Ledger Scam: Scammers Mail Hacked Ledger Devices To Steal Crypto

Scammers are now mailing hacked ledger devices to Ledger users in a bid to steal crypto from unsuspecting users.

An alarmed user made a post on Reddit that they had gotten a Ledger device that they hadn’t purchased. In the package was a poorly worded letter riddled with grammatical errors that explained that due to a cyberattack, Ledger was replacing all old devices with new ones for the purpose of safety.

Letter explaining the reason the device was sent

In further pictures posted by the accounts was a sealed and authentic looking Ledger device.

Device sent in a sealed box

The user then went on to open the device which contained instructions for connecting the device to a computer and installing the application from the device. Asking to choose seed phrase length and inputting your seed phrase into the device.

Instructions contained in the device asking to input seed phrases

Growing more suspicious, instead of plugging the device to their computer, the user went on to dismantle the Ledger device itself.

Ledger devices look like flash drives with a small screen on them. The screen is to make sure that your seed phrase is yours alone.

This proved to be the right move as upon dismantling the device and looking at the circuit board, there were obvious differences between the new device and the original Ledger device.

Side by side comparison of the device sent and an original Ledger device. Fake device on the left and original device on the right.

The scam is obviously a phishing scam meant to send the attackers the seed phrases once they are entered on the compromised device.

In the Reddit post, they issued a warning to other users. A bold new way of attacking with the poster referring to it as “some next level of scam attempt.”

Ledger Hack

Late last year, Ledger had announced that there had been a data breach and the attackers had gotten access to their databases. The names, phone numbers, and mailing addresses of 272,000 customers were stolen and subsequently posted on Raidforums. Raidforums is a platform where hackers go to post the information of hacked databases.

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Ledger had come forward after the breach to assure customers that there was no need to worry. The hack had no way of affecting the hardware wallets of users. As the private keys to the wallets were only held by users and there was no way for the hackers to actually get their hands on them.

This seemed like it was under control and users could rest easy. Ledger was very clear that the data breach only affected information that had to do with e-commerce purposes. No crypto balances were in jeopardy.

The company further posted on Twitter that they were working with law enforcement to stop any breach-related scams. Stating that they had, with the help of law enforcement, taken down over 170 phishing scam websites since the breach happened.

Crypto and Hacks/Scams

The crypto space isn’t new to hacks and scams. There are countless successful and unsuccessful attempts carried out yearly on investors. Some attackers set their sights on smaller scams, going after individual crypto investors in a bid to trick them out of their coins. Other attackers have their eyes on bigger fish like crypto exchanges and malware attacks on large corporations demanding crypto as ransom.

Total Crypto Market Cap | Source: Crypto Total Market Cap on TradingViews.com

One such case is in the case of Colonial Pipeline being hit with a malware. The corporation had to pay $4.4 million in ransom to get operations back up.

The irreversibility of crypto transactions makes it so that coins sent out of a wallet cannot be reversed. This means that if anyone were to get their hands on your seed phrase, they could take all of your coins. The transactions would be visible on the blockchain for you to see but there is no way to actually tell who is on the other end of the transaction.

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So crypto investors are always advised to never reveal their seed phrase to anyone. Never enter it into any website. Do not store it online.

A good way is to write it down on a piece of paper and place it somewhere only you can get to.

The safety of your coins are of the utmost priority.

Featured image from Crypto Network News, images in article from Reddit, chart from TradingView.com