Crypto holders can once again breathe a sigh of relief, as a group of wallet hackers in Turkey have been arrested. Holders had been reporting losses of up to $80,000 from their crypto wallets, as funds were being funneled elsewhere. The group of 11 hackers had been targeting email accounts in order to reset passwords and gain access to digital wallets. Once they had access to the wallets, they then proceeded to transfer the money to multiple different wallets in a bid to throw police off the trail, before selling it for fiat on an exchange.
Hackers Not Being Smart
The hackers made the rookie mistake of transferring between their own wallets and then to an exchange. Had they used a mixing service, there is a good chance that the authorities would have struggled to identify where the funds went and who converted it into fiat on an exchange. This same rookie mistake was made back in January by an Australian woman who stole 100,000 XRP from an older gentleman. An alternative to using a mixer in this scenario is to transfer the funds into a decentralized exchange (DEX) and trade to a more privacy focused cryptos. It appears that when it comes to these Turkish hackers it was rookie mistakes all around.
Bitcoin Making Waves in Turkey
The Turkish economy is suffering heavily from a trade war with the United States, and the Turkish Lira is beginning to look as if it will head towards the border of hyperinflation soon. This has made Bitcoin a safe haven for Turkish people, and with more Bitcoin adoption comes an increased risk of hackers. While it might be a bit more time consuming and difficult, storing cryptos on a hardware ledger is so much more secure and safer than using a digital wallet.
Hackers Looking for Easy Targets
Hackers and scammers are always on the lookout for an easy payday, and so are gamers. Everyone wants to be the best and win, so the promise of aimbots to assist with performance is almost too tempting for many. Hackers and scammers have been taking aim at Fortnite gamers, promising them aimbots when they install a package on their computer. Inside this package is usually an aimbot and a script that will search out for any crypto activity, stealing private keys and seed phrases. Remember the number one rule, if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is – even outside of the crypto world.
Now that these hackers have been arrested, the victims can start to relax, as it’s the first step towards getting their stolen funds back. There are a number of steps you can take to reduce your chances of being hacked and having your crypto stolen. The main two are don’t talk about your crypto wealth online or boast about it, and the second is always keep your cryptos on a hardware ledger in a secure location. Be smart and keep your crypto safe, as otherwise you could be the next hacking victim.
