Large Investor After MetaMask Hack Theft: I'm Down Bad, I Cried in My Wife’s Arms, Use Hardware Wallet Only Image by jcomp / Freepik https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/white-notebook-black-data-firewall_1150276.htm#page=1&query=computer%20hacker&position=1&from_view=keyword
The MetaMask crypto wallet hack that recently wiped huge amounts of cryptocurrency portfolios clean has left some large crypto investors reeling from the losses and rushing back to hardware wallets.
Scammers, posing as fake customer support staff, tricked MetaMask users on community platform Discord into sharing their screen and scanned the QR codes needed to unlock their wallets.
Users of crypto wallets MetaMask and Phantom, as well as the crypto swap platform PancakeSwap, were targeted in a crypto phishing scam involving at least $500,000 stolen, according to a Check Point Research (CPR) report.
Some victims of the scam have reported that their wallets were wiped out or huge amounts of their crypto and NFT portfolios were stolen by the hackers.
There are software wallets and hardware wallets. If you buy Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, then you may be storing your private keys in a software wallet. “But if you are serious about crypto, are mining your own Bitcoins, or have serious cash invested in crypto, then a hardware wallet is something that you need to seriously consider,” business tech news website ZDnet reported.
“Where hardware wallets shine is the improved security that they offer compared to an app that lives on a smartphone, computer, or in the cloud. Having a device that puts an air gap between your private keys and other apps, the internet, and the bad guys offers vastly improved security from hackers and viruses.”
Twitter user flim.eth @Oxflim claimed he lost up to 500 Ether coins to hackers in this online lament: “My primary wallets were compromised last night — you never want to wake up to something like this. Down bad. I ended up losing somewhere between 300 – 500 ETH altogether. Mostly my prized collection of NFTs were taken and sold. The perpetrator had access to 2 wallets which I had both of them in metamask.”
Flim.eth continued, “cried in my spouse’s arms” as the pain of losing almost all his cypto and NFT investment sunk in the morning after. Then he counted his blessings: “at the end of the day I have not lost many of the things which truly matter — home, family, relationships”.
He warned others to learn from his experience and use hardware wallets: “Please, please take security seriously. Buy and use a hardware wallet limit devices memorize difficult passwords don’t get rekt like me; I was in your shoes reading about compromised wallets too…”
There have been increased cases of crypto scams. Hacking has been on the rise in 2021 as the popularity of crypto and blockchain technology have increased.
Unlike fiat scammers, crypto hackers don’t discriminate against the size of your wallet, whether it’s $5 or $5 million.
In December 2020, a fake MetaMask popup was used to trick Hugh Karp, the founder of Nexus Mutual, into transferring more than $8 million to a hacker. Karp was forced to offer the hacker a bounty of $300,000 a promise to drop charges before the loot was returned.
READ MORE: 3 Things To Know About The IRS Plan To Hack Crypto Hardware Wallets In Tax Investigations
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