A scammer who preyed on others gets robbed of $4.8 million by the very same gang of thieves 🦖
🚨 行情变了群里说
The supply chain for Ledger hardware wallets was tampered with. In this latest wave, $103.4 million has already been stolen from 530 addresses.
One of the victims was a scammer himself. He treated three brand-new devices he’d just bought as safes—only to have the private keys inside copied and 60 bitcoins vanish.
Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis revealed that the scammer bought three brand-new Ledger devices that came preloaded with spyware designed to record recovery phrases. He transferred his coins into all three wallets, and the thieves then swept the funds from all three into a single address in one go: 60 bitcoins, worth about $4.8 million at the time.
The irony runs deeper: he was involved in task scams, getting people to fake sales and reviews for real products. Eventually, victims would suddenly find their accounts in the red. To get their money back, they had to deposit more funds first. So the people he scammed weren’t necessarily innocent themselves. According to Chainalysis, someone who scammed other scammers got scammed himself this time. The world of crypto can be a chain of scams within scams 🔐
This isn’t an isolated incident. Earlier this month, Ledger asked distributors in seven markets—Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Hong Kong—to stop selling its devices after tampered units made their way into legitimate sales channels. Similar devices have also reportedly turned up in Europe, prompting German electronics retailer MediaMarkt to suspend sales. Ledger, however, maintains that all confirmed thefts so far have occurred in Asia.
Another hardware wallet maker, Trezor, has also taken precautionary measures. It announced that, starting January 1 next year, it will cut ties with some distributors located too far away, saying it can’t ensure the same level of oversight as it does with local distributors. So far, there have been no reports of tampered Trezor devices.
My take: what was breached this time wasn’t the cryptography, but the stretch between people and the store shelf. The devices were fine when they left the factory; the problem happened during resale. The biggest selling point of a hardware wallet is that its private keys never touch an internet-connected device. Now attackers are simply bypassing the technology and targeting logistics and authorized distributors instead. A cold wallet isn’t automatically safe. Where the device in your hand came from matters more than how many buttons it has ⚠️
Let’s talk in the comments: when you buy a hardware wallet, do you stick to official channels, or order from a third party for convenience? 📉
Tap the profile picture to watch the livestream
Every day, we bring you the latest on crypto security and hacking. We don’t just cover what happened—we help you understand the logic and opportunities behind it 👀🚀
🚨 行情变了群里说
The supply chain for Ledger hardware wallets was tampered with. In this latest wave, $103.4 million has already been stolen from 530 addresses.
One of the victims was a scammer himself. He treated three brand-new devices he’d just bought as safes—only to have the private keys inside copied and 60 bitcoins vanish.
Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis revealed that the scammer bought three brand-new Ledger devices that came preloaded with spyware designed to record recovery phrases. He transferred his coins into all three wallets, and the thieves then swept the funds from all three into a single address in one go: 60 bitcoins, worth about $4.8 million at the time.
The irony runs deeper: he was involved in task scams, getting people to fake sales and reviews for real products. Eventually, victims would suddenly find their accounts in the red. To get their money back, they had to deposit more funds first. So the people he scammed weren’t necessarily innocent themselves. According to Chainalysis, someone who scammed other scammers got scammed himself this time. The world of crypto can be a chain of scams within scams 🔐
This isn’t an isolated incident. Earlier this month, Ledger asked distributors in seven markets—Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Hong Kong—to stop selling its devices after tampered units made their way into legitimate sales channels. Similar devices have also reportedly turned up in Europe, prompting German electronics retailer MediaMarkt to suspend sales. Ledger, however, maintains that all confirmed thefts so far have occurred in Asia.
Another hardware wallet maker, Trezor, has also taken precautionary measures. It announced that, starting January 1 next year, it will cut ties with some distributors located too far away, saying it can’t ensure the same level of oversight as it does with local distributors. So far, there have been no reports of tampered Trezor devices.
My take: what was breached this time wasn’t the cryptography, but the stretch between people and the store shelf. The devices were fine when they left the factory; the problem happened during resale. The biggest selling point of a hardware wallet is that its private keys never touch an internet-connected device. Now attackers are simply bypassing the technology and targeting logistics and authorized distributors instead. A cold wallet isn’t automatically safe. Where the device in your hand came from matters more than how many buttons it has ⚠️
Let’s talk in the comments: when you buy a hardware wallet, do you stick to official channels, or order from a third party for convenience? 📉
Tap the profile picture to watch the livestream
Every day, we bring you the latest on crypto security and hacking. We don’t just cover what happened—we help you understand the logic and opportunities behind it 👀🚀