cloud or other cloud storage projects.

Since XRP is a complete centralised project it's best treated in a centralised way, this is not coming from me but from the minds of people who invest on Centralised crypto projects like XRP.

[Yablee0]

I don't think that someone who has crypto assets will be so careless to save their passphrase on Google or any online means of backups. However, writing down your seed phrase or passphrase in a paper is not ideal, because it decays over time and the write ups can also fade out as time goes, you can even accidentally misplace it or throw it away. Instead use metal backups like a stainless steel to store your secret recovery phrases.

Important information like our passphrase and seed phrase can also be written down on a piece of paper and well laminated, just as we normally do with our normal certificate that lasted for so many years. Having our wallet details online is the worst decision any person can take, and you risk losing everything.

Nobody should fall for such an unsophisticated attack. Always check the email address and even then no exchange should be emailing you requesting details that help you access the funds.

You know, as an elderly person she might have be ignorant of their strategies and that led to what happened to her. And I just hope this incident didn't worsen her condition, I really feel for her. Again, this is why it's important we educate our aged parents on things like this so they can barely fall for such scam.

[bitbollo]

there is a very easy rule. just create your wallet offline, using a system that has never been connected online.
doesn't link transactions from your main wallet (or a cex) and mostly you have done all right.
Never answer or give credit to any request you could receive. It's a legitimate call from... police or whatever? Ok I see you in the office .

[coinrifft]

This is why I always advocate for people to know about Bitcoin and its security before buying Bitcoin. Bitcoin is not going anywhere; it's still here, so rushing to buy when you don't know the basics and also how to keep it secure, you have no business holding it.

This is what I really did at the start of my journey in Bitcoin and crypto in general. I study the wallets and it's security.

This incident is a simple phishing attack that could be avoided. The mere fact that Google is the one sending you the email is suspicious enough. If you make a transaction with your wallet, why would Google be the one to ask if you made a transaction?
That aside, why would Google ask you for the details of your Google Cloud? Stories like this are very sad to see, especially in the ones like this were the person is struggling with health chalenges.

And this old trick that we have seen, phishing links and yes, we can avoid it. The thing is that most crypto users might not be thinking of security at the start. Because social media magnified that it's easy money here.

But it's not, you need to be your own bank (BYOB), so you need to have a high security practice so that you won't be a victim here.

[lovesmayfamilis]

Scammers are pretty stupid and it's fact about most of scammers.

There are many stories about hackers breaking into something not out of a desire for profit, but solely out of excitement and interest. They find it fun to break into something that others are trying to protect. Arrogance? Vanity? Yes, these are often the very feelings that motivate some hackers’ actions. But I wouldn’t be too hasty in calling them foolish people.

They still exploit their loneliness,  most aged people welcome with open arms anyone willing to give them attention. They trust easily and release sensitive information readily to the person. You only need to make them comfortable, get them used to you for a while and propose a phishing business to them. It's not totally their fault, the brain degenerate with advancement in age which makes them highly vulnerable.

There’s another, very interesting question. An elderly woman. Anyone who has watched the video describes her as quite old. There’s a question. If she ever came to own crypto assets, how did she manage to do that in the first place? Did she buy them, or were they given to her? In any case, anyone who wants to tie their finances to crypto should have at least some level of intelligence to understand that their finances need to be protected. If they don’t take care of this, don’t learn all the intricacies of storage, or aren’t in a hurry to learn about online security, then there’s no need to feel sorry for them.

I think if anyone wants self custody of his or her coins, the person need to read a lot about security and safety.

Crypto and the internet are inseparably linked. If people aren’t interested in how to live in this environment, life itself teaches them🤗. And then there are these “stupid” scammers. Age isn’t the issue here. If a person already has some crypto assets, it means they know what they’re getting into and what they’re dealing with.

[Awaklara]

This is part of the reason why it is not advisable to save your passphrase on Google or any other cloud system, it can be compromised, it is better you write it down on a piece of paper and keep it somewhere probably in two or three other locations you know can be safe. Here is the link to her narration.

Scammers are not smarter, they just find the right victims. Most scammers' methods are the same, but the situation of the potential victim determines whether they succeed or not. We really need to be more vigilant against fraud attempts now and in the future. Scammers will always update their methods, but that does not make them smarter. They just find the right victims. If everyone better understands how to protect their assets, scammers will not succeed.

[sokani]

Basically, she is one of those users whose info got leaked through Ledger data breach. That was how the scammer got hold of her email address and contacted her.

You see, this is why I tell people that is not all about buying crypto but also making an effort to secure their assets as if their lives depend on it. If they cannot try to learn about wallet security and some of the tactics scammers use to steal funds, it is best they stay away. The scam is nothing new, and it's something she would have avoided if she had knowledge.