Fake Crypto Hardware Wallet That Stole My Funds
As someone who values security, I always believed that using a hardware wallet was the safest way to store my cryptocurrency. I had heard stories of people losing funds to online hacks, so I decided to take my funds offline. I went to a well-known online marketplace to purchase a hardware wallet, as it was slightly cheaper than ordering directly from the manufacturer. That decision turned out to be a costly mistake.

The wallet arrived in professional-looking packaging, identical to the real product. Inside, there was a manual that included step-by-step instructions on how to set up the device. It all seemed normal. However, unlike the real process where you create your own recovery phrase, the manual came with a pre-generated recovery seed that I was told to “store securely” and use to initialize the wallet.

At the time, I didn’t think much of it. I transferred $12,000 worth of Bitcoin and Ethereum to the wallet, feeling confident that my funds were secure. However, a few days later, I logged in to check my balance and saw it was empty—everything had been transferred out. My heart sank. I immediately contacted the wallet’s official support team, who informed me that legitimate hardware wallets never come with pre-generated recovery phrases.

It turned out that the scammers had tampered with the wallet before shipping it. By providing a pre-set recovery phrase, they could access my funds as soon as I transferred them to the wallet. The sleek packaging and professional manual were all part of an elaborate scheme.

This experience taught me a hard lesson: always buy hardware wallets directly from the manufacturer or authorized retailers. Never trust third-party sellers, even if they look credible. A pre-generated recovery phrase is a glaring red flag—if you encounter it, stop immediately and report it. Hardware wallets are secure tools, but in the wrong hands, they can become traps for unsuspecting users like me.